Tennessee football's NFL Draft history under head coach Josh Heupel
A closer look at the 10 NFL Draft picks during the Josh Heupel era of Tennessee Football, with the 2024 NFL Draft set to begin Thursday night with the first round at 8 Eastern Time (TV: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network) in Detroit:
2023
Darnell Wright — First Round, No. 10 Overall, Chicago Bears
Wright parlayed two standout seasons at right tackle under Heupel into a top-ten pick in the NFL Draft, stepping in as the plug-and-play option for the Bears at the same position.
Hendon Hooker — Third Round, No. 68 Overall, Detroit Lions
Hooker landed with the Detroit Lions in the third round and sat out last season while continuing to rehab from the torn ACL that ended his Tennessee career in November 2022.
Jalin Hyatt — Third Round, No. 73 Overall, New York Giants
Hyatt starred at Tennessee as a junior in 2022 with 1,267 yards and a program-record 15 touchdowns.
Cedric Tillman — Third Round, No. 74 Overall, Cleveland Browns
Tillman was the first standout receiver of the Josh Heupel era, finishing the 2021 season with 1,081 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. He was slowed by a high-ankle sprain in 2022.
Byron Young — Third Round — No. 77 Overall, Los Angeles
Young turned two standout seasons with the Vols — 83 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss and 23.5 sacks in 24 games — into an NFL opportunity as a third-round pick.
2022
Alontae Taylor — Second Round — No. 49 Overall, New Orleans Saints
Taylor had 162 tackles and four interceptions over four seasons at Tennessee before becoming a second-round pick in 2022, taken at No. 49 overall by the New Orleans Saints.
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Velus Jones Jr. — Third Round — No. 71 Overall, Chicago Bears
In two seasons at Tennessee, after transferring from USC, Jones caught 84 passes for 1,087 yards and 10 touchdowns before hearing his name called in the third round of the draft.
Matthew Butler — Fifth Round — No. 175 Overall, Las Vegas Raiders
Butler spent five years at Tennessee from 2017 to 2021, recording 152 tackles, 16.0 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. He had career highs with 47 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks in 2021.
Cade Mays — Sixth Round — No. 199 Overall, Carolina Panthers
Mays started all of the 17 games he played in during his two seasons at Tennessee, in 2020 and 2021, after transferring from Georgia. Started 35 times in his 42-game collegiate career.
Theo Jackson — Sixth Round — No. 204 Overall, Minnesota Vikings
Jackson had 190 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 tackles for loss and three interceptions during his five-year career at Tennessee. He had career highs with 78 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and an interception as a redshirt senior in 2021.
