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Why Tennessee football’s 2023 draft class will be deeper than 2022

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee players take the field as the University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland marching band performs a pregame show and fans checker Neyland Stadium orange and white for the Florida game on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016.0925 Kcsp Utfl 012 Mp
Tennessee players take the field as the University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland marching band performs a pregame show and fans checker Neyland Stadium orange and white for the Florida game on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016.0925 Kcsp Utfl 012 Mp /
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Tennessee Herd Coach Josh Heupel at the 2021 Music City Bowl NCAA college football game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Kns Tennessee Purdue
Tennessee Herd Coach Josh Heupel at the 2021 Music City Bowl NCAA college football game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Kns Tennessee Purdue /

3. Players will have a greater body of work in Josh Heupel’s system.

You can debate who had a bigger role in Tennessee football’s five NFL Draft picks this past year, but next year, it will all be a reflection of Josh Heupel. Given the fact that five players could have their best years amidst all the transitions, the Vols could see a ton of players draw attention next year with even better production.

Consider the fact that UT was switching from Jim Chaney’s slow, pro-style offense with no horizontal passes to Josh Heupel’s up-tempo spread that uses lots of screens. Meanwhile, on defense they were switching from Jeremy Pruitt’s and Derrick Ansley’s 3-4 to Tim Banks’ nickel-heavy 4-3 base defense.

This wasn’t a huge transition for a slot receiver like Velus Jones Jr., whose success was based on his speed and his abilities as a return specialist. However, it affected everybody else, particularly Cade Mays, who moved to the outside, and Matthew Butler, who remained a down lineman but moved inside.

Theo Jackson and Alontae Taylor had some adjustments too. The point is, even with all of those adjustments given Tennessee football’s changes, they all improved their NFL Draft stock. Now, players who came back will have more experience and won’t even need the adjustment, so watch out for what they can do.

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