Bryce Harvey
With National Signing Day tomorrow, the Tennessee Volunteers are looking to put the finishing touches on a top 15 recruiting class. The Vols are currently sitting at 19 signees and two known commitments (DL LeDarrius Cox and S Anthony Harris) for a total of 21 players in the class currently. Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt said that Tennessee is looking to take about 25 signees in this class. So where are the other 4-5 players coming from? There are several players to keep an eye on as NSD unfolds.
The Vols biggest need in this 2019 class right now by far is most definitely at linebacker. Tennessee has one high profile target in the top 50, in 4-star linebacker Henry To’oto’o out of California. He made the cross-country road trip about three weeks ago to take a final look at the Vols and the Crimson Tide before he makes his final decision. He said the visit “felt confirming,” and he came away with “really strong” feeling about the Tennessee. This is what you love to hear if your a Vols fan; especially since he had another official visit the following weekend to Alabama. After his official to Tennessee sources close to To’oto’o viewed the Vols as the favorite. However, it seems as if that momentum has swung away from the Vos. It’s now looking more like a two way race between Washington and Alabama. With this news, I now view To’oto’o as a longshot leading up to signing day. That’s some bad news, however, if Pruitt and his staff could somehow bring To’oto’o to Rocky top it would be a HUGE get. Especially considering Tennessee has to replace three, maybe four, linebackers (depending on if Austin Smith decides to transfer) this coming season and they have one linebacker signed in the class so far.
Moving down the line, there are a pair of 5-stars who are just coming off their official visit this past weekend to keep your eye on. One of those is 5-star offensive tackle Darnell Wright out of Huntington, WV. Tennessee has widely been considered the favorite to land the 6 foot 6, 320 pound tackle for several months. He has fielded dozens of offers and plenty of in-home coaches visits from schools all over the nation. However, he only took two of his five official visits. One was to Tennessee and the only other was to West Virginia after their recent coaching change. Despite West Virginia sending all 10 position coaches to see Darnell last week, I do not see him landing anywhere else but Tennessee. The other EXTREMELY important 5-star to keep an eye on is wide receiver George Pickens out of Hoover, Alabama. Pickens is a long-time Auburn commit, but has been entertaining the thought of Tennessee along with a handful of other programs. Tennessee is seen as the team with the greatest chance to flip Pickens because of coach Jeremy Pruitt’s history at Hoover High School. Sources close to Pickens said that the official visit this past weekend couldn’t have gone any better for the Vols. That is great news as Tennessee desperately needs more playmakers on the offensive-side of the ball. With all that being said, this is my pick for a BIG time flip from the Auburn Tigers to the Tennessee Volunteers. I believe that Pruitt’s relationship to Hoover goes too deep for Auburn to fend off the Volunteers.
A couple of other important name to keep your eye on throughout National Signing Day are defensive linemen Kristian Williams and cornerback Kenny Solomon. Both are three star prospects, but both fill very big gaps in this class. Williams decommitted from Minnesota early Monday after taking his official visit to Tennessee this past weekend. The only team Tennessee truly needs to watch out for here is Oregon who jumped in the race pretty late. On the other hand, Kenny Solomon is a lock for the Vols in my eyes. He has tremendous upside with his sheer speed and athletic ability. After watching some of his film he could be a huge weapon in the return game as well as in coverage. His fastest official 40 yard dash time was timed at 4.43 seconds last summer. However, he said he ran a 4.38 at a track practice earlier this year. Tennessee could use that speed at any position on the field.
National Signing Day is a very hectic day throughout the College football world. This makes it very hard to predict what is going to happen because of all the different factors. However, here are my predictions for the final additions to this 2019 Tennessee class: 5-star OL Darnell Wright, 5-star WR George Pickens, 4-star S Anthony Harris, 3-star DL Kristian Williams, and 3-star CB Kenny Solomon. That brings Tennessee’s recruiting class to 25 total signees after DL LeDarrius Cox flips to Auburn. This haul would make Tennessee’s recruiting class a HUGE success. This would help fix the o-line woes and would add some key playmakers across the field.
Be on the lookout for another article later in the week recapping Tennessee’s final recruiting class and GO VOLS!
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