The first fall camp is on the way for Tennessee football freshman offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. and people can't wait to see what he gets done. The 5-star OT graduated high school early and participated in spring camp, turning heads each and every session.
Now, he's going to take things to the next level, as we're about six weeks away from the Vols and Syracuse facing off in Week 1. We don't know who the starting quarterback will be yet, but it will be on Sanders and the rest of the guys up front to protect whoever wins the job.
Senior tight end Miles Kitselman has no doubt in his mind that Sanders is going to answer the call for head man Josh Heupel and that the freshman will play beyond his years in 2025. Kitselman made that much clear while speaking with reporters at SEC Media Days.
Miles Kitselman knows that Tennessee freshman David Sanders Jr. will be a stud
“Coach Heup talks on it all the time,” Kitselman said via GoVols247. “The young guys don’t have time to be young, and David Sanders walks around like he’s a fifth-year senior, and I love that. I love how mature he is, and that automatically brings that class (along) because everybody in that class looks up to him. So when they see him handling his business and being mature about it, they do the exact same stuff. He’s been great to us.”
You've got to love seeing what Kitselman had to say about the true frosh. Once camp gets here, Sanders will immediately jump into the starting right tackle role and the hope is he'll be able to gel immediately with the rest of the starters up front.
When Sanders first committed to the Vols, there was loads of excitement. However, that excitement wore off a bit when Ohio State went all-in to flip him. At the start of the Early Signing Period, Sanders didn't make things official with the Vols, which sent some people into panic mode.
Thankfully, however, Sanders put the pen to paper with Tennessee before the week came to a close and everyone was beyond relieved. He was one of the top prospects overall for the 2025 class and the expectations for him this campaign are huge. With that said, people are confident he'll live up to the hype and Kitselman is sure he'll be a stud in the trenches for UT.