Biggest bust as a highly touted recruit.

[gobravesvols16]

DaRick Rogers

 

[ftsandersvol]

UT not recruiting me in 1979, BIGGEST BUST! , me and Coach Battle had some short one-on-one conversations, he went on and on about size and speed, what the_____!

Didn't ESPN do a 30 for 30 series on you? "The Greatest Player That Never Was".

 

[TAF]

DaRick Rogers

"Most Definantly"

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

I don't know if it was the "biggest"...but certainly a NICE Tennessee Bust...

Mrs Freshwater should write a book. But she’s maybe been paid to not do that.

 

[Savannahbayvol]

Hate to talk about the deceased but Daniel Broods was an absolute disaster. Not only did we waste a scholly on him but also another on the tennis player and missed Patrick Willis along with it. That's what you call a cluster!

 

[FlyFishnVol]

Didn't ESPN do a 30 for 30 series on you? "The Greatest Player That Never Was".

 

[ftsandersvol]

I don't know if it was the "biggest"...but certainly a NICE Tennessee Bust...

 

[orangefloyd]

Lee Otis Burton.

 

[VolinMichigan]

Bryce Brown comes to mind

Seemed like he was more of a victim of bad people around him. Was he over ranked? Probably. He also came to UT during a terrible time for the program. A lot of factors that were out of his control.

Khalil MacKenzie comes to mind immediately as a guy who was tabbed a “can’t miss” prospect, at one point the #1 recruit in the country with a great pedigree and ties to UT. He had plenty of time and opportunities to prove himself but he couldn't beat out much lower ranked guys coming out of high school. Aside from the lax coaching he received under the Butch jones staff, he just wasn’t as good as advertised. Could it be due to coaching? Attitude and character? Who knows? But truly elite players usually overcome some coaching deficiencies to become All-American level players. MacKenzie also couldn’t put it together in the NFL, where he was switched back and forth between Oline and D line mostly on practice squads, and was out of the league in a few seasons.

 

[GiveHim6InSC]

Hurd, Bryce Brown, JG and McKenzie are all good candidates, IMO

 

[VolinMichigan]

Chris Donald

He was definitely a bust, but should never have been ranked as high as he was coming out of high school.

 

[VOLociraptorr]

Initially, I thought Khalil. He made it to the league though and played some at Tennessee

Lotta recency bias here. I'm going JJ Peterson. I don't know if he plays anywhere now

 

[gobravesvols16]

Dillon Bates

 

[gobravesvols16]

Preston Williams

 

[Hank Bukowski]

Brandon Jeffries, James Banks

I don’t recall Banks being a bust at all. As I remember him, there always seemed to be whackjob-headcase issues around him but he did eventually produce for our football team…again as I remember it.

 

[gobravesvols16]

I don’t recall Banks being a bust at all. As I remember him, there always seemed to be whackjob-headcase issues around him but he did eventually produce for our football team…again as I remember it.

He ended up being a WR didn’t he?

 

[onevol74]

Keith Jeter, RB, from West Virginia. National Gatorade player of the year.

 

[Ratvol]

Dolly's were the biggest as I recall...

GO VOLS!!!!

 

[Vol8188]

Preston Williams

He was good. Just poorly utilized. 96 receptions and over 1300 yards in one season. Wouldn’t call him a bust. I think he’s still in the nfl

 

[LargeOrange1]

Beldar Cornbread.

 

[Voldog1998]

JG has to be up there. He never should’ve been a 5 star w/ his high school #’s though.

JG was a 5 star ?

 

[Savannahbayvol]

He ended up being a WR didn’t he?

Transferred to Carson -Newman

 

[butchna]

JG has to be up there. He never should’ve been a 5 star w/ his high school #’s though.

He wasn’t.

 

[butchna]

Seemed like he was more of a victim of bad people around him. Was he over ranked? Probably. He also came to UT during a terrible time for the program. A lot of factors that were out of his control.

Khalil MacKenzie comes to mind immediately as a guy who was tabbed a “can’t miss” prospect, at one point the #1 recruit in the country with a great pedigree and ties to UT. He had plenty of time and opportunities to prove himself but he couldn't beat out much lower ranked guys coming out of high school. Aside from the lax coaching he received under the Butch jones staff, he just wasn’t as good as advertised. Could it be due to coaching? Attitude and character? Who knows? But truly elite players usually overcome some coaching deficiencies to become All-American level players. MacKenzie also couldn’t put it together in the NFL, where he was switched back and forth between Oline and D line mostly on practice squads, and was out of the league in a few seasons.

Can only play the “victim” card so far. At some point it ‘s what you do on the field. Everything in front of him at Kansas State and zilch. Outside of one NFL game with the Eagles (and money on the line) meh’d at everywhere outside Knoxville. Kid didn’t want it.

 

[ENGRVOL]

DaRick Rogers

Having an offense with Hunter, Rivera, DaRick, and Cordarelle in 2012 may not have been enough to overshadow Sunseri’s defense but would have been fun to watch.
For me Wanya Morris recently given his high rating and leaving early would be top of the list