Tennessee football: Top 10 former Vols in the NFL for 2019

Joining Zach Fulton on this list is his former teammate with Tennessee football back in the day, Ja’Wuan James. After five productive years with the Miami Dolphins, John Elway has brought him in to help save the Denver Broncos offense. And he signed a huge deal, which was for four years and worth $51 million.

Fulton more than earned his contract his first year. Given James’s deal, though, the expectations are much higher. He is now the highest-paid right tackle in the pros. Meanwhile, Joe Flacco has joined the roster to be Elway’s new quarterback. We know Flacco can be effective when he has an effective line, and James can go a long way toward establishing one.

After 62 starts through five seasons, James does not miss a beat when he’s healthy. Yes, he did miss half of 2015 and half of 2017, but he has pretty much started the rest of the way when he has been on the field, and the Dolphins relied on him for years to save them through ineffective quarterback play and issues elsewhere.

Now he’s going to a franchise that always just seemed a couple of missing pieces away from getting back to where it was under Peyton Manning. James and Flacco could help restore it to prominence, and he was paid with the expectation of doing that. We also have that expectation, which is why he’s so high on our list.