As the Tennessee baseball team was starting to roll Friday night, Josh Heupel’s football program had a nice win and made a small statement.

Now it wasn’t anything like what Georgia, who the Vols are chasing, did in round one of the NFL draft on Thursday, but the fact that Tennessee’s name was called twice on Friday including in the second round is a nice message for Heupel and his staff to recruits.

Alontae Taylor, who reluctantly played defensive back when he arrived in 2018, heard his name called earlier than expected after a really nice 2021 season. Taylor was taken in the second round by the New Orleans Saints. Taylor had 60 tackles, a tackle for loss, forced a fumble, had 8 PBU’s, and two interceptions including the key pick six at Kentucky in his final season.

Taylor in his first three years had 102 tackles, 11 pub’s and 2 interceptions. Taylor deserves all the credit for his growth and development. Everyone has spoken about how much Taylor works, and how high his football IQ is.

But also give a shout out to Willie Martinez. Martinez in his first stop in Knoxville helped Cam Sutton get drafted and he helped Emmanuel Mosley and Justin Coleman make a roster. All three remain in he league today.

A year ago three of Martinez’s players at UCF were taken in the draft. Four players drafted in the last 2 years is a nice resume note for the veteran coach.

However, Taylor wasn’t the only Vol to hear his name called on Friday night as Velus Jones was selected by the Chicago Bears early in the third round. While Taylor was likely to be draft had he come out after the 2020 season had he chosen not to return for Heupel’s first year the same can’t be said for Jones.

The Mobile, Ala. native had 58 career catches for 627 yards and 4 touchdowns heading into the 2021 season. Now Jones would have gotten a shot in the league because of his kick return ability but he wouldn’t have been a Friday night draft selection had he not taken the extra COVID season and played in Heupel’s offense. After a pretty quiet start to the season, Jones’ game thrived as he finished the year with 62 receptions for 807 yards and 7 touchdowns. Jones was terrific in the slot and everyone took notice as he earned a spot in the senior bowl.

Like Taylor, Jones deserves all the credit for his improvement. He bought into the system and he got better. Both Jones and Taylor further helped themselves with great times at the combine and both impressed NFL personnel with their interviews and play at the senior bowl.

But like Martinez with Taylor, Heupel’s offense deserves a shout out as well as they highlighted Jones’ skillset in the scheme and it paid off in a big way.

The big winners Friday night were Taylor and Jones as both fulfilled their dreams of playing at the next level.

However, no one should sell short the fact that having two players names called Friday night was an important win for Josh Heupel, his staff and the growth of his program.

There are lots of different variables in recruiting. The reality is with NIL there’s more now than ever, but one variable that will never go away is getting players an opportunity to play at the next level which is why Friday night was a solid win for Tennessee’s second year football staff.