Squirrel White makes The Athletic's College Football Freaks list for second year in a row
For the second straight year, one of the smallest players on the Tennessee Football made The Athletic’s College Football Freaks list. Junior receiver Squirrel White, all 5-foot-10 and 167 pounds of him, came in at No. 59 in Bruce Feldman’s list.
White moved up five spots after being No. 64 on last season’s ranking of the freakiest athletes in the sport.
“(White) is one of the fastest players in the game,” Feldman wrote. “White has been clocked at 23.4 mph and has a 40.6-inch vertical jump. He has run a 1.50-second 10-yard split.
“Last year, White had 67 catches for 803 yards and averaged 12.0 yards per catch; for his career he has nine catches of 40-plus yards, six catches of 50-plus yards and three receptions of 60-plus yards.”
Squirrel White last season: 67 catches, 803 yards, 2 TDs
White nearly doubled his production last season, going from 30 catches for 481 yards in 12 games as a freshman in 2022 to 67 catches for 803 yards in 13 games last season. He has four career touchdowns, catching two each of the past two seasons.
His most productive game last season came at Alabama and at home against Vanderbilt. In October at Alabama he caught 11 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown, a toe-tapping 39-yarder in the corner of the end zone on Tennessee’s first drive of the game.
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Against Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale, White caught 10 passes for 110 yards, including a long of 27, as the Vols passed for 449 yards and four touchdowns in the 48-24 win.
James Pearce ranked No. 17 on The Athletic’s College Football Freaks list
Tennessee had two players make Feldman’s list, which included 101 players. Junior pass-rusher James Pearce came in at No. 17.
“The SEC’s top returning pass rusher wasn’t listed as one of the 10 fastest Vols in the EA Sports College Football 25 video game,” Feldman wrote of Pearce, “but we would put him there after his dazzling display In the Citrus Bowl. Pearce clocked 23 mph on a pick six against Iowa, turning in one of the fastest GPS measurements of any FBS play all season.
“One of his coaches told me that the 6-5, 245 pound junior is a legitimate 4.4 40 threat. According to PFF, Pearce was the SEC’s highest graded defensive end last year at 90.9. He tied for the SEC lead in sacks (10) and was second in tackles for loss (14.5); he’s the SEC’s returning statistical leader in both of those. He had 16 quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and two forced fumbles.”
