2 Former Vols Were HUGE Standouts At The NFL Combine...

AtoZ Sports

Lucas Panzica recaps the NFL Scouting Combine and notes which two former Tennessee Volunteers made waves in front of front office personnel.

Transcript

00:00The NFL Scouting Combine is over and two former Tennessee players turned some heads in Indianapolis over the weekend

00:10Hey Lucas Panzechi here from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports

00:14So six former Vols were invited to the Combine in Indianapolis in the lead-up to the 2025

00:21NFL Draft two of them stole the show a little bit

00:24Especially in one of the tests that everybody pays attention to and that is the 40 time we begin with Tennessee edge rusher

00:32James Pierce jr. Who was the fastest among defensive linemen with the four four seven forty

00:38There's a list of NFL players elite at their respective positions that ran a slower 40 than James Pierce jr.

00:45At the Combine. I mean that list includes Christian McCaffrey

00:48AJ Brown Pat Mahomes among several others and James Pierce jr.

00:53Flash not just the speed in the 40

00:55But just the fluidity and agility in all of the drills for defensive linemen on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium

01:02You think back to where his draft stock was before the 2024 season James Pierce jr.

01:08Was being talked about potentially as the number one overall pick in the 2025 draft at that point

01:15He was considered to be the best edge rusher in the 2025 draft now James Pierce jr. Had a nice

01:212024 it didn't show up maybe in the sack numbers as much as we thought it would but when you look at pressures

01:28Hurries the way that he impacted games James Pierce jr.

01:31Had a phenomenal season

01:32But it was overshadowed by Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter who raced by him as the number one edge

01:39Prospect in this draft and then coming into Indy James Pierce jr. Had some work to do

01:44He was being left off of mock drafts thought of as now even a borderline

01:48second round pick with rumors of character issues

01:52Right reasons why Tennessee never trotted him out there to meet with the media as a student-athlete with the Vols

01:59Well, James Pierce jr.

02:00Showed up to Indy determined to put all of that to rest now how he fared in the interview process with these teams

02:06We cannot know but what we can know is what showed up on the field and that was the testing where James Pierce jr.

02:14Showed that he is one of the most athletic prospects in this entire draft

02:19Now the one area where James Pierce jr. Could have fared a little bit better was the vertical jump

02:24He had a vert of 31 inches and you compare that to Tennessee defensive lineman Elijah Simmons who despite being?

02:3161 and almost a hundred pounds heavier than James Pierce had a vertical of 32 inches

02:37Which is incredible for Simmons, but apart from the vertical James Pierce jr.

02:42I think made himself some money in Indianapolis

02:45I would expect his name to be called in the first round of the upcoming draft and then there's Tennessee wide receiver

02:51Dante Thornton the Oregon transfer who led Tennessee in receiving in 2024 flashed with a 40 time of 4-3 flat

02:59That was second fastest among receivers at the combine in 2025

03:04This is a very deep wide receiver class

03:07so Dante Thornton did a nice job in Indianapolis taking advantage of the

03:12Opportunity to just have some movement up those boards if an NFL team on day two or three is

03:18Looking for a deep threat which he proved he can do on an explosive and efficient rate with Tennessee in the 2024 season

03:26So we'll see how it all shakes out for these guys

03:28There's no question that this trickles down to the program the higher these players get drafted the better for Josh Heupel in Tennessee

03:36From a recruiting standpoint, especially at the wide receiver position

03:40I think it would really help the Vols to have a proof of concept of

03:44Offensive players skill position players going from Tennessee to the NFL and excelling at that level

03:51It hasn't quite happened in the Josh Heupel era

03:54Dante Thornton a big opportunity for that to happen and we'll see how much that 40 time helped his draft stock

04:00but we'll see what happens the Green Bay draft comes up in April of

04:042025 and there's a few Vols that should expect to hear their names

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