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Tennessee football recruiting: Former 2018 LSU DL commit Jamarcus Chatman switches to Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

Sep 12, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view of Neyland Stadium at halftime during the game between Tennessee Volunteers and the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 12, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; General view of Neyland Stadium at halftime during the game between Tennessee Volunteers and the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee football picked up its third recruit of the weekend as three-star defensive end Jamarcus Chatman flipped from the LSU Tigers to the Volunteers.

After building up depth in the running back class for Tennessee football’s 2018 recruiting class, Butch Jones added a third recruit from the state of Georgia. This time, it was on the defensive line.

Three-star defensive end Jamarcus Chatman, who initially committed to LSU, flipped his commitment to the Vols over the weekend.

Chatman announced his commitment to the Vols on Twitter Sunday night.

He had posted this on Twitter three days before.

It was clear that Chatman’s decommitment from LSU immediately meant his commitment to Tennessee football.

A three-star on Rivals, Chatman is not only the third recruit that the Vols secured this weekend. He’s also the third recruit they secured from Georgia. He comes out of Rome High School in Rome, Ga.

The strongside defensive end is the No. 61 ranked overall player in his state and the No. 35 ranked player on Rivals.

At 6’3″ 266 pounds, he already has the size to be a dangerous defensive end.

As you can see from the video, Chatman has a unique strength at lining up on the inside or outside. If he keeps his current size, he’ll obviously line up at end in college.

But his flexibility does help the coaches.

Chatman’s weakness, though, is that he didn’t show himself to be a playmaker. From a fundamental standpoint, he did what he was supposed to do at his position. But he never leaped off the screen.

That’s the biggest thing you want to see when you’re recruiting a defensive lineman to play college football.

The saving grace is Brady Hoke’s eye for talent. There are plenty of guys who don’t stick out in high school that Hoke was able to find.

And as the new defensive line coach, he would know if a guy is going to work out in college. So Chatman could be a huge steal for Tennessee football.

Flipping him from LSU only makes the pickup that much sweeter.

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