Tennessee football in 2020 NFL Draft: Ranking eight Vols as pro prospects

Tyler Byrd is an odd case. Given his size and his proven speed when he played for Tennessee football, he would seem like a guy built to be a slot receiver in the NFL. It was always odd that Jim Chaney did not use him that much, as he finished with just 66 receiving yards and a touchdown in 2019. However, Chaney was not alone.

Throughout his time in Knoxville, Byrd played for two head coaches and four offensive coordinators, and his best year was playing under Mike DeBord, when he had 209 yards as a freshman. However, he was never used that much under Butch Jones or Jeremy Pruitt, and he even got a look on defense, never working out there.

The other side to this is that DeBord was the most proven coach of anybody to work with Byrd, so you have to wonder if he’d be a higher NFL Draft prospect playing for him over a period of time. There’s just no telling, but we can’t ignore the limited production in college, even if he did have a memorable touchdown in the win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Based on what we have seen, Byrd has a realistic, albeit small, chance of making a pro roster. Maybe he will be a steal, and then we can all criticize Pruitt and Chaney for under-utilizing him. There’s not much to go on with that yet, though.