Vols not likely to light up the draft
KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee isn’t expected to have a player selected in the first round when the NFL draft starts tonight, but at least a couple of former Volunteers appear likely to have their names called before things wrap up Saturday at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.
The program ended a twoyear drought without a draft selection last year, when six former Vols were taken in the first four rounds, including defensive end Derek Barnett, who went to the Philadelphia Eagles with the 14th overall selection and won a Super Bowl ring as a rookie.
This year, a trio of early departures — defensive back Rashaan Gaulden, running back John Kelly and defensive lineman Kahlil McKenzie — are Tennessee’s most likely draft candidates. Most projections have Gaulden and Kelly going in the middle rounds, while McKenzie is considered a possible late-round selection.
All three players left Tennessee with a season of eligibility remaining as the Vols came off a 4-8 campaign and underwent a coaching change.
“In high school, I was thinking about what I need to do to get myself to that next level ...”
– DEFENSIVE LINEMAN KAHLIL MCKENZIE
Kelly emerged as Tennessee’s lead running back in 2017 after the departures of Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, who was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year after being taken in the third round by the New Orleans Saints. Kelly is a step slower than Kamara but showed eye-catching versatility in 2017 with 37 receptions, tied for first on the team.
“A lot of teams have compared me to Alvin Kamara just as far as what we can do for an offense,” Kelly said after working out at Tennessee’s pro day last month. “I definitely feel like I was able to develop at Tennessee, being able to go out and catch the ball a little bit more, because now in the NFL there’s a lot of running backs that have to catch the ball, and you have to give an easy target for the quarterback.”
Gaulden declared for the draft after a redshirt junior year in which he emerged as the top playmaker on Tennessee’s defense while playing nickel back.
The biggest surprise of Tennessee’s early departures was McKenzie — the son of Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie — who entered Tennessee as one of the top-rated players in the 2015 recruiting class.
McKenzie, who had 35 tackles and two sacks last year, was featured in a video by Uninterrupted (the LeBron James owned multimedia platform for athletes) previewing the next step of his football career.
“In high school, I was thinking about what I need to do to get myself to that next level so that I can do what I need to do in college to get to the National Football League,” McKenzie says in the video. “That’s all I’ve wanted to do. That’s all I’ve known my whole life. With this time of being in between kind of playing and seeing where you’ll end up, everything kind of slows down. You pay more attention to your body. You pay more attention to what you need to get better at on and off the field.”
At least two other former Vols, punter Trevor Daniel and tight end Ethan Wolf, have an outside shot at being selected in the later rounds. Both are almost certain to have free-agent opportunities if not selected.
Others who worked out at Tennessee’s pro day in hopes of garnering interest from professional teams include offensive linemen Brett Kendrick, Jashon Robertson and Coleman Thomas; defensive backs Justin Martin and Shaq Wiggins; linebacker Colton Jumper; defensive tackle Kendal Vickers; and athlete Evan Berry.
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.