KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – On Wednesday, Tennessee football offered an all-access preview to NFL scouts and staff. The event started with the Volunteers’ inaugural spring scrimmage at Neyland Stadium and continued with Pro Day at the Anderson Training Center.
Attendees included all 32 NFL teams and witnessed 15 VFLs take part in Pro Day. During a two-hour scrimmage in which UT played all three phases, they also got a taste of what the 2024 Vols would look like in full pads. Josh Heupel, the head coach, gave the group of young players who experienced their first scrimmage high marks.
“Mike (Matthews) made a big play down the sideline today,” Heupel stated. “I felt he put in a lot of effort competing the entire day. Certain of our younger defensive backs appeared to be just tackling in space.
Those foundational skills are crucial as we progress through spring ball. Boo Carter performed admirably when creating plays in space.”
Heupel revealed that following surgery on his shoulder on Tuesday, sophomore running back Cam Seldon will miss the rest of the spring. Due to Seldon’s absence, the majority of the backfield reps were taken by redshirt freshman DeSean Bishop, true freshman Khalifa Keith, and junior Dylan Sampson.
McCallan Castles, a tight end, was one of the Pro Day standouts. At 6-foot-4 and 244 pounds, he recorded a 10-foot-6 broad jump and a 37.5-inch vertical jump. At this year’s NFL Combine, those scores would have placed first and third, respectively, among tight ends.
Combine invitee Kamal Hadden, a cornerback, recorded a vertical leap of 34.5 inches and a broad jump of 10 feet 2 inches. Running back Jabari Small and defensive back Gabe Jeudy-Lally both recorded 36-inch vertical jumps, which was the second best result.
Participating in his position group practice, Jaylen Wright—who many experts rank as one of the top two running backs in this year’s draft—maintained his impressive NFL Combine results in the 40-yard sprint (4.38), broad jump (11-2), and vertical jump (38
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