Tennessee football: Walter Camp watch list suggests Cedric Tillman Vols’ best player

Most of the preseason coverage surrounding Tennessee football has been about Hendon Hooker, and for good reason. He’s the returning quarterback who put up incredible stats last year and could break some of Peyton Manning’s records this year.

Meanwhile, Byron Young was the only First Team All-SEC edge rusher selected by the preseason media projections last week. However, neither of them made the Walter Camp 2022 Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.

Cedric Tillman was Tennessee football’s only player on the list for that award, which is another one that’s given annually to the best player. Given the fact that he was on the Maxwell Award Preseason Watch List, this is no surprise.

However, what is a surprise is that if the award was going to pick one Vol to be on there, he would be the guy. You could maybe say that Young wouldn’t get on there because of his position as a defensive player. After all, only eight of the 52 candidates were on defense.

It is a bit shocking, though, that Tillman would be on there over Hooker. Just like Tillman, Hooker was on the Maxwell watch list, and he’s a big reason for the projected success behind the Vols this year. You always go for the quarterbacks, especially the dual-threat ones.

At the same time, though, the award may have gotten this one right. How often is a go-to receiver returning from a 1,000-yard season when his team’s second and third leading receivers are gone, meaning he could put up even more monstrous numbers the next year?

That’s the situation Tillman is in after catching 64 passes for 1,081 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021. His yards are fourth all time in the Vols’ record book for a single season, and his touchdowns are tied for second all time.

Of course, Hooker is a factor here, as his return adds to Tillman’s potential impact. There’s a case that he made Hooker, and if you saw the touchdown catch Tillman had in UT’s opener last year against the Bowling Green Falcons when Joe Milton III was throwing to him it would make sense.

Taking that into account, it’s fair to suggest Tillman is Tennessee football’s best player. Some might find that shocking, but a look at what he did coming from out of nowhere somewhat validates that. Whether or not he translates it into a Walter Camp Award remains to be seen.

This is the third preseason watch list Tillman is on. In addition to the Maxwell Award, he is on the Fred Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List, which is given annually to the nation’s best receiver. So far, no other Vol is on more than two awards.

Overall, though, Tennessee football currently has four players taking up eight spots on seven different awards. Hooker and Jacob Warren are both on two, and Jeremy Banks is on one. As always, though, we can’t ignore the anti-Vol factor with these voters that is historically obvious.