Tennessee likely won’t have the loaded draft class in 2018 that it did in 2017, but ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. thinks one UT player is near the top of his position in terms of 2018 draft rankings – punter Trevor Daniel.
Daniel is ranked as the third best senior punter for the 2018 class, ranking only behind Alabama punter J.K. Scott and Florida punter Johnny Townsend.
Daniel, who earned a scholarship after coming to UT as a walk-on out of Dickson County, has become one of the best punters in the nation over the course of the past two seasons. He started 25 straight games for the Vols and has a career punting average of 45.1 yards per punt with 53 punts downed inside the 20 and a career long of 70.
He’s been named to the Ray Guy Award Watch List the past two seasons and should be a serious contender for the award again in 2017.
No punters were picked in the 2017 draft, so it might be a long shot for Daniel to be picked next year because of his position. But with a strong senior season, he should have a great opportunity to get into a camp in 2018, and he could become the fourth UT punter in the league, joining Dustin and Britton Colquitt and Matt Darr.
