UT foursome makes NFL plans official

By STEVE MEGARGEE
AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray, wide receivers Justin Hunter and Cordarrelle Patterson and defensive end Darrington Sentimore are bypassing their senior seasons to enter the NFL draft.
The university announced their decisions in a release Wednesday.
Patterson gained 1,858 all-purpose yards this season to break Reggie Cobb’s 25-year-old school record and was a first-team all-Southeastern Conference selection as an all-purpose player.
The 6-3 transfer from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College caught 46 passes for 778 yards and five touchdowns. He also scored on three runs from scrimmage, one punt return and one kickoff return.
After tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in September 2011, Hunter returned this season and caught 73 passes for 1,083 yards and nine touchdowns to earn second-team all-SEC honors.
Rob Rang, a senior analyst for nfldraftscout.com, rates Patterson as a probable first-round pick and has Hunter as a first- or second-round choice.
Their departures mean Tennessee won’t return a single wideout who caught more than 13 passes this season.
Bray threw for 3,612 yards and 34 touchdowns this year to rank second on Tennessee’s single-season list in both categories, behind Peyton Manning’s 3,819 yards and 36 touchdown passes in 1997.  Bray also threw 12 interceptions.
Rang rates Bray as a second- or third-round pick.
“For Bray, it’s going to be critical to wow teams at interviews and to get recommendations from his former coaching staff,” Rang said.
Bray’s departure leaves Justin Worley and Nathan Peterman as the most likely candidates to open the 2013 season as Tennessee’s starting quarterback.
Worley made three starts in 2011 while a fractured right thumb kept Bray on the sidelines.
He played five games in a backup role as a sophomore this fall. He has gone 63-of-110 for 738 yards in his career with five interceptions and one touchdown pass.
Peterman, who redshirted as a freshman, has some history with new Tennessee coach Butch Jones because he considered Cincinnati before committing to the Volunteers in the summer of 2011. Jones coached Cincinnati from 2010-12.
Sentimore had 18 overall tackles — five for loss — and a team-high four sacks this fall.
He began his college career at Alabama and transferred to Gulf Coast (Miss.) Community College before spending the 2012 season at Tennessee.
The loss of Sentimore leaves Tennessee with nine returning defensive players who made at least six starts this season. Published in The Messenger 1.10.13

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