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Tennessee football: Five bold predictions for 2020 season

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images /

5. Three Vols on special teams will earn All-SEC

Everybody knows about Brent Cimaglia. He may be Tennessee football’s most valuable player, and he is preseason first team All-SEC already after missing only four field goals last year, making nine of 11 from beyond 40, making both kicks from beyond 50 and hitting the longest field goal, a 53-yarder, for a Vol since Jeff Hall in the mid-1990s.

Adding in the fact that he hasn’t missed an extra point his entire college career is just more evidence that he’s almost certain to earn All-SEC. However, he won’t be the only one to earn it for Rocky Top this year. Assuming Will Albright can take over for long snapping duties adequately, UT’s kicking game as a whole will be dominant.

Punter Paxton Brooks took over for Joe Doyle midway through last year. He only averaged 42 yards a punt, but that’s a good average for a first-year starter. History has shown time and time again that punters usually take off in their second year. Brooks is already in good shape to do that, and only seven returning punters had a better average than him in the SEC last year anyway.

As a result, Brooks will also earn All-SEC. Then comes the return game. Even without Marquez Callaway, UT added graduate transfer Velus Jones Jr., a superstar kickoff returner with the USC Trojans. Either he on kickoffs, Eric Gray on punt returns or Bryce Thompson on one of them will also earn All-SEC. They may not all be first team, but they’ll be there in the end.

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