Tennessee football: Emmanuel Moseley joins ranks of elite undrafted NFL Vols

With his help getting the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl, former Tennessee football player Emmanuel Moseley joins an elite group of Volunteers.

The decade entered with Arian Foster as the top running back in the NFL. Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Ramon Foster has been one of the most consistent starters in the league. Justin Coleman is the NFL’s highest-paid nickel. Now, Tennessee football has another undrafted player who has emerged into a star.

Emmanuel Moseley, who went undrafted after his senior season in 2017, has emerged as a top-notch cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers. While Richard Sherman receives all the hype, Moseley is the guy who has been consistently tasked with guarding the opposition’s top receiver when coming into the game.

Stefon Diggs had a touchdown reception for the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Divisional Round. Then Moseley came in, and he shut Diggs down the rest of the way. He outdid himself, though, in the NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers.

Moseley helped to shut down Green Bay’s passing game behind Aaron Rodgers, and he came away with an interception in the first half that set up the touchdown to put San Francisco up 27-0. A guy who has been fighting for a starting spot for two years clearly has solidified himself at this point, and he joins the Tennessee football tradition of having players in the Super Bowl.

In addition to the pick, Moseley had four tackles, including a tackle for a loss. He was a reliable defensive back all night. During his college years, he was known for his fundamentals and ability to play physical. But he has stepped it up a notch in the pros.

This year, Moseley and Shy Tuttle were both former Tennessee football players who emerged as undrafted players. Tuttle was a rookie sensation playing defensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints while Moseley emerged as a star player for the 49ers.

What everybody really questions, though, is how these guys did not look like this when they played for Butch Jones. But that’s a question that surprises nobody given how many players were under-utilized in Jones’s system.

After this past week, Moseley is clearly the starting cornerback over Ahkello Witherspoon. He has proven himself reliable for the 49ers time and time again, and ever since he has been starting, their defense has been dominating. That’s no longer a coincidence.

One former Tennessee football player will once again walk away with a Super Bowl ring in two weeks, as Kansas City Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt is on the other side. Both are major impact players for their respective franchises at this point.

However, Moseley is a surprise for everybody. If you asked us which undrafted Vols would become major players in the NFL, he would not have topped our list. That’s not to say he couldn’t have been solid. But being the No. 1 cornerback for an elite defense was out of the question.

Well, Moseley has proven all of us wrong in the pros, as so many other former players under Jones did to so many other analysts. He now has a chance to put an exclamation point on his overachieving with a win in two weeks. No matter what, though, his emergence is incredible.