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RETURNING ALL-STAR CANDIDATES
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QB, 6-6, 220, Sr.
Hillsboro, Ore.
Honors: 2006 Davey O'Brien and Manning Award Semifinalist, O'Reilly Auto Parts, USA Today and Wrangler National Player of the Week (Sept. 2), SEC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 9 and Oct. 7), Cingular All-America and Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 7), Academic All-SEC, Academic All-District IV (2nd), 2005 Academic All-SEC, 2004 Sporting News Freshman All-America (2nd), Coaches and Knoxville News Sentinel Freshman All-SEC, Sporting News SEC Offensive Freshman of the Year, Rivals.com National Freshman of the Week (Sept. 18).
Set UT season record with completion percentage of 67.0 ... Second in SEC passing yards per game (249.1), third in total offense (240.6) and finished with 19 TD passes ... Piled up more than 2,000 yards for first time in his career and finished just 11 shy of 3,000 ... Threw for career-high 4 TDs against both California and Memphis ... Set career-best with 333 yards passing against Air Force ... Career Totals: 408-for-691 for 5,178 yards, 25 interceptions, 41 TDs.
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TE, 6-3, 250, Sr.
Destrehan, La.
The senior established career-best with 31 catches last season -- 11 more than he had in his two previous campaigns ... His 239 yards were also a season-best ... Enjoyed best outing of his career in the Outback Bowl against Penn State, hauling in a 53-yard pass from Erik Ainge and finishing with 66 yards on seven catches ... Brown's second career touchdown catch was the first UT score of the season, opening the floodgates in the Vols 35-18 rout of California ... Career Totals: 51 catches for 454 yards and two touchdowns.
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P, 6-3, 205, Jr.
Knoxville
Honors: 2006 All-SEC Associated Press and Coaches, 2005 Collegefootballnews.com Freshman All-America (3rd).
Ranked seventh in the nation and second in the SEC averaging 44.9 yards per punt ... Punted five times vs. LSU for average of 47.8 yards, pinning the Tigers inside the 20-yard line twice and adding a long of 59 yards ... Boosted career average to 42.8 yards this season with 46 punts, including a long of 63 against Marshall ... Performance against Thundering Herd was best of his career - a 56-yard average on three punts, all of which were downed inside the 8-yard line ... 18 punts last season were downed inside the 20, and just four of his boots went for touchbacks ... Career Totals: 105 punts, 42.8 avg., 37 inside 20-yard line, 20 of 50+ yards.
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TE, 6-8, 260, Sr.
Germantown
Honors: 2005 Academic All-SEC.
Big tight end enjoyed most productive season of his career by far, hauling in 14 passes for 182 yards on the heels of 2005 campaign when he didn't make a single catch ... Really came on for the Vols down the stretch, setting a new career-high with three catches against Alabama and matching it during the most prolific game of his career in rout of Vanderbilt ... His three grabs against Commodores went for 53 yards, including a career-long 45-yarder ... Career Totals: 16 catches for 216 yards, 13.5 yards per catch.
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DB, 5-9, 185, Sr.
Rock Hill, S.C.
Honors: 2006 Rivals.com All-America (2nd), Randy Moss Return Man Award Semifinalist, All-SEC Associated Press (2nd) and Coaches (2nd), 2004 Freshman All-America The Sporting News (2nd), Freshman All-SEC Coaches and Knoxville News Sentinel.
Improved his career-best total to five with an interception against Vanderbilt -- capping it off with a 29-yard return ... The senior nabbed the third-most picks in the SEC and led the Vols ... Added seven tackles against the Commodores and finished eighth in the SEC with 7.4 per game ... Tallied his fourth interception of the season against LSU to go with 15 tackles ... Broke a career-long 65-yard punt return in the fourth quarter against South Carolina to set up a 5-yard scoring drive ... Snagged interceptions in three consecutive games (Marshall, Memphis and Georgia), becoming first Vol since Rashad Baker in 2002 to accomplish the feat ... Career Totals: 226 hits (166 tackles, 60 assists), 9 TFL, 16 PBU, 9 interceptions.
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LB, 6-0, 225, Sr.
Franklin
Honors: 2005 Academic All-SEC.
Enjoyed breakout campaign during junior season, piling up 66 total tackles after tallying just 19 during his first two years on Rocky Top ... Started off with a bang, setting a career-high with nine tackles in win over California ... Recorded first career sack the following week against Air Force ... Racked up nine tackles for a loss and added four passes broken up for the stout UT defense ... Career Totals: 85 hits (65 tackles and 20 assists), 9 TFLs, 5 PBUs, 3 fumble recoveries, 1 interception,1 sack.
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LB, 6-2, 230, Jr.
Hampton, Va.
Honors: 2006 All-America Rivals.com (2nd), Walter Camp Division I-A National Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 2), SEC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 2 and Oct. 21).
Despite missing nearly all of the Vanderbilt and Penn State games with a knee injury, the other breakout performer at linebacker for the Vols still finished 11th in SEC in tackles per game (6.9) ... TFL machine recorded 2.5 against Arkansas to give him 12.5 this season - the seventh-best total in the league ... Matched his career-high, set this season against Marshall, with 12 tackles against Alabama and LSU ... Had 13 total tackles in his career before this season, and his 83 ranked third for the Vols on the year ... Career Totals: 96 hits (63 tackles, 33 assists), 121/2 TFLs, 5 sacks, 1 PBU, 1 fumble recovery.
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DE, 6-2, 252, Sr.
Long Beach, Miss.
Put together a productive season while seeing his first extended playing time for the Vols ... Burst on the scene with a potential game-saving tackle in UT's one-point win over Air Force, stuffing a two-point conversion attempt in the backfield with 1:35 to play ... Finished the season with four sacks and eight tackles for a loss, and the big lineman also batted down three passes ...Established a new career high with 43 tackles, 27 of the solo variety ... Also set a new personal best with eight tackles against Florida ... Career Totals: 58 hits (34 tackles, 24 assists), 11 TFLs, 6 1/2 sacks, 4 PBUs, 1 forced fumble.
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OT, 6-4, 310, Sr.
Union, S.C.
Started all 13 games for the Vols at right tackle ... Key member of the group that allowed only 19 sacks -- third-lowest total in the SEC -- while attempting 415 passes -- second-highest total in the league.
Career Totals: 24 games played, 14 starts.
OTHERS TO WATCH
22 LaMarcus Coker, TB, 5-11, 205, So., Antioch27 Arian Foster, TB, 6-1, 215, Jr., San Diego, Calif.
2 Montario Hardesty, TB, 6-0, 205, So., New Bern, N.C.
99 J.T. Mapu, DT, 6-3, 290, Sr., Kahuku, Hawaii
65 Jacques McClendon, OT, 6-3, 325, So., Cleveland
50 Josh McNeil, C, 6-4, 290, So., Collins, Miss.
75 Anthony Parker, OG, 6-3, 305, Jr., Jonesboro, Ga.
89 Antonio Reynolds, DE, 6-3, 260, Sr., Akron, Ohio
2006 HONORS
All-AmericaRobert Meachem, WR, FWAA, The Sporting News, Rivals.com
Arron Sears, OT, AFCA, Walter Camp
Jonathan Hefney, DB, Rivals.com (2nd)
Jerod Mayo, LB, Rivals.com (2nd)
Freshman All-America
Josh McNeil, C, Rivals.com, CollegeFootballNews.com (2nd)
LaMarcus Coker, TB, Rivals.com (2nd)
Rico McCoy, LB, CollegeFootballNews.com (3rd)
All-Southeastern Conference
Britton Colquitt, P, Associated Press, Coaches
Turk McBride, DT, Associated Press
Robert Meachem, WR, Associated Press, Coaches
Arron Sears, OT, Associated Press, Coaches
James Wilhoit, PK, Associated Press, Coaches
Jonathan Hefney, DB, Associated Press (2nd), Coaches (2nd)
Jonathan Wade, DB, Associated Press (2nd), Coaches (2nd)
LaMarcus Coker, TB, Freshman All-SEC Coaches, The Sporting News
Josh McNeil, C, Freshman All-SEC Coaches, The Sporting News
Rico McCoy, LB, Freshman All-SEC Coaches
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