Tennessee football’s top 10 in-state players for 2022
Offensive lineman. Junior. 3. 839. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Cooper Mays. player
6’3″ 296 pounds
When he’s in the game, Cooper Mays is crucial for Tennessee football. The brother of Cade Mays and graduate of Knoxville Catholic High School in Knox County, Tenn., where he was teammates with Tyler Baron, is the only player who has proven himself to actually be able to play center for the Vols. When he’s not in, disaster strikes.
As a freshman in 2020, Mays immediately showed his value, appearing in all 10 games and actually starting in two of them. Last year, he still managed to start in eight games, and when he was on the field, the Vols’ offense worked to perfection.
His 58.7 regular season PFF grade may not show it, but Mays played a lot of last year hurt. During the final five games of the season, he didn’t allow a sack, and his play was crucial to the Vols being able to upset the Kentucky Wildcats on the road in November.
If Mays can be fully healthy this year, he’s got a case to be the best offensive lineman on the team, and center is one of the positions where you want that to be the case. He’s definitely one of the best players from the state of Tennessee on here, and he and Baron join Jerome Carvin and Jeremy Banks as in-state high school teammates on here.