"I will tell you this," Thompson said Sunday at UT's media day at Neyland Stadium. "Everybody knew this kid was a special talent, but in 25 years of coaching, this kid is an elite freshman."
In two scrimmages, Maggitt has worked primarily with the first-team defense and hasn't wavered from the pressure. Following a three-tackle debut Tuesday, Maggitt was all over the field Saturday, but spent most of his time in the offense's backfield, as 4.5 of his six tackles went for a loss.
Maggitt saved his best for the last play of the scrimmage, peeling around the end to net his second sack of the day.
"He does have a skill set that is pretty incredible," linebackers coach Peter Sirmon said. "He's got length, he's got some fast-twitch, really good change of direction. The big thing with him having success right now is he's very into football, the game makes sense to him, he's getting aligned right, he's done a good job of not making the same mistake.
"His learning curve has been a lot more rapid than I anticipated."
Maggitt was a four-star outside linebacker at Dwyer High in West Palm Beach, Fla., but was listed as a defensive end when UT announced his signing in February. Because the Vols are low on depth at both of those positions, Maggitt has been asked to pull double duty.
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