Yet another Last Chance U-product in the SEC, Emmit Gooden is preparing for his senior season at Tennessee after a stint at Indy C.C. He was only featured in INDY: Part 3 of the Netflix docu-series, but Gooden spent both the 2016 and 2017 seasons as a member of the Pirates.
With two years of eligibility, Gooden chose Tennessee and enrolled in May of 2018. In his first season, he added depth along the defensive line and played in all 12 games. At 6-foot-3 and 302 pounds, though, Gooden finally fits in where he belongs — among the best lineman in the country; the SEC.
Gooden projects to be a major fixture along the Volunteers’ front in 2019. He only managed 33 tackles, but his 7.5 tackles for loss ranked third on the team. He’s the returning tackles leader among defensive linemen, too, so his experience could be relied upon heavily.
If Gooden’s able to improve his impact, the Volunteers could be a surprise riser in the SEC after their 5-7 finish a season ago. Tennessee did have a nice recruiting haul in the 2019 class, too — the 12th-overall class, per 247Sports — and they should provide more competition for second-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt.