6’0″ 190 pounds; Hometown: Suwanee, Ga.
With Key Lawrence transferring to the Oklahoma Sooners and Bryce Thompson leaving early for the NFL Draft, Warren Burrell has a chance to see a lot more action this year. The graduate of North Gwinnett High School in Georgia’s Gwinnett County started in place of Thompson for Tennessee football’s first three games as a freshman in 2019 but has more experience now.
Burrell played in eight games with four starts last year and could be crucial to the secondary this year, especially with Shawn Shamburger back in the transfer portal. After all, Shamburger playing only three games last year and never fully healthy was a huge reason for the drop-off in defensive back play down the stretch.
Although no coaches or writers specifically mentioned Burrell after any practices, his name continued to come up in game-like settings. Burrell was mentioned as a top performer in multiple scrimmages, and in the spring game itself, he had a pick-six.
This all suggests that Burrell plays his best when the lights shine brightest, and that matters for the Vols this year. Jeremy Pruitt always stuck by the whomever performs best in practice mantra, but some people are just better under the lights. Signs point to Burrell being that type of player, and this spring proved that, making him a winner from it.