Despite Tennessee Football having multiple star players on NFL rosters heading into the season, only one VFL made the cut for CBS Sports’ Top 100 current players list this past week. And the one that’s on the list is a pretty recent player, at that.
Former Tennessee EDGE rusher Byron Young lands as the Vols’ lone representative on Pete Prisco’s list, coming in at the No. 82 spot. Young was not ranked on last year’s list, but had a huge third season with the Los Angeles Rams last fall.
“He has been a force on the Rams’ defensive line since entering the league and had his best season with 12 sacks in 2025,” Prisco writes. “Now he gets the benefit of playing alongside Myles Garrett.”
Young was selected for his first-ever Pro Bowl during his third season in the league in 2025. He racked up career highs in tackles (82), solo tackles (45), assisted tackles (37), and sacks (12.0) during the season. He also tallied one forced fumble and 5.5 stuffs during the year.
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Last year’s list from Prisco didn’t fare much better, with Chiefs OG Trey Smith being the only Vol on the list at No. 90. Notably, VFL RB Alvin Kamara, though aging in his own right, did not make the list in either year. Neither did WR Jauan Jennings nor CB Alontae Taylor.
Tennessee is sort of in a transitional period when it comes to NFL players, though. Out of the 41 total Tennessee players who are either in the NFL this summer, 33 of them spent at least one year in Knoxville during the Josh Heupel era. There’s still plenty of time for some of these players to develop in the league and make their mark on this list sometime down the road.
Possible candidates to wind up on this list in the coming years include CB Colton Hood, WR Chris Brazzell, DL Omarr Norman-Lott, OG Trey Smith, DL James Pearce Jr., and CB Jermod McCoy if he can stay healthy.
Check out Pete Prisco’s full list for CBS Sports here.
