1. Tennessee football’s class will not be in the top 10.
For the fourth straight season, Tennessee football will not have a class in the top 10. Even with the addition of a five-star offensive tackle and a three-star safety, there are too many other teams with top players to add.
Betsided
As a result, those additions won’t be enough to vault a team at No. 15 all the way up to No. 10. The good news, however, is those rankings are highly overrated, especially given what Jeremy Pruitt is focusing on with this class.
Given the state of the program, Pruitt’s order of business was not building a top 10 class for the sake of it this year. He had to find a way to address specific needs, and when the class is all said and done, it’ll play a huge role on that front.
Offensive line, after all, was the weakest part of the team last year. Well, when Wright commits, as we predict, the Vols will have five offensive linemen committed to the class, including a five-star, three more four-stars and a three-star.
Meanwhile, even if LeDarrius Cox decommits, the Vols will have three defensive tackles committed to the class, and they have five defensive backs committed, three of whom are four-stars already. So Solomon will make that six commits there and build insane depth for the future.
Simply put, Tennessee football is not in a position yet to simply load up on recruits for a national title run. Coming off a 5-7 season, Pruitt only has enough credibility to shore up his team’s big weaknesses. After that, they can focus on winning enough to start attracting more top-notch recruits. But given that process, not having a top 10 class is not a big deal this year. Just know it won’t happen.