Tennessee football: Trey Smith, Cade Mays on Outland watch list

Two offensive linemen for the Tennessee football Volunteers are on the 2020 Outland Trophy preseason watch list.

If you needed any proof of just how elite the interior offensive line for Tennessee football could be in 2020, this preseason watch list should put that to rest. Both guards who are expected to start are generating tons of hype, and that came with a new watch list on Tuesday.

Rising transfer junior Cade Mays and rising senior Trey Smith were both named to the 2020 Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List by the Football Writers Association of America. Given annually to the best interior lineman on offense or defense, the award mentioned 85 potential winners ahead of the year.

Both Smith and Mays are from the state of Tennessee, and neither was initially expected to start for Tennessee football this year. UT already had hype behind Jeremy Pruitt’s third year before that news became a possibility.

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Mays shocked the world first when he announced on Jan. 8 his decision to transfer to UT from the Georgia Bulldogs. His younger brother, Cooper Mays, was a four-star commitment to the Vols in the 2020 class, and his father, Kevin Mays, played for Phillip Fulmer in the early 1990s.

Back in 2017, Cade Mays himself was a local five-star out of Knoxville Catholic High School committed to the Vols. However, the Butch Jones drama resulted in him rescinding his commitment and going to UGA. In 2018, he earned Freshman All-SEC and Freshman All-American honors with the Dawgs.

A lawsuit against the school, though, involving an injury to his father is a part of the story behind his transfer to Tennessee football, and the 6’6″ 328-pound is seeking an eligibility waiver to play immediately as a result. He reportedly filed it earlier this month, and if he gets it, as expected, he’s likely to start at right guard.

One day after Mays made his decision, Smith shocked the world by deciding to return for his senior season. In the two full seasons, 2017 and 2019, he started, he played guard and earned First-Team All-SEC honors both times, also earning Freshman All-American honors in 2017.

However, Smith, who is another in-state prospect, this time from Jackson, Tenn., has battled blood clots in his lungs, which kept him out of full participation in offseason activities in 2018 and 2019. It also cut short his 2018 season, which he started at left tackle through the end of October and was on track to earn All-SEC again.

That Smith and Mays are both likely to start this year at guard and on the Outland Trophy Watch List shows the hype behind Tennessee football’s interior line. Add in Brandon Kennedy, a sixth-year senior, playing center, and Jeremy Pruitt has the unit in much better shape than it was when he first took over the program.