With the 2016 draft – one in which no Vols were selected – now in the books, analysts are already turning their attention to 2017.
And while it’s been silent the past two years in the draft for the Vols, 2017 will be much different with at least half a dozen Vols getting serious draft buzz heading into this season. The decision of several key underclassmen – Alvin Kamara, Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Cam Sutton – to return to UT for their senior season contributed to UT likely having a much heavier presence next year.
But the name drawing the most attention early is defensive end Derek Barnett, who will be draft-eligible for the first time in 2017. First-round projections have been common for Barnett, but CBS took it up a notch, mocking him in the top 10 in its “Super-early 2017 NFL Mock Draft.”
Barnett went off the board to the Miami Dolphins at No. 10 in this projection.
“Cameron Wake and Mario Williams are the present and Barnett, who led the Volunteers with 10.0 sacks last season, could be the future,” wrote Dane Brugler under his projection of Barnett to Miami.
Barnett is getting similar praise from WalterFootball.com, which ranks him as the No. 2 overall draft-eligible defensive end for 2017 at this point. Here is Barnett’s evaluation from that site:
“In 2015, Barnett had 69 tackles with 12.5 for a loss and 10 sack. He is a fast edge defender who is a natural pass-rusher. Barnett notched 10 sacks as a freshman and was extremely impressive for the Volunteers. He also added 72 tackles with 20.5 tackles for a loss. Barnett (6-3, 268) set freshman records at Tennessee and clearly has a lot of upside.”
Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett is the only defensive end consistently showing up in rankings ahead of Barnett at this point, and with a solid junior season, there seems to be few limits on how high Barnett could end up going should he declare early following the 2016 season.
