Tennessee football concluded its 2025 season with a 30-28 loss against Illinois on Tuesday evening in the Music City Bowl. The Vols took a fourth quarter lead on a Joakim Dodson kick return touchdown before Illinois drove down the field and made a chip shot field goal as time expired.
If you need a reminder on how Pro Football Focus works, read the opening of the Syracuse grades.
Let’s see how the Vols graded out.
Elite grade = 90-100, All-Conference = 85-89, Starter = 70-84, Backup = 60-69, Replaceable = 60 >
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Offensive Grades (minimum 11 plays — 20% of offensive plays)
RT David Sanders Jr. — 85.6 (55 plays)
RB Star Thomas — 81.0 (17 plays)
QB Joey Aguilar — 76.4 (55 plays)
LT Lance Heard — 71.2 (55 plays)
WR Mike Matthews — 68.7 (53 plays)
RB DeSean Bishop — 68.2 (38 plays)
RG Jesse Perry — 67.4 (55 plays)
LG Sham Umarov — 65.8 (55 plays)
TE Ethan Davis — 65.0 (48 plays)
WR Radarious Jackson — 63.1 (19 plays)
TE Miles Kitselman — 62.7 (22 plays)
WR Travis Smith Jr — 62.1 (15 plays)
C Sam Pendleton — 58.9 (55 plays)
WR Braylon Staley — 56.5 (51 plays)
In a game short on positives, freshman David Sanders Jr. earned the highest grade of his season and enters a critical offseason playing good football.
Star Thomas also finished his college career strong by rushing for 67 yards on nine carries. His performance down the stretch makes it confusing why Peyton Lewis got so many carries as Tennessee’s secondary back behind DeSean Bishop.
On the other side, it was a rare poor game for Braylon Staley. He was as consistent as any Tennessee offensive player this season but struggled in the season finale.
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Defensive Grades (minimum 15 plays — 20% of defensive plays)
CB Ty Redmond — 79.5 (57 plays)
LEO Jordan Ross — 74.3 (33 plays)
LB Edwin Spillman — 73.0 (60 plays)
DT Bryson Eason — 71.8 (50 plays)
STAR Jalen McMurray — 71.7 (17 plays)
S Andrew Turrentine — 64.7 (64 plays)
LB Jadon Perlotte — 64.2 (44 plays)
CB William Wright — 61.5 (72 plays)
DT Daevin Hobbs — 59.1 (31 plays)
DE Tyre West — 58.9 (30 plays)
DT Nathan Robinson — 57.3 (18 plays)
S Edrees Farooq — 57.0 (63 plays)
LEO Caleb Herring — 55.4 (50 plays)
LB Jeremiah Telander — 54.1 (52 plays)
CB Tre Poteat — 52.5 (19 plays)
LB Ben Bolton — 50.0 (24 plays)
DE Dominic Bailey — 47.8 (53 plays)
S Kaleb Beasley — 35.6 (17 plays)
The defensive grades were … rough. Ten of the 18 players who played 15 snaps earning a grade under 60 is a rough showing.
Ty Redmond started the year with opponents picking on him. By the end of the year he was playing at a high level, allowing just one catch on six targets. He projects as a high-level player going forward for Tennessee.
Two players who were just a play short of qualifying— linebacker Jaedon Harmon earned a 75.1 grade in 14 plays while defensive end Tyree Weathersby earned a 59.0 grade in 14 snaps/
3 Responses
Terrible, on both sides of the ball, hate to it, coach will be on hot 🔥 seat in 26 if things keep going the same direction.
Terrible, on both sides of the ball
Terrible, on both sides of the ball all game.