Tennessee football: Top 10 out-of-state Vols on 2020 roster

Hometown: Moultrie, Ga.

Nobody fits the profile of a Jeremy Pruitt recruit better than Shawn Shamburger. Pruitt specializes in coaching defensive backs and has worked to establish pipelines into Georgia and Alabama. Well, Shamburger’s hometown is Mobile, Ala., but he went to Colquitt High School in Moultrie, Ga. Ironically, he committed to Butch Jones, though, not Pruitt.

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Still, Shamburger, who has seen some significant action each of his first three years with Tennessee football, is now one of the most proven producers on the team and developed at a high level under Pruitt. Last year, with Baylen Buchanan missing all of the season due to injury, Shamburger became the only reliable nickel, and he turned into a star.

PFF named Shamburger as the Vols’ best returning player, noting he allowed 45 yards or less in every game he played and was fourth in the nation by allowing only 0.67 yards per coverage snap in the slot. It also tweeted he forced the lowest passer rating in the nation, 61.5, when guarding the slot. Another tweet revealed he didn’t allow a touchdown all year while playing 361 snaps.

In addition to analytics, Shamburger had an interception and three pass deflections. He also proved his physicality with four and a half tackles for a loss, three sacks and 47 tackles, 25 of which were solo. Simply put, the 5’11” 185-pound nickel was a star, and he may be the best nickel in the nation. So he’s clearly one of UT’s best out-of-state players entering 2020.