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