Tennessee football: Top five NFL careers of Vols drafted in final round

An offensive line loaded with underrated NFL talent was on the 1995 Tennessee football team. It was underrated enough that nobody though the Vols would have a drop-off from their 11-1 season and top five finish with Peyton Manning at the helm. But after starting 1996 ranked No. 2, they went 10-2, Manning’s numbers took a major dip, and they lost to the Memphis Tigers.

It was a very underwhelming year, the worst of that legendary four-year run. The reason? There were too many new linemen, and Jeff Smith was an anchor for that line. At 6’3″ 322 pounds, Smith was Manning’s center his first two years a huge piece of the line. He was completely overlooked when he went to the pros, and as a result, he was taken in the last round.

Well, for a guy taken in the last round, he carved out a pretty solid career. Smith first appeared in games for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1997, and then he achieved his first start in 1998. After three years in Kansas City, he joined the Jacksonville Jaguars.

For two years in Jacksonville, Smith started every game. He then signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers but never appeared in any games in 2002. Technically, he was on an NFL roster for seven years, but he saw action in five of them, appearing in 59 games overall and starting in 33 of them during that time.