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Tennessee football recruiting: Ranking position groups of Vols 2019 class with grades

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 29: A general view of Neyland Stadium during the South Carolina Gamecocks game against the Tennessee Volunteers on October 29, 2011 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
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8.  Special Teams

Recruiting grade: C

This grade is basically an incomplete. Tennessee football didn’t get any place-kickers or punters to commit, and that’s the nature of basic special teams commitments. On the surface, that should have this unit at the bottom. At least it should get an incomplete.

However, an incomplete on special teams is better than the situation at wide receiver. That’s because the Vols have a junior place-kicker in Brent Cimaglia, a sophomore punter in Joe Doyle and a sophomore kickoff specialist in Brent Cimaglia.

With those three guys, Jeremy Pruitt doesn’t have to secure a commitment at either one of those positions for two more years. Then there’s the other element of special teams: the return game. We put them all as one in this post.

That’s because anybody who would be a returner is part of another unit. Still, defensive backs Kenney Solomon, Tyus Fields and Anthony Harris along with running back Eric Gray all have experience as kick and punt returners.Those guys are super elite at those jobs, and that puts the return game in great position going forward.

Of course, kicking and punting still drive this unit, and no commitments there require us just to give this a generic C regardless of what the roster situation is. You always want to try to secure at least one specialist if you can. But given the situation right now for the Vols at those spots, it’s worth noting that this unit is nothing to worry about.

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