Injuries and position changes tested this five-star recruit, yet David Sanders Jr. still made a powerful impact on Tennessee's offensive line.
When Tennessee football was approaching its 2025 recruiting class, one of the largest question marks surrounding the group was David Sanders Jr., and where he would eventually decide to sign.
Sanders, a five-star recruit from Charlotte, N.C., the 6-foot-6 "then" 290-pound lineman, was pursued by the likes of Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, and Alabama, before ultimately settling on Tennessee on signing day, Dec. 5, 2024.
Sanders dealt with an injury through the first four weeks of the 2025 regular season, causing him to miss playing time. Despite that, he returned in week five against Mississippi State, much to his surprise.
“I won’t lie, when I went to the Mississippi State game, I did not think I was going to play that game cause I had just gotten cleared,” Sanders said. “I had just gotten cleared that Tuesday or Wednesday and only had one or two practices under my belt.”
Despite limited playing time and experience beforehand, the raw skill and talent from Sanders carried him a long way in his first season. Since the Week 5 contest, Sanders has played in every game at right tackle.
At the end of the season, he was selected as a Freshman All-American.
In five consecutive games, he started at right tackle after being placed into the rotation due to an injury on the line against Mississippi State.
“I’ve always played left tackle; I never had any right tackle experience until I got to the University of Tennessee,” Sanders said. “So just being able to develop at that position was really cool. I had a lot of ups and downs during spring ball, but just being able to work at it all summer and master it during fall camp, I felt like I was pretty solid all season.”
Whether Sanders entered the program as an elite prospect or not, it is as big a challenge as any to ask a true-freshman offensive lineman to hold his own against the might of the Southeastern Conference, especially after missing the first half of the season due to an injury.
Despite all the factors moving against Sanders, the tackle played an instrumental role in seeing the Vols’ rushing attack grow in the final weeks.
Against Florida, Sanders played all 73 offensive snaps while the Vols racked up 452 total yards of offense on the road, including 248 yards on the ground.
His first official start came against Kentucky on the road, a game which saw the Vols post their best game offensively of the season, including 504 total yards of offense.
“My freshman year, I don't even know if I can describe it in one word,” Sanders said. “I just had an amazing experience, from going from a recruit to a player was a big difference. Being able to run out there against Mississippi State, Arkansas, Dark Mode, just having every one of those each week, I took in every moment.”