TENNESSEE VOLS FOOTBALL: Five tabbed preseason all-SEC
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The Southeastern Conference office announced Wednesday that five Tennessee football standouts were named to the 2026 Preseason Coaches All-SEC Team.
DeSean Bishop, Wendell Moe, Jr. and David Sanders Jr. were selected to the preseason All-SEC Third Team offense, while Arion Carter and Ty Redmond were tabbed as Third Team defensive selections.
The five honorees represent a mix of veteran leadership and emerging talent for the Volunteers entering the 2026 season.
Bishop, a Knoxville native and former walk-on, enters his second season as Tennessee's starting running back after earning second-team All-SEC honors in 2025. The Karns High School product rushed for 1,076 yards and 16 touchdowns on 182 carries while starting all 13 games, becoming Tennessee's first returning 1,000-yard rusher since Jalen Hurd in 2016.
Bishop also contributed 15 receptions for 135 yards and finished the season with a team-best 1,211 all-purpose yards, averaging 93.2 per game.
Moe Jr. returns for his final collegiate season after earning first-team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press in 2025. The veteran offensive guard started 11 games last season and helped anchor one of the SEC's top offensive lines. A 2026 preseason All-American, Moe has started 38 games during his collegiate career while playing more than 2,400 offensive snaps. He has allowed just two sacks in 40 career appearances.
Sanders Jr. enters his second season on Rocky Top after earning Freshman All-America honors as a true freshman in 2025. The blue-chip offensive tackle appeared in nine games with six starts at right tackle, totaling 480 offensive snaps, and did not allow a sack in eight of those contests. A rare combination of size, explosiveness and nimble movement, Sanders enrolled at Tennessee in January 2025 and quickly established himself as one of the nation's top young offensive linemen. He is expected to move to left tackle for the 2026 season.
Carter returns for his senior campaign after leading the SEC in tackles per game in 2025. Despite battling a foot injury throughout the season, the Smyrna, Tennessee, native started nine of the 10 games he played and paced the Vols with 7.6 tackles per contest. He totaled 64 tackles, including six tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, while adding two pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Carter was a 2025 semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award and is also on the 2026 Lott IMPACT Trophy Watch List. He was previously named to the 2026 Preseason All-SEC Third Team by the media and Athlon Sports.
Redmond enters his sophomore season as one of the nation's premier young defensive backs after earning Freshman All-America honors and Coaches All-SEC Third Team recognition in 2025. The lengthy cornerback started the final 12 games of his true freshman campaign and emerged as one of the SEC's top playmakers in the secondary. Redmond led the conference with 15 passes defended and 12 pass breakups while tying for sixth with three interceptions. He finished the season with 43 tackles and enters 2026 as the SEC's leading returning defender in both passes defended and pass breakups. His 81.6 Pro Football Focus coverage grade also ranks first among returning SEC cornerbacks.
TE Ethan Davis All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
DL Xavier Gilliam All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon)
OL Donovan Haslam East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
DL Daevin Hobbs All-SEC Third Team (Phil Steele)
DB Kayin Lee East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
WR Mike Matthews All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)East-West Shrine Bowl 1000 Biletnikoff watch list
DB TJ Metcalf East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
OL Wendell Moe Jr. Outland Trophy Watch ListWalter Camp All-America Second TeamAthlon All-America Third TeamAll-SEC First Team (Athlon)All-SEC Third Team (Media, Phil Steele)East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
DB Qua Moss East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
OL Jesse Perry All-SEC First Team (Phil Steele)All-SEC Fourth Team (Athlon)
DB Ty Redmond Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch ListAthlon All-America Fourth TeamAll-SEC Second Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)
P Jackson Ross East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
OL David Sanders Jr. All-SEC Second Team (Athlon, Phil Steele)All-SEC Third Team (Media)
LB Edwin Spillman AFCA Allstate Good Works Team Nominee
WR Braylon Staley All-SEC Second Team (Athlon, Phil Steele) Biletnikoff watch list
LB Jeremiah Telander East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
OL Shamurad Umarov East-West Shrine Bowl 1000
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