All Tennessee defensive tackle Malik Jackson and cornerback Prentiss Waggner needed, apparently, was a change of scenery.
Neither had a full body of work at their respective new positions, but that didn’t matter to the panel of Associated Press voters on Monday, as Jackson and Waggner were named second-team All-SEC.
Junior running back Tauren Poole, who ranked fifth in the SEC with 994 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, was one of seven players to receive honorable mention.
Both Jackson and Waggner moved to their respective positions because of depth issues that plagued the Vols throughout coach Derek Dooley’s first season. Preseason injuries and a disappointing year from Montori Hughes prompted Dooley to move the 265-pound Jackson from defensive end to the inside, while a similar slew of injuries and suspensions in the secondary forced Waggner to move from his starting spot at safety to cornerback.
Jackson had just one tackle for loss during the first half of the season, but finished with 11, as he racked up five sacks and 33 tackles in the final six games of the season. During that stretch, Jackson, a Southern Cal transfer, intercepted a pass at the line of scrimmage against Memphis and nearly ran it back for a touchdown.
Waggner played cornerback in high school, but moved to safety this season because of an opening on the depth chart. He was a “ball hawk” at both positions, intercepting his first career pass and returning it for a touchdown in the season opener against UT Martin and picking up four more to finish with five, a total that ranked third in the SEC and tied for 15th in the nation. His three interception returns for a touchdown set a UT program record and he also recovered two fumbles.
Waggner was recently named a second-team All-America player by Scout.com.
The coaches’ All-SEC team will be announced today and the all-freshman team, which promises to be chock full of Vols, will be released Thursday.
Andrew Gribble covers Tennessee football and recruiting. He may be reached at 865-342-6327. Follow him at http://twitter.com/Andrew_Gribble and http://blogs.knoxnews.com/gribble/
Dan Proctor draws Tennessee Football…
Cordarrelle Patterson drafted by the…
Oregon sends Lady Vols home from…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 46
Ayres_Hall writes:
Who cares about awards? I stopped caring when Peyton was robbbed.
chattanoogahardcorevolfan writes:
Waggner is deserving because he is a ball hawk but Jackson hasnt really done anything besides eat up mins.
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
Well deserved, congrats young men!
rockytopatl writes:
Come again?
"Jackson had just one tackle for loss during the first half of the season, but finished with 11, as he racked up five sacks and 33 tackles in the final six games of the season. During that stretch, Jackson, a Southern Cal transfer, intercepted a pass at the line of scrimmage against Memphis and nearly ran it back for a touchdown."
That sounds like something to me.
JCJ1986 writes:
5 sacks, FF, FR, Int, and led the team in TFL, all from a DT, and that wasn't even his natural position. What are you smoking?
Vol86 writes:
We know what we wont be watching on saturday. Good for you and screw espn.
BigOrangeinCharge writes:
Jackson's productivity didn't take off until he got moved inside to DT--at the "3 technique" spot, no less (a 3 tech lines up on the outside eye of the guard). As a former defensive lineman, and 3 tech, that gets my respect!
Playing the 3 spot is one of the hardest positions in football because you're always getting double teamed by the opponent's two best offensive linemen, or you're getting trapped by a pulling lineman or read by the QB on a midline option (Florida, Auburn, and Oregon do this a lot). There's just so much an offense can do to attack you there. To have a player who can hold up to those double teams and make tackles when he's blocked 1-on-1 is vital to this defense.
I'm excited to see what Jackson can do with a whole year to bulk up and prepare himself for playing DT. If he can come into next season at around 280-285 and keep his quickness, that guy can be a beast AND help us be a very improved defense.
ProwlinAndGrowlinSmokeyDog writes:
Well deserved!!! I'm so glad that we have both of these guys on our team..They have tore it up in the second half of the season, especially Malik..He started off slow and then turned up the intensity..Next year, both of these guys will pick up where they left off this year.
CrankE writes:
uh.....the rest of the All SEC list?
BrassMonkey writes:
It is hard for a school to win awards and have players on first team anything when they do not beat a ranked team the entire season.
bfowler1161#262198 writes:
So who would you have played instead?
Ironcity writes:
I guess we did get a couple on the second team after all.
Ironcity writes:
Thanks for the insight. People like me don't realize how difficult a transition that move is.
VOLtage writes:
Ha! You must be the parent of the back-up.
TommyJack writes:
Sir, are you on crack?
Bigger_Al writes:
Denarius Moore had a great year and should have made the team. Not as many catches, but his TD's tied for the SEC lead and his YPC was off the charts. Yes, Julio, Green, Jeffries, and Cobb have hype and talent, but D-Mo was worthy of recognition. Matter of fact, if I read the list correctly (and I have no doubt that I did), Randall Cobb actually made 1st Team offense as "all-purpose" and 2nd Team offense as "WR".
OrangePride writes:
Let's see.....is this the Malik Jackson who was told he would "never start" at Tennessee? The same one Kiffin/Orgeron said they wouldn't "really miss." Glad to see him get this award!!! I would have liked to have seen Raveiz get an honorable mention as well. He has been a force this year! We are comin back, people! Comin Back!! GO VOLS!
crimsonviper writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Colliervol writes:
Obviously not too much of a "hard core Vol fan" and evidently not paying much attention. The other posters have already clarified the stats for you on Jackson so I'm not going to bother. You just don't see 265 lb DT's in the SEC and he did a great job filling the gap in our line. And once Hughes decided to not do his job, it was an even bigger gap.
RoadTrip writes:
Congrats to both! Well deserved. They gave their all for Tennessee. Jantzen would have been there as well had his performance been better during the first half of the season. He was out of position and missed too many tackles early on. He played very well during the second half of the season, especailly when he had Brent Brewer back there working with him.
PUL4VOLS writes:
Two of many guys who played their hearts out in most difficult circumstances. Better days ahead for the Vol defense. These guys will do their parts.
mercyseat writes:
Speaking of Orgeron, has any of you guys seen him lately? He looks like he's becoming anorexic. I guess thats what happens when you're forced to lay off the booze while fighting a staph infection while in the hospital. Could'nt have happened to a nicer guy or (gag,gag) a more genuine guy!
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
I think the Kiffenator also said Alshon Jeffery would be pumping gas after college, too. Alshon is going to make several millions after school.
UneducatedRedneck writes:
Hmmm...Tauren Poole runs behind a freshman offensive line, has more yards than Mark Ingram, and is named Honorable Mention. Denarius Moore is nowhere on the list, yet ranks fourth in the SEC in receiving yards per game--a list where A.J. Green is nowhere to be found. Prentiss Waggner led the nation in interceptions returned for TD's, led the SEC in fumble recoveries, and deserved first-team honors. Hopefully the Coaches All-SEC Team will recognize these guys more deservingly.
Mobbdeep4life writes:
Congratulations to both of these young men. Very impressive considering neither was at their respective position all year. Pre-season 1st Team SEC next year?
AlpharettaVol writes:
Seems like Denarius Moore should have been in there somewhere.
HtownVol writes:
This whole list is jacked up. D Moore does something no UT WR ever did in 4 years (and he did it within a few weeks) with 2 - 200 yard games, finishes with almost 1000 and 9 td's. Favortism???
tvol71 writes:
Frankly I am a little surprised that Nick Reveiz, Janzen Jackson and Denarius Moore did not make honorable mention. I guess if you were a walk-on like Reveiz you just don"t get considered.
BrassMonkey writes:
Not favoritism. How about Alshon Jeffrey, Julio Jones, and AJ Green. Plus there respective teams all beat a ranked team this season.
allvols4life writes:
Last time I checked, this was not a team award, so what difference does that make in who gets what award? Secondly, I agree with the favoritism argument. This is the AP list, so therefore the sports writers pick guys with the name that they recognize. I have not checked the stats, but going by what others have posted, D-MO's stats were as good or better than those selected to this team.
HtownVol writes:
Agree.
Rich_Is_Re-born writes:
And you think that's funny? Really?
richvol writes:
Sounds like he needs to take Dooley's advanced showering course.
Ayres_Hall writes:
Can you believe Mike Pouncey and Mark Ingram made the 2nd team? That is solid proof the voters are not paying attention and simply voted on name recognition.
FarmerVol writes:
Maybe it was all those highlight air tackles JJ had while he was trying to be Eric Berry. Maybe it was all those wide open drops DM had. Maybe it was all those passes over the middle NR could not keep up with - speed? Height? Maybe, maybe, maybe. Who knows. All three are fine young men, but stats are stats. Might have been different if we were 8-4 instead of 6-6. Maybe.
clvolfan writes:
Are you kidding?
What games have you been watching,or listening to?
allvols4life writes:
You are right. I am sure all those AP voters watched all the game film and saw all the wide open drops that D-MO had. I am sure they all watched every game and saw that Nick Reveiz could not cover a pass over the middle. I am sure that they didn't just look at the name on the stat sheet and glance at the overall stats at all.
Colliervol writes:
No doubt about that. I guess one of the qualifications at center is to make at least 5 bad snaps per game.
MusicCityVol writes:
The Music City Bowl at First Glance
www.checkerboardchatter.blogspot.com
FarmerVol writes:
Good point. Could be the AP SEC cover guy here did go to all the games. Could be the other school's AP SEC cover guys talk to our cover guy. Could be they trade votes. Could be, could be, and finally maybe. Wish we were discussing First team instead of honorable mention. Maybe next year. Maybe.
OrangePride writes:
Hmmm......then one needs to be reminded. Weren't Kiffin/Orgeron supposedly the consumate evaluators of talent and recruiting geniuses? You know, like Nukeese and Brown were the top guys to get? Right. Just thinkin out loud here. And to think I was at one time on their bandwagon! How sadly mistaken was I on that one!
illinoisvolfan writes:
Maybe it wasn't the combination of no booze and a staph infection at all. Maybe it was simply a bad case of Red Bull with a Christmas greeting attached.
Ironcity writes:
I thought Kiffin and Ed did a good job of evaluating they just weren't very good coaches. Think of James and Fulton. No one was talking about how great Fulton was. There were a lot of guys they went after that have worked out well. Without those guys Bray never comes to UT. I hate Kiffy and find myself amused by Orgeron but they help recruit a lot of good players before they left.
Ironcity writes:
I love Moore but the reason he didn't make it was because he had Simms throwing the ball to him for 2/3rds of the season. If Bray is his QB all year he has about 1300 hundred yards and about 13 TD's and he is looking at possibly 1st team.
BigOrangeinCharge writes:
That's all these things are ever about. Especially in the case of Pouncey, who had more bad snaps this year by himself than the rest of the SEC combined.
D. Moore and Poole deserved honorable mentions, at least.
steelersman42 writes:
how do Denarius Moore and Janzen Jackson not even get honorable mention?
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.