Tennessee offensive lineman Trey Smith has proved throughout his career that when he’s healthy, he’s one of the best linemen in the entire SEC. And that’s just what one prominent analyst is expecting of the rising senior during the 2020 football season.
Cole Cubelic, an analyst for ESPN and the SEC Network, released a list of his top five guards along the offensive line in the SEC for the upcoming 2020 season, and Smith topped the list, beating out Alabama’s Deonte Brown, Georgia’s Ben Cleveland, LSU’s Ed Ingram, and South Carolina’s Sadarius Hutcherson.
MY top 5 SEC guards for 2020: pic.twitter.com/rN3lqS8wTx
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) June 11, 2020
Last week, Cubelic ranked Tennessee’s offensive line as a whole as the second-best in the SEC and the best in the SEC East heading into the 2020 season. Smith is a big reason for that optimism from Cubelic.
The 6-foot-6, 335-pound lineman was a First Team All-SEC guard for Tennessee last season and was a finalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year award as well as being awarded the Fritz Pollard Trophy. After his stellar junior campaign, Smith announced in the offseason that he would be returning to UT for his senior season rather than entering into the 2020 NFL Draft.
Smith’s decision to return bolsters what already figured to be a strong group of linemen for the Vols in 2020. One reason Smith elected to return, other than wanting to finish out his time at UT and graduate, was to prove to NFL teams that he’s fully recovered from his blood clot problems and can practice more extensively.
The Jackson, TN native was a Freshman All-American after starting all 12 games for UT as a freshman in 2017, and hopes were high for him in 2018. But blood clots in his lungs left his future up in the air, and he sat out all of spring practices and was limited most of fall camp. He was able to be cleared by doctors to start the 2018 season, but his blood clots resurfaced prior to UT’s match-up on the road with South Carolina. Smith was sidelined the rest of the year, and his future seemed in jeopardy.
Luckily for Smith, doctors were able to find a way to get him back on the field.
Smith returned to Tennessee’s active roster during fall camp of 2019, and he was cleared to play prior to the Vols’ season opener against Georgia State. After that, Smith started the rest of Tennessee’s games and finished as one of the best linemen in the SEC.
Not only is Cubelic high on Smith, but he revealed on Twitter that another Tennessee lineman would likely be in his top five returning guards if he was already deemed eligible.
Rising junior Cade Mays transferred from Georgia to Tennessee earlier this year, but he has yet to hear back from the NCAA about whether or not he’ll be immediately eligible for the 2020 season. But if Mays can play this season, Cubelic believes the former five-star will be another stout interior lineman for Tennessee.
Great chance he squeezes in…
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) June 11, 2020
Smith was also a five-star coming out of high school, joining the Vols as their crown jewel of their 2017 signing class. Smith has played at tackle and guard both for Tennessee in his career, and he’s a projected first-round draft pick if he remains healthy.
