Tennessee football had its best season in more than 20 years in 2022, beating Florida, Alabama and Clemson on its way to an 11-win campaign that revitalized the program.

That success in no small part had to do with the five former Vols that were drafted in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft over the weekend.

Offensive tackle Darnell Wright was the first off the board, going 10th overall to the Chicago Bears while quarterback Hendon Hooker, wide receivers Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman and EDGE rusher Byron Young were selected in the third round.

Wright provided the protection for Hooker to link up with Hyatt and Tillman on several occasions, leading to historic numbers for the Tennessee offense while Young was a consistent factor on defense.

Here are the most memorable performances from each player during Tennessee's impressive run last season.

Of all Tennessee accomplished during the 2022 season, none may heralded as Jalin Hyatt's performance against then-No. 3 Alabama at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 15.

Hyatt helped put an end to 15 years of misery with six catches for 207 yards and five touchdown receptions, setting a single-game record and tormenting the Crimson Tide secondary.

After a botched exchange led to a tie-breaking touchdown for the Alabama defense midway through the fourth quarter, Tennessee responded with Hyatt's fifth score--an 18-yard toss from Hendon Hooker to even the score with less than four minutes left and help pave the way for Chase McGrath's game-winning field goal as time expired.

Hyatt finished the season with 67 catches for 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns--another single-season program best.

Hyatt will look to do the same with the New York Giants, who selected him 73rd overall on Friday.

In his two seasons at Tennessee's starting quarterback, Hendon Hooker had a plethora of memorable moments inside Neyland Stadium.

He saved on of his best for last.

Against Missouri on senior day, Hooker accounted for more than 400 yards of offense with 355 yards passing and three touchdowns that turned a back-and-forth game in the third quarter into a 66-24 rout.

Hooker also rushed for another score to go along with 50 yards rushing.

In a record-setting season, Hooker's numbers were a part of a school-record 724 yards of total offense and provided an emphatic response the week after Tennessee's first loss of the season at Georgia.

Though his season was cut short with an ACL tear the following week at South Carolina, Hooker finished his college career as one of the most prolific quarterbacks in Tennessee history.

That undoubtedly played a factor in the Detroit Lions selecting Hooker as the 68th overall pick.

Before the wins over Florida, LSU and Alabama catapulted Tennessee to the top of the College Football Playoff rankings and eventually the Orange Bowl, the Vols were in a fight for their season in Week 2 at Pittsburgh.

Tennessee led late in the fourth quarter but a special teams miscue led to a game-tying touchdown for the Panthers to force overtime.

Cedric Tillman, who was targeted 18 times during the game and finished with nine catches for 162 yards, hauled in an 28-yard lob from Hendon Hooker that led to a 34-27 win.

Following an All-SEC season in 2021, Tillman was more limited last season. After his performance against Pitt, he suffered an ankle injury the next week which held him out for next four games.

He finished the season with 37 receptions for 416 yards and three scores before being selected right behind Jalin Hyatt as the 74th overall pick to the Cleveland Browns.

Tennessee's win over Alabama was headlined by Jalin Hyatt's five touchdown catches and more than 560 yards of total offense but that success started up front.

Highly touted Crimson Tide linebacker Will Anderson Jr. entered the game with five sacks and 29 tackles but had trouble getting to Hendon Hooker thanks to right tackle Darnell Wright.

Anderson accounted for just three total sacks with no sacks, tackles for loss or quarterback hurries.

It was one of the performances that made Wright a top 10 pick. He played more than 850 snaps without giving up a sack on the season.

Jaden Daniels got to know Byron Young well on Oct. 8 at Tiger Stadium.

Playing from behind all afternoon, the LSU quarterback had little opportunity to make a run at the Vols' lead thanks to Young's pressure off the edge.

Young tied a season high in tackles with five, including 2.5 sacks totaling 17 yards in a complete 40-13 domination of the Tigers that pushed Tennessee to 5-0.

Young, who was selected as the 77th overall pick to the Los Angeles Rams, finished the season with seven sacks 12 tackles for loss.

*****

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @ByNoahTaylor, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.