All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football recruiting rankings drop after Vols lose nation’s top punter

By Caleb Calhoun

Oct 8, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; A view of the Tennessee Volunteers fans and flag during the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. The Aggies defeat the Volunteers 45-38 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; A view of the Tennessee Volunteers fans and flag during the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field. The Aggies defeat the Volunteers 45-38 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Tennessee football recruiting took a hit as three-star Skyler DeLong, the top punter for 2018, flipped from the Volunteers to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

In what universe does a punter have that much of a difference on a recruiting class? Apparently it has a huge impact on the 2018 Tennessee football class.

Three-star punter Skyler DeLong out of Nation Ford High School in Fort Mills, S.C. flipped his commitment on Thursday from the Vols to the Alabama Crimson Tide. The nation’s top punter at 6’3″ 180 pounds, the loss was definitely a hit for Tennessee football recruiting in 2018.

More from Vols Football

But it dropped their Rivals ranking from No. 6 to No. 8. There’s really no way to justify that making sense after what happened this week.

Earlier in the week, the Vols picked up four-start in-state defensive tackle D’Andre Litaker. Before picking him up, their Rivals ranking was at No. 7.

His commitment moved them up one spot. DeLong’s decommitment dropped them two spots.

Maybe this is overreacting, but how is losing a three-star punter a bigger deal than gaining a four-star defensive tackle?

Either way, it’s not a big deal for Tennessee if you look at their roster.

They have plenty of time to get another punter, and Butch Jones is doing a decent job stacking up the place-kicking depth to replace Aaron Medley.

And place-kicking is much more important than punting.

So while it would have been nice to have DeLong, remember that you can find a punter anywhere. Tommy Townsend was supposed to be a superstar punter for the Vols, but he got beat out by walk-on Trevor Daniel.

One of Butch Jones’s biggest strength is special teams, so the Vols will be fine in this regard. If DeLong was a reason for them being near the Top 5, then this recruiting class was already thinner than it needed to be in the first place.

Home/Vols Football