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

Hometown: Austell, Ga.

After a season-ending injury to Trevon Flowers against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Jeremy Pruitt and Derrick Ansley turned to Jaylen McCullough to play alongside Nigel Warrior at safety. McCullough was a freshman, but he had proven his value during the spring as the defensive MVP of Tennessee football’s Orange and White game with two interceptions.

By the time the Vols played the South Carolina Gamecocks, McCullough had become the full-time starter. The 6’0″ 205-pound product of Hillgrove High School did a superb job continuing the Vols’ legacy of elite defensive backs from the state of Georgia, and he emerged as one of the top young players on the team by the end. UT won six straight with him in the starting lineup.

McCullough himself finished with three tackles for a loss, a sack, two pass deflections and 33 overall tackles, 24 of which were solo. He earned a spot on the PFF College All-Freshman team. Given the fact that PFF measures production from an analytical standpoint, that’s a huge honor. It should also give Vol fans lots of excitement about the strides he could make as a sophomore.

Of course, there are questions as to what McCullough’s production will be like this year. He did have the help of Warrior last year, who did a great job keeping the secondary together. Without his fellow safety, will he still be as productive? It calls into question his potential, but based on what he’s done so far, he should be up here on this list.