Look: Former Tennessee players on NFL rosters to start the new season

The new NFL season gets underway today with former Tennessee football players scattered across the league. Here’s a look at former Vols on NFL rosters entering Week 1:

QB Joshua Dobbs, Arizona Cardinals: Dobbs will start Sunday against the Washington Commanders. Dobbs has made two starts in eight career games played over three seasons in the NFL. He threw for 7,138 yards and 53 touchdowns in four seasons at Tennessee (2013-2016). He ran for 2,160 yards and 32 touchdowns. 

RB Cordarrelle Patterson, Atlanta Falcons: Patterson enters his 10th year in the league as a four-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro pick. He has 2,330 rushing yards, 2,757 receiving yards and 7,845 career yards in kick returns. He has 46 career touchdowns in the NFL (22 rushing, 15 receiving and nine kickoff return touchdowns). In one electrifying season at Tennessee in 2012, Patterson had 1,086 total yards and eight touchdowns. 

DL Shy Tuttle, Carolina Panthers: Tuttle in his four years in the NFL has started 33 of 63 career games. He has 143 career tackles, with nine tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits, one interception (returned 19 yards as a rookie in 2019) and four career sacks. In four seasons at Tennessee (2015-18), he had 79 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sacks.

OL Cade Mays, Carolina Panthers: Mays was the 199th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, selected by the Panthers in the sixth round. He started twice as a rookie last season while appearing in 11 games. 

OL Darnell Wright, Chicago Bears: Wright was the No. 10 overall pick in the NFL Draft back in April. He’ll be the Day 1 starter at right tackle for the Bears, after starring at the position for Tennessee last season.

WR Velus Jones Jr, Chicago Bears: Jones as a rookie in 2022 had 103 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, 107 receiving yards and a touchdown catch 642 yards in punt and kick returns. He was a third-round pick by the Bears in the 2022 NFL Draft, selected at No. 71 overall, after recording 1,026 receiving yards and 272 punt return yards in two seasons at Tennessee.

WR Cedric Tillman, Cleveland Browns: Tillman was the No. 74 overall pick in the NFL Draft back in April, selected by the Browns in the third round. Tillman was a breakout star in Year 1 of the Josh Heupel era in 2021, with 1,081 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. A high-ankle sprain limited him to six games last season. 

DB Emmanuel Moseley, Detroit Lions: Moseley has started 33 games in 45 career games over the five seasons in the NFL, all with the San Francisco 49ers. He has four interceptions and 1622 career tackles, including five tackles for loss. In four seasons at Tennessee (2014-17), Moseley had 141 career tackles, two interceptions and 9.5 tackles for loss.

DB Cameron Sutton, Detroit Lions: Sutton has started 39 of 84 career games in the NFL, spending the last six seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. At Tennessee (2013-16), Sutton had 127 tackles, with 13.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sacks.

LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Detroit Lions: Reeves-Maybin has started 14 times in 87 games in six seasons in the league, with 187 career tackles. At Tennessee (2013-16), he racked up 240 total tackles, 27.0 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks. 

QB Hendon Hooker, Detroit Lions: Hooker, a third-round pick by the Detroit Lions, will start the season on the non-football injury list after tearing his ACL in November. While starring at Tennessee the last two seasons, Hooker passed for 6,080 yards and 58 touchdowns and added 1,050 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. 

OL Trey Smith, Kansas City Chiefs: Smith slipped to the sixth round in the 2021 NFL Draft after dealing with blood clot issues during his time at Tennessee, but he has started all 33 career games with the Kansas City Chiefs and already has a Super Bowl ring. 

FB Jakob Johnson, Las Vegas Raiders: Johnson has played in 54 career games in the NFL over four seasons as a fullback with the New England Patriots and now the Las Vegas Raiders. He has caught 18 passes for 93 yards, including a touchdown with the Patriots in 2020. Johnson started as a defensive lineman at Tennessee in 2014 and 2015, recording 11 tackles, before moving to tight end, where he caught three passes for 23 yards 2016 and 2017.

WR Joshua Palmer, Los Angeles Chargers: Palmer in his first two seasons in the NFL has started 16 times in 33 career games. He has caught 105 passes for 1,122 yards and seven touchdowns. He was the 77th overall pick in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, after catching 99 passes for 1,514 yards and seven touchdowns at Tennessee (2017-2020).

DE Byron Young, Los Angeles Rams: Young over the last two seasons had 83 total tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks before getting picked in the third round of the NFL Draft in April. 

DE Derek Barnett, Philadelphia Eagles: Barnett in his first five seasons in the league has 147 tackles and 21.5 sacks. Barnett broke Reggie White’s career sack record at Tennessee when he record 32.0 from 2014-2016. He had 9.0 as a freshman in 2014, 10.0 in 2015 and then 13.0 in 2016, before becoming a first-round pick in the NFL Draft. 

DB Theo Jackson, Minnesota Vikings: Jackson was a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft after recording 190 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and three interception in five seasons at Tennessee (2017-2021). Last season in Minnesota he played in 11 games, recording nine tackles and recovering one fumble.  

DB Alontae Taylor, New Orleans Saints: Taylor, a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, started nine times in 13 games last season, finished with 46 tackles, one tackle for loss and 11 passes defended. In four season at Tennessee (2018-2021), Taylor had 162 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and four interceptions, returning one for a touchdown in the win at Kentucky in 2021.

RB Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints: Kamara in his first six seasons in the NFL has rushed for 5,135 yards and 49 touchdowns while adding 3,753 receiving yards and 22 touchdown receptions. In two seasons at Tennessee (2015-2016), Kamara rushed for 1,294 yards and 16 touchdown while catching 74 passes for 683 yards and seven touchdown receptions.

WR Jalin Hyatt, New York Giants: Hyatt was a breakout star last season at Tennessee, catching 67 passes for 1,769 yards and setting a new program record for single-season touchdowns with 15. He was a third-round pick in the NFL Draft in April and was a standout during his first training camp with the Giants.

WR Jajuan Jennings, San Francisco 49ers: Jennings caught 146 passes for 2,153 yards and 18 touchdowns during five seasons at Tennessee (2015-2019), before becoming a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. In two seasons with the 49ers, Jennings has 59 receptions for 698 yards and six touchdowns. 

DL Darrell Taylor, Seattle Seahawks: Taylor has 63 tackles in 32 games with the Seahawks. He has 16.0 sacks, including 9.5 last season, and 15 tackles for loss. He was a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, after recording 118 tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks in five seasons at Tennessee (2015-2019). He had 16.5 sacks over his last two seasons with the Vols. 

LS Morgan Cox, Tennesse Titans: Cox is the longest tenured former Tennessee player in the NFL, entering his 14th season. His next game will be his 200th. He played 165 with the Baltimore Ravens over 11 years and spent the last two with the Titans, playing 34 games in Tennessee. Cox played 39 games for the Vols between 2007 and 2009.

Practice Squad

DB Micah Abernathy, Atlanta Falcons … DL Kendal Vickers, Buffalo Bills … TE Princeton Fant, Dallas Cowboys … DL Matthew Butler, Las Vegas Raiders … WR Marquez Callaway, Las Vegas Raiders … DE Kyle Phillips, New Orleans Saints