Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former Vols standout praised by prominent NFL columnist

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Zach Ragan | Last updated Jan 1, 2024 1:23 PM ET

Former Tennessee Vols linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, a linebacker for the Detroit Lions, was praised this week by longtime NFL columnist Peter King.

King, in his weekly "Football Morning in America" column for NBC Sports, named Reeves-Maybin as one of his special teams players of the week after the former Vol threw a pass for a critical first down on a fake punt against the Dallas Cowboys this past weekend.

Dialed up some Saturday night trickery!#DETvsDAL | ABC/ESPN pic.twitter.com/rskaocMnwU
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 31, 2023

A fake punt from your own 28 yard line is a gutsy call. But Reeves-Maybin, who played some quarterback at Northeast High School in Clarksville, TN, executed the play perfectly.

Peter King (via NBC Sports): Eleven years ago, Reeves-Maybin was a high-school quarterback in Clarksville, Tenn. That training came in handy Saturday night at Dallas. As the personal protector on a second-quarter punt for the Lions, Reeves-Maybin took the direct snap, rolled right on the fake punt and looked like he was going to try to run for the first down on fourth-and-two. Instead, he launched a 31-yard pass, a beauty, down the right sideline to Khalil Dorsey for a first down. Lovely throw, great chance to take.

That's not the first time this season that Reeves-Maybin has made a big play on a fake punt.

In Week One of the 2023 regular season, Reeves-Maybin converted a fake punt from the Lions' own 17 yard line in Detroit's win against the Kansas City Chiefs.