Hendon Hooker, Cedric Tillman receive Senior Bowl invites

Two more Tennessee Volunteers received their Senior Bowl invites on Wednesday, joining Darnell Wright and Byron Young. Hendon Hooker and Cedric Tillman are the latest to receive their invites to the event.

Obviously, Hooker won’t be able to physically participate after tearing his ACL against South Carolina. However, Hooker will be able to connect with teams during the interview portion of the week.

Hooker was brilliant in his two seasons with Tennessee, executing Josh Heupel’s offense to near perfection. He went from being an outcast at Virginia Tech to a Heisman candidate in the matter of about 20 months. Now his draft process begins, and unfortunately it will be centered around his knee injury. Already 24, Hooker will now likely miss a chunk of his rookie year. It will be interesting to see where he comes off of the board in April.

Cedric Tillman, who is also dealing with an injury, also received his invite.

Tillman’s season was derailed after taking a low shot against Akron. It was a dreaded high-ankle sprain for the senior receiver, and he’s yet to really look 100 percent even since returning.

Back in 2021, Tillman went over 1,000 yards for Tennessee. Before the injury, he appeared ready to chase that number once again. His dominance was on full display against Pittsburgh, coming up big in that one late to push the Volunteers to a win.

Tillman missed the last game of the season, and it would be a surprise if we saw him appear in the bowl game after such a choppy year. Hopefully Tillman can get the ankle completely healed by the time the Senior Bowl rolls around.