Tennessee football: Top 10 Vols from out-of-state on 2022 roster
Defensive back. Jaylen McCollough. 839. Senior. 5. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis
6’0″ 205 pounds
Welcome back to Georgia for talent. A two and a half year starter at strong safety, Jaylen McCollough was one of the few guys to help make Josh Heupel’s transition last year easy. The Austell, Ga., native committed to Tennessee football out of Hillgrove High School in Powder Springs, which is in Cobb County just outside of Atlanta.
As a four-star at the time, McCollough was more of a hard-hitting safety. However, last year he emerged as a solid player in coverage. For the year, he came away with a team-leading three interceptions, and he also had five pass deflections. That didn’t stop him from being an elite physical defensive back as well.
McCollough came away with a forced fumble, three and a half tackles for a loss, a sack and 49 overall tackles, 35 of which were solo. Simply put, he’s a safety who was able to do it all, and another year of experience in Tim Banks’ system should do wonders for him.
Despite his improvements in coverage, McCollough joins the linebackers with issues in containment, and that’s why his PFF regular season grade was the lowest on defense outside of those linebackers. It’s an area he needs to work on this offseason to maximize his game.