Tennessee football’s Trey Smith and Josh Palmer prepare for Senior Bowl

The Tennessee football “Power T” will be back on the field this Saturday, but it won’t be at Neyland Stadium in front of 100,000+ fans clad in big orange. Senior offensive guard Trey Smith and senior wide receiver Josh Palmer will represent the Vols at the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Last year, the Vols also had two seniors in the game as both Darrell Taylor and Jauan Jennings accepted invitations to the 2020 showcase event. The experience will be different for Smith and Palmer this week due to COVID-19 protocols, but the two standouts will still get the opportunity to play in front of representatives from all 32 NFL organizations.

Normally, the prospects are split into North and South teams. However, this year’s game is divided by a National squad, coached by Brian Flores and the Miami Dolphins coaching staff, and an American team, led by Matt Rhule and coaches from the Carolina Panthers.

Both Smith and Palmer are suiting up for the American team. They will be playing alongside other notable names such as Alex Leatherwood, Kyle Trask, and Tee Martin‘s son, Clemson Tigers wide receiver Amari Rodgers.

Taking advantage of this weekend is an important step towards the next level for Smith and Palmer. Last year, both Vols that took advantage of the Senior Bowl spotlight were selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.

For Taylor, the exceptional showcase catapulted him on most teams’ draft boards, earning him a second-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks. Already, word from several NFL scouts implies Palmer is doing the same for his draft stock.

Following Tuesday’s practice, NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah listed Palmer as one of his five stars from the first day of workouts. Here’s a bit of what he said about the 6’2″ 210-pound receiver who came to Knoxville from Canada.

"“The former Vol star helped himself as much as any prospect on Tuesday. There wasn’t a lot of buzz about him coming into the week, but I thought he was really consistent today.”"

Vol fans who have seen Palmer at his best know how good he is at catching deep balls and making big plays. He had 33 catches for 475 yards and four touchdowns this past season. Here’s some of why that “buzz” surrounding Palmer has intensified.

Of course, though, most of the hype for Tennessee football players entering this year’s NFL Draft is around offensive guard Trey Smith. A four-year starter on Rocky Top, Smith earned FWAA All-American Honors and First Team All-SEC recognition twice.

Many draft analysts have pegged the Jackson, Tenn. native as the No. 2 guard in the 2021 class with first-round potential. He could have potentially been a first-round draft pick last year. This is a highlight of some of the work Smith has done this week.

Fans can watch Smith and Palmer compete with some of the best seniors in college football this Saturday at 1:30 pm CT. The Reese’s Senior Bowl will be televised on NFL Network live from Mobile, Ala. We’ll be following UT’s prospects as this process continues – expect some of our early Tennessee football NFL Draft predictions to drop in the near future.