Tennessee Football: Volunteers' Top All-American Candidates
If the hype is real and this truly is going to be an exciting Tennessee football season, the Vols are going to need some heroes to emerge.
That's not talking about players who post nice numbers and produce quality seasons, either. We're talking about bona fide All-American campaigns; the kind of seasons that get your name remembered in history books or your number enshrined in rafters.
For a team this young to shine, some guys have to rise above the rest of the pack.
Every great team has stars, and coach Butch Jones' 2015 Vols have their share of potential studs, even if most of them aren't yet proven.
Perhaps the best thing about UT's potential this season is it has veteran, experienced and talented players in vital positions. Quarterback Joshua Dobbs has started long stretches in each of the past two seasons, and the Vols have a formidable pass-rushing duo that can wreak havoc on quarterbacks.
Their secondary could be extremely stout, and there are former star prospects in place at other positions who could break out and have monster seasons.
If a team has one or two All-Americans, it can be special. So, obviously, all of these guys won't make the list. But who are the Vols most likely to get national recognition at the end of the season?
Let's take a look at UT's top candidates to be mentioned among the nation's best players.
Derek Barnett, Defensive End
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The biggest no-brainer on the list is Tennessee sophomore defensive end Derek Barnett.
The 6'3", 268-pound Nashville native was praised for his nonstop motor in fall camp last year, and that translated into a transcendent season that was the best of any freshman defensive lineman in the nation.
He wound up with 72 tackles (an insane number for a defensive lineman), 10 sacks and 20.5 tackles for a loss to earn Freshman All-American honors. After missing this spring recovering from an injury, he'll be back on the field and ready to dominate yet again.
With youth on his side and with potential stars such as Kahlil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle alongside him and senior defensive end Curt Maggitt, Barnett could be even more special. Opponents simply can't pay him extra attention with all the talent they will have to combat.
Tennessee coach Butch Jones told ESPN.com's Alex Scarborough that Barnett is "nowhere near as good as he’s going to be."
He also noted how much quicker he's getting off the line because he's understanding the mechanical nuances of the position and learning to use his hands better.
Considering Barnett easily would have fit on any All-American team a season ago, the attention he'll receive in 2015 could translate into honors and awards. He's certainly good enough to get them.
Joshua Dobbs, Quarterback
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There are plenty of quality quarterbacks in the nation, but UT signal-caller Joshua Dobbs has something few of them do: the ability to beat teams with his arm or his feet.
Though his passing skills weren't fully developed a season ago, some mechanical tweaks in the width of his throwing stance led to more zip on the ball this spring. His accuracy improved, too.
Considering few nationally are as smart as the aerospace engineering major, if he can put everything together between the sidelines to match what's between his ears, Dobbs will be special.
He has talented pass-catchers around him who should be eager to shake the inconsistency shackles, and with running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara in the backfield, there are weapons galore. If the UT offensive line can keep defenders off Dobbs' back, he should make a lot happen.
It's not out of the realm of possibility that he can have a Dak Prescott-like year. Building off the strong finish from a season ago is something the Vols are banking on.
"He's proven himself," Coach Jones said at SEC media days. "We understand what we're getting with Josh Dobbs. We always talk about consistency in performance, and we know what we're getting with Josh day in and day out, week in and week out."
You could play a drinking game with the number of times Jones mentioned "CEO quarterback" in the same breath as "Josh Dobbs" this offseason, and if his numbers match the ownership of the team that he's taken on, the Vols could have a huge year.
And Dobbs could be a dark horse for the Heisman Trophy.
Jalen Hurd, Running Back
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Sophomore running back Jalen Hurd perhaps represents the biggest long shot on this list, and it has nothing to do with the 6'3", 242-pound runner's ability.
Instead, it's the horses that stampede across football fields around the nation, such as Nick Chubb, Leonard Fournette, Ezekiel Elliott, Samaje Perine, Royce Freeman, James Conner and others, that could keep him from receiving recognition.
With a group like that, it's going to be tough for Hurd to hoist hardware. Not to mention there's another potential star in Alvin Kamara who'll share a backfield, keeping Hurd fresh but stealing carries.
Still, a talent with a size-speed combo such as Hurd's can't be overlooked. A season ago running behind a terrible offensive line, he still managed more than 1,100 all-purpose yards and seven touchdowns in a freshman season where he missed most of two games.
As a freshman in 2014, Hurd played banged-up much of the year because he had to shoulder the majority of the load. When he had some rest for nearly a month prior to the TaxSlayer Bowl, he came out and showed out versus Iowa.
This spring, after spending much of the time in a no-contact jersey, he displayed elite speed getting to the corner against UT's defense.
"We had time off before," Hurd told Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Patrick Brown this past spring, "and I think you saw all big numbers around college football, just because everyone had been rested and healthy."
Keeping Hurd fresh may wind up producing massive numbers. It'll be tough for him to get the amount of recognition it takes to become an All-American, but at the very least, he'll finish the year as a household name.
Curt Maggitt, Defensive End/Outside Linebacker
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Much of the headlines (rightfully) revolve around fellow defensive end sensation Derek Barnett, but once Curt Maggitt got fully healthy as the 2014 season wore on, few could stop him.
Though his tackles remained steady, the rising senior from West Palm Beach, Florida, broke out after last year's Alabama game. He had 26 tackles in the season's first eight games and finished with 22 in the final five.
More importantly, he began to make his presence known in impact plays. Eight of his 15 tackles for a loss came during UT's 4-1 stretch to close the year, and seven of his 11 sacks were during that span, too.
Maggitt went from emotional team leader to a formidable, lead-by-example force on the field.
Now, he'll enter a senior season where he has something to prove to the NFL to become a high draft pick. He also is firmly of the belief that UT has to prove it belongs, too, and getting this kind of team attention is why he came to Knoxville in the first place.
He also has high aspirations personally, telling ESPN.com's Edward Aschoff at SEC media days in Hoover, Alabama, that he feels he's the best outside linebacker in the league.
Whether Maggitt has his hand down in nickel packages or is standing up in traditional 4-3 sets, he has the potential to be a massive force for the Vols.
He is experienced, talented and faster than he has been since the opening game of the 2012 season before turf toe and the serious knee injury derailed his career. He's also hungry to get UT back to its place competing for championships.
Aaron Medley, Kicker
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Kind of a wild card on the list is sophomore kicker Aaron Medley, who quietly had a brilliant freshman season in 2014.
You won't find him on any preseason watch lists or award discussions, and that's fine. The bottom line is the Lewisburg, Tennessee, native was one of the best young kickers in all of football.
He wound up making 20 of his 26 field-goal attempts (the fourth-most in Tennessee history), including an almost-automatic 19-of-20 inside of 39 yards. The consistency is something you can't teach a kicker, and the consistency from longer distances will come.
Medley has the leg to boot 60-plus-yard field goals and has routinely made kicks from that distance in practices. He also made all but one of his 43 extra-point attempts and did a good job kicking off.
He also proved he has the ice water flowing through him with the game on the line. As GoVols247's Wes Rucker wrote:
"The other thing Medley did last season was prove he was capable of producing in clutch situations. His 32-yard overtime field goal at South Carolina proved to be the difference in that thrilling, come-from-behind win in Columbia. You could suggest a 32-yard field goal is a gimme, and you wouldn’t be wrong, but there’s no such thing as an easy kick in overtime, and Medley showed he could produce in that spot. He made other big kicks throughout the season, too, and he never looked fazed. His mind might have been going in 1,000 different directions, but no one saw him sweat, and that’s big.
"
Medley may be a bit of an out-of-the-box selection for this list, but any time you can combine accuracy, consistency, confidence and a powerful leg into one kicker, you've got the potential for greatness.
Medley has what it takes.
Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Outside Linebacker
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A season ago, Jalen Reeves-Maybin was just transitioning from being a special teams weapon to having an everyday role on the weak side of Tennessee's defense.
Now, he's transitioning into stardom.
His 2014 season was largely overlooked in a conference filled with star linebackers, but JRM gobbled up tackles like Pac-Man, finishing tied for the team lead with 101 and also registering 11 tackles for a loss.
Not only did he finish plays, he also made them behind the line of scrimmage.
At 6'1", 225 pounds, JRM isn't overly big, but he has probably put on a few pounds since his UTSports.com profile was updated, and, if he's needed, he may be able to even shift inside to give the Vols some athleticism at the gaping hole they have at middle linebacker.
What would be best, however, is if somebody else can fill that role and JRM can stay on the weak side, where he's a terror and where he can roam sideline-to-sideline making plays.
Last year, JRM played so many snaps that he'd lost a bit of a step around November. Once he got some rest, he had the best game of his career against Iowa as one of the three or four best players on the entire field.
With Cortez McDowell being able to spell him this year, JRM should be able to maintain that level of speed and aggressiveness throughout the season, which would be huge for the Vols.
A.J. Johnson and all his tackle numbers are gone, so this is JRM's time to rack up the stops. He'll have to do more than make tackles to be an All-American, but he's definitely talented enough to seize the opportunity and become a national name.
Cameron Sutton, Cornerback
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He is 6'1", 190 pounds, sneaky fast, smart enough to bait quarterbacks into bad throws and talented enough to snag them from the air when they do. He watches game film like some players watch movies, and he has developed into a premier player who has perfected his craft.
So, why doesn't UT junior cornerback Cameron Sutton get more publicity?
He doesn't know, and he doesn't care.
Despite a superb, lockdown season in 2014, Sutton's name wasn't on many postseason award lists. He isn't on many preseason award watches, either. Laughably, he wasn't one of the names listed for the Jim Thorpe Award watch list.
But his peers know who he is, and opposing coaches and quarterbacks certainly do.
"I like Cam Sutton from Tennessee," Florida's Vernon Hargreaves III said at SEC media days, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press' Patrick Brown. "He's a good player. We play similar, I would say. We have about the same numbers."
Hargreaves is a first-team All-American and former Freshman All-American whose name is on the tip of everybody's tongues as the best cornerback in America. Sutton is still a virtual unknown, though he'll probably wind up a high draft pick if he elects to go out a year early after this season.
To say Sutton is one of UT's best chances to be an All-American may seem a little outlandish considering he's football's version of the Invisible Man. But the bottom line is he deserves to be on this list as well as many around the nation who didn't include him.
If he keeps turning off one side of the field like a light switch, somebody will notice soon enough and mention his name where it belongs: among the nation's best defensive backs.
All quotes obtained via SEC Network broadcast, unless otherwise noted. All statistics gathered from UTSports.com unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information obtained from 247Sports.
Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.
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