Tennessee football recruiting: Vols make top 5 for DE, offer JuCo DT
Tennessee football targeted defensive linemen Tuesday. The Volunteers offered a junior college defensive tackle and made the top five for an edge rusher.
For Jeremy Pruitt, the defensive line is going to be huge as he rebuilds Tennessee football. There was movement on that front for his program in multiple ways on Tuesday, and some of it was incredibly good news.
The splash report was Terrell Dawkins. A strongside defensive end at 6’4″ 240 pounds, Dawkins listed his top five on Twitter Tuesday, and the Vols made the cut. They were in there with the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Florida Gators and the N.C. State Wolfpack.
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A three-star on Rivals, Dawkins comes from Cox Mill High School in Concord, N.C. That’s what gets the Wolfpack in contention. There is no base defense that appears to be in the lead for Dawkins either, as he’s looking at two nickel base packages, two 3-4 defenses and a 4-3 defense.
However, as an edge rusher, the 3-4 defenses would favor him the most. So that could bring things down to Tennessee and Florida. N.C. State has the hometown advantage, and Ohio State has the recent success advantage. It’s hard to see Notre Dame taking the lead here. Simply put, it’s good news for Tennessee football to be in Dawkin’s top five.
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In addition to making that list, Pruitt and co. went after a three-star junior college defensive tackle who is currently committed to the South Carolina Gamecocks as well. Jahkeem Green announced on Twitter that he had received an offer from the Vols as well.
Green may currently be committed to South Carolina, but that hasn’t stopped Pruitt from being aggressive before. On top of that, he’s also not afraid to go for junior college players to bring in immediate help.
The Highland Community College player in Highland, Kan. stands at 6’4″ 305 pounds. He’s also fielding offers, despite his commitment, from other elite SEC schools, including the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs.
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Currently, Tennessee football has three commitments on the defensive line, including two at defensive tackle. They are in good shape there so far but have lots more work to do. So getting either of these guys would be a huge boost for them.