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Tennessee loses backup edge Emmanuel Okoye for season

On3 imageby: Austin Price09/02/24AustinPriceless
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Tennessee redshirt freshman Emmanuel Okoye will miss the 2024 season after tearing his ACL injury at the end of fall camp, sources tell Volquest.

Okoye started his career at tight end after arriving last summer from the NFL Academy in London. After struggling to find his footing as a pass catcher, Okoye moved him to defense end in spring practice. He is yet to play in a game for Tennessee.

Okoye was discovered by former NFL great Osi Umenyiora and his ‘The Uprise’ program scouts. He was then invited to attend the inaugural ‘The Uprise’ football talent identification camp in Abuja, Nigeria in 2022.

‘It’s a long process here as we begin this journey with him’

Okoye’s recruitment quickly picked up after he went from Umenyiora’s camp to an NFL Africa talent identification camp in Nigeria and then to the NFL Academy in London. 

He got his first taste of training camp with his Tennessee teammates on Wednesday morning. More first steps in what Josh Heupel described as “a long, great football journey” ahead of Okoye.

“You think about where he was 12 months ago and where he’s at today,” Heupel said last year. “it’s a drastic difference in the competition and everything that he’s facing. 

He is the second Vol to join the program via the NFL International Pathway Program, joining VFL Jakob Johnson, who is currently a member of the New York Giants.

Tennessee is loaded at the edge position with potential top-10 pick James Pearce leading the group. Josh Josephs and Caleb Herring also show much promise at the position.

True freshman Jordan Ross saw his first action on Saturday with a blocked punt that was scooped and scored by the Alabama native.

Tennessee (1-0) now goes on the road for a neutral-site game against North Carolina State (1-0) on Saturday night (7:30 Eastern Time, ABC) in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

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