Tennessee Vols second year player poised to become a household name in 2024

The Tennessee Vols have a future superstar on their roster that's poised to become a household name in 2024. 

Tennessee redshirt freshman Ethan Davis, a former four-star recruit out of Georgia, had a quiet true freshman season in 2023, catching just two passes for 33 yards. 

Davis played behind Jacob Warren and McCallan Castles, which limited his opportunities. 

Warren and Castles are off to the NFL after exhausting their eligibility. Along with Davis, transfer additions Holden Staes and Miles Kitselman will fill the void left by Warren an Castles. 

It's Davis, however, that has the most upside of any tight end on Tennessee's roster. And he should be in line for a huge season this fall in large part because, well, he's larger than he was as a freshman. 

Vols tight end coach Alec Abeln met with reporters over the weekend and he explained how Davis is a better spot with his body to make an impact in the SEC in 2024. 

Abeln also made sure to point out that Davis is going to be an elite player. 

"We talked about it a lot last year, Ethan would flash all the time, but he was 225 (pounds)," said Abeln. "In this league, doing some of the things we ask guys to do, that's tough. At the same time, learning the new system, adjusting to the speed of the game at this level, this spring, he's done such a great job. One, getting his body right. I think he was 242 last week. And he's so comfortable now with where to be, what to do. There's still a detail in everything that he has to continue to clean up, but I've told him this, he's going to be an elite player in the core. He has so much twitch, pop. He's not scared of anything. As he continues to get better with the fundamentals of it, he's going to be really, really good."

We saw Davis' elite body control and pass-catching abilities last year during the spring game when he made an impressive grab down the sideline on a Nico Iamaleava scramble drill pass.