KNOXVILLE - In what could be a foreshadowing of the NFL draft in late April, Tennessee will be well-represented at the league's scouting combine in Indianapolis in two weeks.
Six former Volunteers - defensive end Derek Barnett, running back Alvin Kamara, cornerback Cameron Sutton, quarterback Josh Dobbs, wide receiver Josh Malone and linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin - are on the official participant list for the annual pre-draft event, which runs from Feb. 28 to March 6.
The hundreds of prospects are divided into 11 groups based on positions and spend four days in Indianapolis. Players undergo a series of medical tests and measurements and also complete multiple rounds of interviews with NFL teams and media. The on-field timing and position-specific workouts televised on the NFL Network don't begin until Friday, March 3.
Running backs are part of the group scheduled for on-field workouts that day, followed by quarterbacks and receivers on Saturday, defensive linemen and linebackers on Sunday and defensive backs on Monday.
Tennessee hasn't had a player selected in the past two drafts, but the streak should end on the opening night (April 27) this year with Barnett expected to be drafted in the first round.
NFL personnel are interested to see how Barnett, one of the draft's elite pass rushers whose production far outweighs his measureables, tests at the combine, and how he fares could determine where in the first round he lands.
Kamara is generating more buzz among NFL personnel and garnering multiple first-round projections, and he should shine at the combine.
The showcase will be perhaps more important for Malone, who joined Barnett and Kamara as early entrants following a breakout junior season, and Reeves-Maybin, whose senior season ended due to a second shoulder surgery in 2016, as they try to prove themselves to NFL teams.
Both Sutton and Dobbs will be hoping to build off their positive Senior Bowl performances last month.
Charles Davis, a former Vol and analyst for both Fox Sports and the NFL Network, believed Sutton had a "spectacular" week at the Senior Bowl, where he showed there was little rust remaining from the ankle injury that cost him six games in 2016. In Mobile, Ala., he rotated among both inside and outside corner spots and safety.
"The way they utilized him," Davis said, "where he was versatile and they showed him in different spots, only increased things. What I like most about what I saw out of him at the Senior Bowl was how he played the position with intelligence.
"I felt like as the week went on, each rep he took in one-on-ones versus receivers, you could almost see the mental rolodex going and shuffling in his mind where (he thinks), 'OK, this is what I get from this guy. This is what I got from that guy. This is what I got from him before.' You saw him make adjustments day after day and get better day after day.
"People are going to want to put the stopwatch on him. That's going to be a key because it always is when we get to the combine. But overall, we're also seeing a lot of guys where the stopwatch doesn't win and they're good players in the NFL."
Davis also felt Dobbs had "beyond a positive" Senior Bowl showing and improved throughout the week while working with Hue Jackson, the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and Dobbs' Senior Bowl team that week.
"I thought that that was really positive for Josh," he added. "The coaching and teaching that went on watching Josh Dobbs take coaching and immediately make those corrections or immediately up the level of what he was doing, I thought that was one of the best stories, one of the best things we saw out of the week. That's what you want out of your quarterback.
"He came in with questions to answer. A lot of people, when I talk with different guys, they would hit him on this: 'His frame is slender. He's a tall guy with a slender frame. He isn't as accurate as I think he should be.' That's always going to be a word that's going to dog quarterbacks left and right."
Considered a late-round pick or potential undrafted free agent at the start of the process, Dobbs will have the chance to help himself more at the combine.
"I think personally he's out of that (range)," Davis said, "because playmakers at quarterback in the NFL, there's a high premium on them nowadays."
Tennessee's pro day is scheduled for March 29.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.