Draft day is here. Tennessee football figures to have one of the better showings in the draft relative to its recent years, and Caleb Calhoun and Dave Hooker touch on that, along with a weekly guest, for Off the Hook Sports’ Thursday, April 27 podcast. Basketball Vols and the NBA Draft also made news, and a Manning and NIL warrented coverage as well.
Are first-round draft picks important for Tennessee football?
As written here, Tennessee football has had five players taken in the first round of the NFL Draft dating back to the first draft after the first season of the post-Phillip Fulmer era. However, recent history shows first-round draft picks don’t necessarily help the program overall. Do the Vols need such picks for Josh Heupel to sustain his success?
Hendon Hooker shows off recovery
On the eve of the NFL Draft, Hendon Hooker took his first quarterback drops since his ACL injury last November in the Vols’ loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks and posted it on Twitter. Is that significant in any way given how he’s already had a great showing in terms of intangibles? Was the injury a big concern holding him back?
Josh Ward talks Tennessee football
Weekly guest Josh Ward comes back onto the show to talk Tennessee football and the NFL Draft while continuing his post spring practice coverage. Ward recently wrote about Cameron Seldon’s potential to become an elite running back. Given how deep that room is, how possible is such a scenario?
Three current Tennessee basketball players declare for NBA Draft
Santiago Vescovi announced last week he would return for his super senior season, but three other Vols have declared for the NBA Draft: Josiah-Jordan James, Uros Plavsic and Julian Phillips. Olivier Nkamhoua also declared, but he’s in the portal. If they want to return to college, they must withdraw their name by Wednesday, May 31.
Arch Manning taking no NIL money
Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning is reportedly taking no name, image, likeness money until he becomes a starter. Given his comparisons to Nico Iamaleava, who allegedly took $8 million to join Tennessee football, is this indicative of a character difference between the two that goes into playing the position?
