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Where Will The Former Tennessee Vols Will Land In The 2025 NFL Draft?
AtoZ Sports
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4/27/2025
Lucas Panzica talks about former Tennessee Vols that are heading to the NFL Draft, focusing in on the one that has the best chance to hear his name called in the 1st round.
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00:00
The NFL Draft is right around the corner, and the Tennessee Vols have multiple players that could hear their name called,
00:05
but only one with a legitimate opportunity to be a first-round pick.
00:12
Hey, Lucas Panzeca with you from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports.
00:16
The Draft is almost here, the first round, starting on Thursday in Green Bay, and it'll carry on through Saturday.
00:23
Several Tennessee players have been going through the pre-draft process, going to the Senior Bowl in Mobile,
00:28
the Combine, in Indy, Pro Day in Knoxville, and now they wait to hear their name called.
00:33
But only one could potentially hear it in the first round, and that, of course, is edge rusher James Pierce Jr.
00:40
Before we talk about his draft stock as it is now, let's go back to before the start of the 2024 season,
00:46
when James Pierce Jr., in a lot of way-too-early mock drafts, was being projected as potentially the number one overall pick,
00:53
certainly the best edge rusher in the class.
00:56
Then the 2024 season followed, Tennessee's defense obviously was elite.
01:00
James Pierce individually had a solid but not spectacular season,
01:05
and then you saw multiple prospects like Abdul Carter, Jalen Walker, even Mike Green out of Marshall,
01:10
zoom by him in the pre-draft process as it relates to the edge rusher position.
01:15
So here we are a couple of days before the draft, and most major draft analysts are projecting
01:20
James Pierce Jr. to be a late first-round, early second-round pick.
01:24
I will say I'll be surprised if Pierce is not selected in the first round.
01:29
The traits just jump off the page too much.
01:32
Elite athleticism and speed as displayed at the scouting combine in Indianapolis,
01:37
and when you look at where he could land in that range of the late 20s, early 30s,
01:42
James Pierce Jr. has a real opportunity to land with a contender that'll put him in a great position to succeed.
01:49
Maybe the Detroit Lions there late in the 20s where he could pair up opposite Aiden Hutchinson
01:54
off the edge of that Lions defense.
01:56
The Eagles have made a living over the last few years out of drafting SEC superstars
02:01
that fall to them in the bottom of the first round and make them Pro Bowl caliber players.
02:06
We'll see if James Pierce Jr. gets that opportunity on the first night of the draft.
02:11
Certainly, it would be a big bonus for the Tennessee program to have another first-round pick
02:15
under their belts in the Hypo era, even though it is a defensive player.
02:19
That stuff absolutely trickles down to recruiting.
02:22
So who's the next Tennessee player after Pierce that'll hear his name called?
02:26
That is something we are not sure of, but stands to reason it'll be one of two players,
02:31
either running back Dylan Sampson or defensive lineman Omar Norman Lott.
02:35
We'll start with Sampson, obviously a record-breaking season for Tennessee last year.
02:39
SEC Offensive Player of the Year projects as a day two or three pick,
02:43
but he is in a loaded class of running backs.
02:46
That certainly works against him.
02:48
And then Omar Norman Lott, who really flashed at the Senior Bowl in Mobile.
02:52
That's a sleeper that a lot of NFL draft experts have gotten very excited about.
02:57
Again, Tennessee rotates heavily on the defensive line,
03:00
so there wasn't as much tape on Omar Norman Lott as a lot of analysts would have liked.
03:05
But I get the feeling he also will be a day two or day three pick for Tennessee early day three
03:11
if he does fall that far.
03:13
And then there's a collection of a few others, whether it's Dante Thornton,
03:16
Brew McCoy, Cooper Mays, Omari Thomas, all guys that could hear their name called.
03:22
The more, the better for Tennessee football.
03:24
With the NFL draft coming up this weekend in Green Bay,
03:27
and we'll see how things land for those VFLs.
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