Tennessee football: Strongest metro areas for Vols on 2019 roster

6. Jackson, Tenn.

It took five slides for us to get our first market in the state of Tennessee. And this one is a bit questionable for Tennessee football at the moment, although that’s eventually going to change when things finally fall into place.

Anyway, the first market in the state is the Jackson market. The West Tennessee area about an hour north of Memphis has always been a fertile recruiting ground for some talent. Remember Al Wilson anybody?

This year, the Vols have two linemen from there, one of whom is a prospect with a ton of potential and the other of whom may be the best player on the team if he can get healthy. Offensive lineman Trey Smith is the latter of the two.

Smith was a freshman All-American as a guard and then became the best lineman while moving to left tackle last year. If his blood clots weren’t keeping him in limbo, he alone would have Jackson much higher on the list.

Meanwhile, Greg Emerson is a good supporting guy. A four-star defensive lineman in the Vols’ 2018 recruiting class, Emerson has gotten up to 6’3″ 310 pounds. We know that Rocky Top desperately needs help on the defensive line, and while Emerson may not fill that void this year, he’s definitely in line to do it in the future.

The combination of Emerson and Smith could give the Jackson area fierce representation in 2020. And both are directly from the city of Jackson, so they truly do represent that area. We’ll see how much of an impact they have this year.