Tennessee football: 5 most underrated players in Tennessee Volunteers history

James Stewart was a workhorse back for the Tennessee Vols.

The Tennessee Vols have been able to run the ball with conviction for a very long time. No matter what generation of backs you choose from, you’ll always find one that tickles your fancy. Yet for some reason, we don’t give enough credit to what James Stewart did in the early 1990s, as well as what he did in the NFL in the years to follow.

Stewart had 531 career carries in Tennessee uniform. He went for 2,890 yards and 35 rushing touches in his four years with the program. His 1,028-yard and 11-touchdown performance as a senior in 1994 helped him be a first-round pick by the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars. Though never a Pro Bowler, Stewart had a nice nine-year career with the Jaguars and the Detroit Lions.

On 1,478 rushing attempts, Stewart had 5,841 yards and 48 touchdowns. Decades since he last played for the Jaguars, he remains one of the four best running backs in the brief history of the franchise. You can still find Stewart’s name towards the top of many Volunteers’ career rushing statistics. He is third all-time in yardage and first in career trips to pay dirt on the ground.

Hitting pay dirt is what Stewart did best on the football field. It is what set him apart in Knoxville, Jacksonville and later Detroit. While he only went over 1,000 yards in a season every so often, Stewart was a consistent playmaker in the backfield for any team he was on. Despite a lack of personal accolades, we all know how good of a player he was in his football career.