The offseason program is off and running in the NFL with all 32 teams holding OTA workouts this week, and Tennessee has six rookies – including the four players selected in the first 126 picks of the 2025 NFL Draft – embarking on the next chapters of their football careers. The defensive line provided the first two draft picks for the Vols with first-rounder James Pearce Jr. (Atlanta Falcons) and second-rounder Omarr Norman-Lott (Kansas City Chiefs) plus both undrafted free-agent signings in Omari Thomas (New Orleans Saints) and Elijah Simmons (Arizona Cardinals), and the top performers on the 2024 Tennessee offense in wide receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr. (Las Vegas Raiders) and running back Dylan Sampson (Cleveland Browns) were fourth-round picks. All six players have gotten their jersey numbers from their news teams and have been sporting them on the field in their first NFL practices.
All 32 teams held rookie minicamps earlier this month and will have mandatory minicamps next month before training camps get going closer to the 2025 season.
Two Tennessee rookies are sporting the same numbers they are wearing with the Vols, one is wearing a throwback number and the other three got new numbers altogether – here’s who is wearing what with their NFL teams:
EDGE James Pearce Jr. (Falcons): No. 27
Tennessee’s 48th all-time first-round pick is wearing the same number he wore in all three seasons with the Vols. All-American linebacker Al Wilson, the legendary team captain for the 1998 national championship team, is the most famous No. 27 in Tennessee history, and Hank Lauricella, an All-American and runner-up for the Heisman Trophy for the 1951 national championship team, wore it long before him. Pearce lived up to the number’s billing with two All-SEC seasons at Tennessee.
DL Omarr Norman-Lott (Chiefs): No. 55
Norman-Lott is carrying the college number he wore at Tennessee and Arizona State. As he recounted during his interview at Kansas City’s rookie minicamp, the Sun Devils put him in No. 55 and initially it didn’t mean anything to him. Then in a game, without thinking, he celebrated making a play by putting both hands up with all five fingers outstretched. “I had both my fives up, and ever since then, it just stuck with that team,” Norman-Lott said. “They started calling me 5-5. … Now it definitely has a significant meaning behind me on the field and playing."
WR Dont’e Thornton (Raiders): No. 10
Thornton wore No. 10 during his freshman season at Oregon in 2021 before wearing No. 2 for the Ducks in 2022 and No. 1 in both his seasons with the Vols.
RB Dylan Sampson (Browns): No. 22
Sampson wore No. 21 during his high school career in Louisiana and No. 24 as a freshman at Tennessee, so he’s no stranger to the 20s. He took over No. 6 from Byron Young during his sophomore season with the Vols in 2023 and wore it over the past two seasons. He did Alvin Kamara proud in his record-breaking performance last season to earn 2024 SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors.
DL Omari Thomas (Saints): No. 74
A very offensive line number for Thomas, who did some O-line position drills at Tennessee’s Pro Day, but New Orleans has him listed as defensive end on its roster.
DL Elijah Simmons (Cardinals): No. 96
Simmons switched from No. 51 to No. 10 going into the 2023 season at Tennessee, but in Arizona is now in a number more befitting a 6-foot-1, 334-pound D-tackle.