Tennessee football’s top 10 impact players for 2021

5’11” 200 pounds; Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.

There was no surprise when Tennessee football’s depth chart showed that Trevon Flowers is starting at free safety while Jaylen McCollough is starting at strong safety. Both are solid playmakers, but Flowers is more of an impact player, even if the depth situation will make losing McCollough more devastating overall.

Last year, Flowers was returning from a season-ending broken leg injury he suffered while returning an interception midway through 2019 against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Despite that injury, he was consistently one of the highest graded players on the team.

Flowers had to help offset the departures of Nigel Warrior and Shawn Shamburger, the latter of whom was UT’s highest graded player last year but only played in three games. Both are obviously still gone, and now Bryce Thompson is gone, putting more pressure on Flowers. After two tackles for a loss, three pass deflections and a forced fumble last year, he should be up to the task.

Coming out of Tucker High School in Georgia’s DeKalb County, just outside of Atlanta, Flowers was only a three-star recruit. That’s because he played baseball in the spring rather than go to the camps to boost his ratings. However, he was a center fielder, and his skills hav transitioned perfectly to safety.