PFF 2022 Season Grades: Tennessee Football

Photo by Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee went 11-2 in Josh Heupel’s second season in Knoxville. The Vols earned marquee wins over Florida, LSU, Alabama and Clemson while dropping games at Georgia and South Carolina.

Each week, we’ve posted Tennessee player’s individual grades in the weekly performance. Now with the season over, we take a look at Tennessee player’s full season grades.

If you need a reminder on how Pro Football Focus works, read the opening of the Bowling Green grades.

Elite grade = 90-100, All-Conference = 85-89, Starter = 70-84, Backup = 60-69, Replaceable = 60 >

Offensive Grades (minimum 100 plays)

QB Hendon Hooker — 90.9 (760 plays)

QB Joe Milton III — 84.8 (203 plays)

RB Jaylen Wright — 80.0 (364 plays)

WR Squirrel White — 79.1 (236 plays)

RB Jabari Small — 79.0 (467 plays)

WR Jalin Hyatt — 77.4 (733 plays)

RT Darnell Wright — 72.1 (895 plays)

RB Dylan Sampson — 71.1 (129 plays)

WR Cedric Tillman — 70.3 (368 plays)

OG Ollie Lane — 69.3 (123 plays)

WR Bru McCoy — 66.6 (790 plays)

WR Ramel Keyton — 64.6 (591 plays)

C Cooper Mays — 64.2 (894 plays)

C Parker Ball — 59.6 (107 plays)

RT Dayne Davis — 59.4 (131 plays)

LT Gerald Mincey — 57.5 (457 plays)

TE Princeton Fant — 56.8 (445 plays)

TE Jacob Warren — 55.5 (478 plays)

LG Jerome Carvin — 55.1 (860 plays)

RG Javontez Spraggins — 52.6 (891 plays)

LT Jeremiah Crawford — 47.6 (424 plays)

Tennessee had very good quarterback play this season. Hendon Hooker graded out extremely high and Joe Milton III wasn’t too far behind in two starts and a handful of back up opportunities.

Jaylen Wright is Tennessee’s most talented running back and I’m not sure it’s close. If the North Carolina native can figure out his fumble issues going into 2023 he should see an even more expanded role this season.

Who would start at left tackle was a point of conversation all season. In the end, Gerald Mincey and Jeremiah Crawford split playing time. Mincey earned 33 snaps more than Crawford but neither earned high grades. The offensive tackle position will be a point of conversation again this offseason with Darnell Wright off to the NFL.

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Defensive Grades (minimum 100 plays)

DB Wesley Walker — 77.4 (509 plays)

CB Brandon Turnage — 76.8 (249 plays)

DE Tyler Baron — 73.7 (437 plays)

DE Tyre West — 71.6 (157 plays)

DT Kurott Garland — 71.3 (216 plays)

CB Doneiko Slaughter — 69.9 (485 plays)

LB Aaron Beasley — 69.0 (583 plays)

S Jaylen McCollough — 67.6 (7575 plays)

STAR Tamarion McDonald — 67.4 (717 plays)

DE Josh Josephs — 65.7 (243 plays)

DE Roman Harrison — 64.9 (383 plays)

DE Bryson Eason — 63.8 (309 plays)

CB Kamal Hadden — 63.3 (558 plays)

DE Byron Young — 62.9 (664 plays)

DT Omari Thomas — 62.8 (433 plays)

CB Warren Burrell — 62.4 (135 plays)

LB Elijah Herring — 62.0 (112 plays)

DT Elijah Simmons — 61.7 (130 plays)

DT Da’Jon Terry — 61.7 (231 plays)

DE La’Trell Bumphus — 61.0 (432 plays)

S Trevon Flowers — 60.2 (699 plays)

LB Jeremy Banks — 59.7 (498 plays)

S Andre Turrentine — 58.8 (117 plays)

DE Dominic Bailey — 58.6 (274 plays)

CB De’Shawn Rucker — 58.2 (157 plays)

LB Solon Page III — 52.8 (313 plays)

LB Juwan Mitchell — 52.6 (473 plays)

CB Christian Charles — 52.1 (433 plays)

I was surprised to see Wesley Walker at the top of this list but had felt like he should have played more all season. Moving back-and-forth from STAR to safety, Walker seemed like a better option than both of Tennessee’s starting safeties.

There’s reasons to be optimistic about Tennessee’s defense in 2023, the Vols potentially return their 13 highest graded players from this season. Freshmen Tyre West and Joshua Josephs both earned roles and graded out well.

Tennessee’s defense was mediocre all season and the PFF grades back it up. Sixteen different defensive Vols earned grades in the 60s.

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