What the NFL Draft tells us about Josh Heupel and Tennessee football

Tennessee boasted one of the SEC's premier offenses last season during Josh Heupel's debut despite not having much NFL ready talent, as will be evidenced this week during the NFL Draft.

The Vols are projected to have to have four players selected in the draft, which begins Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN, NFL Network).

Defensive lineman Matthew Butler, cornerback Alontae Taylor, wide receiver Velus Jones Jr., and offensive lineman Cade Mays are expected to be mid- to late-round picks. Tennessee likely won't have any players selected in either of the first two rounds.

On this edition of "The Volunteer State," Blake Toppmeyer of the USA TODAY Network and the News Sentinel's Adam Sparks debate how Tennessee would be affected if Heupel's program begins to increase its level of NFL talent.

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As Toppmeyer notes, Tennessee's 2021 offense and Heupel's offenses during two seasons at Missouri's offensive coordinator excelled despite lacking future NFL superstars. As such, Toppmeyer and Adams agree that an influx of NFL-caliber defensive talent would have more of an impact on the program.

Put differently, the long-term ceiling for UT's defense is higher, as compared to last season, than the ceiling for its already high-functioning offense.

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In a hypothetical scenario in which Tennessee could add four future first- or second-round draft picks to its program, Toppmeyer says the Vols would be best served if all four were defensive players: two defensive linemen, a linebacker and a cornerback.

Sparks has a similar line of thinking, saying the Vols' wish list in such a hypothetical should include two edge rushers, a cornerback and an offensive tackle.

Tennessee has not produced a first-round draft pick since the Eagles selected defensive end Derek Barnett at No. 14 overall in 2017.

Of course, Tennessee isn't going to turn away NFL talent on either side of the ball, but, because Heupel's offense already works well, the Vols are more in need of Barnett-caliber players on defense than players like Alvin Kamara on offense.

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Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat writer for the News Sentinel. If you enjoy their coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, you can subscribe to The Volunteer State podcast for free so you won't miss an episode. Also, check out SEC Football Unfiltered, another podcast hosted by Toppmeyer.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What NFL Draft tells us about Tennessee football and Josh Heupel