Tennessee football: Vols top 5 needs to fill National Signing Day 2019

5. Offensive line

With a blank slate, this is the biggest need for Tennessee football. The Vols had a historically bad offensive line last year, and the data shows that it truly was the weakest link of the program. Combine that with the uncertainty surrounding Trey Smith and the potential transfer of Drew Richmond, and this is easily the greatest need for the Vols.

However, recognizing that this is a need, Jeremy Pruitt focused heavily on the unit while recruiting. The Vols have four new offensive linemen coming in who have already signed. Three of them are four-stars in Jackson Lampley, Wanya Morris and Chris Akporoghene.

Meanwhile, Lampley is from Nashville and joins Melvin McBride from Memphis, a three-star, to round out the offensive line class with two in-state prospects. So Pruitt deserves credit for the work he put in to build up this class.

Now, it’s still a big need overall because of those two uncertainty issues we talked about, and the top target for the Vols on National Signing Day is an offensive lineman. Five-star tackle Darnell Wright of Huntington High School in Huntington, W. Va. is already 6’6″ and over 300 pounds. He would provide immediate help to this team, and there’s no way around it. They desperately need to land him specifically.

Wright’s commitment won’t completely eliminate the need up front. But if he does commit, there’s a chance the need is eliminated should Smith and Richmond somehow be back on the roster. If not, well, this need is at No. 5 because of the way Pruitt has successfully addressed it with this recruiting class.