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Evaluating Tennessee football’s 2020 recruiting class at dead period: Vols Offensive Line

By Caleb Calhoun

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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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

Tennessee football has three offensive linemen committed for its 2020 recruiting class. Here’s a look at where the Volunteers stand overall at the position.

Despite a historically great recruiting class on the offensive line in 2019, Tennessee football still needs a ton of help there to build for the future. After all, the Vols didn’t just lose Drew Richmond to transfer, Chance Hall to retirement and Trey Smith to blood clots, whose status is still in limbo.

They also lost one of the members of this recruiting class in Melvin McBride. As a result, despite being historically great, the cupboard remains a bit bare still. And Jeremy Pruitt has a lot of work to do to continue to restock this unit.

Heading into this year, Tennessee football has six rotational guys already who are either a junior or senior, and if Smith gets healthy, they’ll have seven. In addition to Smith, five are juniors, including Jahmir Johnson, Nathan Niehaus, Riley Locklear, Marcus Tatum and Ryan Johnson. Brandon Kennedy is the lone senior.

That sets Rocky Top up for 2020 at the very least, but they need a ton of help beyond that. Currently, sophomores Jerome Carvin and K’Rojhn Calbert along with freshmen Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright, the latter of whom was a five-star in the 2019 class, are the only guys likely to be in the rotation this year who will be there beyond 2020.

Jackson Lampley, Chris Akporoghene and Ollie Lane are three other members who fit that mold and bring in potential. But that means only seven players are currently in line to be able to make up a rotation past 2020, leaving Pruitt with some work to do on the trail for that class.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at where the 2020 recruiting class stands on the line with the Vols in the recruiting dead period. This analyzes their current commitments, other top prospects and an overall look at the class. We’ll close with a prediction on where the open guys will end up.

Jim Chaney said in his last stint on Rocky Top, his first year under Lane Kiffin to be exact, that you never feel like you have enough depth on your line. He, Pruitt and Will Friend are taking that to heart. How are they doing with it? Let’s look at that here with our evaluation of the Tennessee football 2020 recruiting class. We’ll start with those currently committed.

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