Tennessee football: 5 needs for Vols to address in 2020 recruiting class

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 5: The Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey runs through the end zone after a score against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 5, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 5: The Tennessee Volunteers mascot Smokey runs through the end zone after a score against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 5, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
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Tennessee football will have more issues to address as Jeremy Pruitt recruits for 2020. Here are five major needs on the trail for the Volunteers.

Despite no top 10 class in 2019, Jeremy Pruitt shored up tons of needs for Tennessee football on the recruiting trail. That’s a major plus and one that puts the program in much better shape when you look at its potential long-term success.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that Pruitt and the coaching staff will have needs next year on the recruiting trail. Whenever you’re looking to bring in talent, you’ve always got to build as much depth as possible all over the field.

Heading into 2020, Tennessee football will have questions once again if Pruitt doesn’t address some of those specific issues. After all, the team was 5-7 last year, so it’s not like they could shore up all their needs in one recruiting class.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at which areas Pruitt will need to focus on with next year’s recruiting class. The good news, before we get started, is almost none of these needs are as dire as they were this past year.

But injuries, early departures and simply lack of production could leave some major holes next year. Our criteria, by the way, not only includes immediate needs for 2020. We’ll also be looking at the long-term needs and which units need to be shored up for 2021.

After all, the success of a recruiting class isn’t really known until at least two years down the road anyway. So if a unit has a bunch of juniors who will be seniors in 2020, they are likely to be on this list. After all, Pruitt needs to build depth in those spots as much as possible.

So which areas need immediate attention next year? With 2019 in the rearview mirror, where does Pruitt need to focus on building depth? Find out here. These are the five biggest needs for Tennessee football’s 2020 recruiting class.