Tennessee's Cedric Tillman will be 'a name people will be talking about' after NFL Combine
Cedric Tillman will take the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in the NFL Scouting Combine on Saturday. By the end of the day, he’ll be climbing NFL Draft boards according to draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah.
“I don’t think he’ll get all the way to the first round,” Jeremiah told reporters during a recent conference call, “but I think Cedric Tillman from Tennessee is probably a name people will be talking a lot more about after the combine.”
“He is going to be 215-plus pounds, 6-foot-2-plus. He is going to run really fast. He is somebody I think you’ll see garnering some attention as well.”
Tillman agrees. Forty times are something Tillman and his Tennessee teammate, Jalin Hyatt, have already talked about.
“We’re competitive,” Tillman said Friday during his open media session. “I know you guys don’t think I can run, but I can run.”
Seven former Tennessee players taking part in NFL Scouting Combine
Tillman is one of seven former Tennessee players at the combine, a list that includes Hyatt, quarterback Hendon Hooker, linebacker Jeremy Banks, edge rusher Byron Young, punter Paxton Brooks and right tackle Darnell Wright.
“We’re all ready to go,” Tillman said.
Young already turned heads with a blazing 4.43 seconds in the 40 on Thursday. He had an 11-foot broad jump and a 38-inch vertical — three elite numbers at his position and size.
Tillman, finally healthy after a high-ankle sprain put a damper on his redshirt senior season at Tennessee, is ready to do the same.
“I am fully healthy at this point, 100 percent ready to go,” he said.
Cedric Tillman in 2021: 64 receptions, 1,081 yards, 12 touchdowns
Tillman had a breakout redshirt junior season in 2021, catching 64 passes for 1,081 yards — fifth most in Tennessee football history — and 12 touchdowns.
Tillman was a three-star prospect in the 2018 recruiting cycle, ranked No. 1,592 overall in the On3 Consensus. He was the No. 251 overall wide receiver and the No. 12 overall prospect out of Nevada, where he attended Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas.
Justin Hunter was Tennessee’s last receiver to go over 1,000 yards in a season before Tillman went for 1,081 yards in 2021. Hyatt made it back-to-back seasons with 1,000-yard receivers under Josh Heupel, going for 1,267 yards and a program-record 15 touchdowns.
The high-ankle sprain limited him to just six games in 2022, suffering the injury in a 63-6 win over Akron in September at Neyland Stadium. Tillman caught 37 passes for 417 yards and three touchdowns over his final six games with the Vols.
He had surgery in October in an attempt to expedite his recovery and rejoin his Tennessee teammates in the midst of an 11-win season.
“Last year after I got hurt (against) Akron, really wasn’t 100 percent at all,” Tillman said on Friday. “Kind of about 80 percent when I tried to come back. I’m all good now, ready to go.”
