Alvin Kamara competes during the NFL Pro Day on Friday, March 31, 2017, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)Alvin Kamara is headed to the Big Easy and Cameron Sutton is headed to the Steel City.
The New Orleans Saints traded up in the NFL draft Friday night to add Kamara, the versatile former Tennessee running back, to the franchise's offensive arsenal early in the third round.
Sutton, the four-year starting cornerback for the Volunteers, was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 94th overall pick.
Kamara is the first Tennessee running back selected in the NFL draft since the Browns took Montario Hardesty in 2010. Sutton became the first Vols defensive back drafted since the Chiefs took Eric Berry in 2007.
The Saints, who added Adrian Peterson to their backfield earlier in the week, sent their seventh-round pick and 2018 second-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers to get the 67th overall pick, which they used to take Kamara.
The 5-foot-10 speedster played two seasons for the Vols after starting his career at Alabama and spending a year at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas.
Kamara ran for 1,294 yards in his Tennessee career and caught 74 passes for 683 yards while splitting playing time with Jalen Hurd.
He was a captain for the Vols in 2016 and elected to forgo his final season of collegiate eligibility to enter the draft. Some draft analysts speculated Kamara could be a late-first-round selection.
His versatility earned him a No. 6 ranking from ESPN's Todd McShay on McShay's "best fit for today's NFL" list. The list encompassed all positions.
McShay also named Kamara the third-best pass catcher among running backs in the draft class and second-best in agility/acceleration.
Kamara was the fifth running back selected behind LSU's Leonard Fournette, Stanford's Christian McCaffrey, Florida State's Dalvin Cook and Oklahoma's Joe Mixon. He joins Peterson, a former MVP and 10-year veteran of the Vikings, and Mark Ingram, who surpassed 1,000 yards rushing last season, in the Saints backfield.
The Vols had no players selected in the second round but could have as many as six taken before the draft concludes today.
Philadelphia selected Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett 14th overall Thursday. Quarterback Joshua Dobbs, receiver Josh Malone and linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin are all candidates to be selected when the draft concludes with rounds 4-7.
An ankle injury sidelined Sutton for much of his senior season after he opted to return to Knoxville for his last year of eligbility. But the Jonesboro, Ga., native returned to the lineup late in the year.
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com