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Top 10 NFL careers of Tennessee football LBs

By Caleb Calhoun

31 Oct 1999: Al Wilson #56 of the Denver Broncos celebrates on the field during the game against the Minnesota Vikings at the Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado. The Vikings defeated the Broncos 23-20. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
31 Oct 1999: Al Wilson #56 of the Denver Broncos celebrates on the field during the game against the Minnesota Vikings at the Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado. The Vikings defeated the Broncos 23-20. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport /
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Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images
Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images /

player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 2005-2007. Years in NFL: 8. 839. Jerod Mayo. 5

Teams played for:

  • New England Patriots; 2008-2015

A theme of this list is peak value vs. career value. Jerod Mayo doesn’t have the career value of many of the guys on here, but his peak was better than most. The key moment for Mayo’s career came in 2007. Despite five sacks and 12.5 tackles for a loss as an outside linebacker in 2006, he moved to middle linebacker for the sake of the team after the departure of Marvin Mitchell.

That move paid dividends for Tennessee football and for Mayo, as he had 140 total tackles, one and a half sacks, eight and a half tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and two passes broken up. The Vols won the SEC East in the process, and the Virginia native was able to leave early for the NFL Draft. He was taken with the 10th pick in 2008 by the New England Patriots.

Immediately, Mayo became a star, earning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year that season as Tom Brady went down. He only continued to get better, and in 2010, he earned All-Pro honors and then made two Pro Bowls in 2010 and 2012 while helping the Pats to the Super Bowl in 2011. An injury in 2014 limited what he could do in 2015, so he decided to retire.

Mayo still finished his career with 103 game appearances and 93 starts, and he racked up 11 sacks, another 30 tackles for a loss, eight forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, 19 pass deflections and 802 tackles, 536 was solo. The Hampton, Va. native was known as a great leader with a great work ethic, and that got him on here as one of the greatest pro Vol linebackers ever.

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