Years of futility and all the drama heading into last season has really hurt Tennessee football when it comes to in-state talent. As a result, to rebuild the Vols Josh Heupel had to go other places to find talent. Using the transfer portal and connections to some of his old stomping grounds, that helped at least with the 2022 recruiting class.
However, going national is nothing new for the Vols. Last year, Heupel had to turn to out-of-state guys Jeremy Pruitt brought in. He did just that, and in the process, he actually helped create a few superstars we didn’t see coming thanks to a superb coaching job his first season.
The best players from out-of-state on Rocky Top this year come from Eastern, Central and even Pacific time zones. To make this list ranking them, they have to have played for the Vols last year. Too many factors are at play for newcomers. Here are Tennessee football’s 10 best players from outside the state.
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Three returning rotational linebackers include one in-state player in Jeremy Banks and two Georgia kids, Solon Page III and Aaron Beasley. To be fair, Juwan Mitchell is expected to take a huge leap forward this year too, and he’s from New Jersey, but he missed the vast majority of last year due to injury.
That leaves Beasley and Page, and of the two Beasley gets the nod. He played more snaps than Page last year, racked up more stats and had a higher PFF regular season grade. Now, he had issues as a converted defensive back playing linebacker, but his production still stands out.
A graduate of Heard County High School in Franklin, Ga., Beasley finished last year with seven and a half tackles for a loss, one and a half sacks, two fumble recoveries and 84 tackles, 34 of which were solo. His containment is probably the best of the main returning linebackers, but if he can improve that more, he’ll be a weapon for Tennessee football.