Off The Hook Sports continues its 2022 Tennessee football preseason preview on the top 25 impact players for the Vols this upcoming season.
Coming in at No. 23 is redshirt senior tight end Princeton Fant.
Past Performance
Princeton Fant is one of four members on Tennessee’s football team – including Solon Page III, Cheyenne Labruzza and LaTrell Bumphus – remaining from the Butch Jones era. The 6-foot-2, 235-pound tight end has moved all over the field in his six years as a Vol.
Before Fant was a tight end, he was a three-star running back in the class of 2017. He was a star at LaVergne High School just southeast of Nashville. Fant was redshirted by Jones and struggled in his first year under newly hired head coach Jeremy Pruitt, rushing for just seven yards on three carries. He was moved to wide receiver then finally tight end to start the 2019 season.
That’s where Fant’s production slowly started to chug out of the station. He made his first career reception in a sluggish Pruitt offense as a reserve tight end, seeing action in eight total games. Fant recorded his first career start the following season.
He earned three starts total, hauling in his first touchdown in his fourth year at Tennessee. This redshirt junior season was his best yet – Fant caught 12 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. That’s not necessarily lighting the world on fire, but it shows vast levels of potential with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
That potential flashed in year five. Fant caught 16 passes for 220 yards and one touchdown in a quasi-starting role alongside fellow redshirt senior Jacob Warren. He heads into year six in that same role alongside Warren.
Opportunities
The stage is set for a grand finale for Fant in a Tennessee uniform. Though Fant is listed as a redshirt senior, he is technically classified as a covid-senior, having taken advantage of the NCAA’s covid-eligibility rule that basically declared the 2020 season null and void from an eligibility standpoint.
Fant has progressively gotten better from season to season heading into his sixth and final on Rocky Top, thriving in a high-octane offense under Josh Heupel – a different galaxy compared to the hum-drum offensive approach under Jones and even more so under Pruitt. One thing is certain – Fant’s ability to make a play on offense was not in question in 2021.
Fant has an opportunity to earn more snaps in front of Warren and redshirt freshman Miles Campbell by improving his game in run support. Fant has struggled to run block in the past, partly because he is undersized compared to Warren’s 6-foot-6 frame.
Fant’s history as a running back serves him well as a natural instinct, big playmaker under Heupel. The team has always felt he is one of the most underrated prospects in the class and could thrive in a makeshift fullback position due to his physicality on the line.
Tennessee is looking for another dependable receiver behind senior wideout Cedric Tillman. Fant’s ability to improve each year since signing with the team makes him a legitimate candidate for this heading into his final year with the Vols.
Hear it from…
Fant has been itching to get at it for quite some time now. He’s done hearing the talk; he wants to finally prove it on the field and compete against the high-level opponents in the SEC.
Fant’s final year plans are pretty simple.
“Final year plans, just win,” Fant said in spring practice. “We want to win. It is about the team, it’s not about me. I just want to help my team win and do whatever I can do to help my team win.”
After having to endure Pruitt in 2020, things got better quick. Heupel flipped the flailing culture almost instantly. Fant, as well as other teammates, realized that quickly.
“It is definitely a change of culture,” Fant said. “Just, guys wanting to be here, guys wanting to compete, play ball and get better. All of us together, as a team, we are pushing each other to be the best and compete for a national championship this year.”
“We are just going to compete and keep going. The culture has definitely changed with Coach Heupel. He is a great coach and he is definitely leading us in the right direction, for sure.”
