Tennessee football: Vols decommits don’t outweigh Omari Thomas commit
After four-star Omari Thomas’s commitment, Tennessee football suffered two decommitments. But the Volunteers still came out ahead in recruiting for 2020.
On paper, it seems like a rough blow. Tennessee football secured the commitment of four-star Memphis-area defensive tackle Omari Thomas Monday morning. But then, that afternoon, four-star junior college cornerback Art Green decommitted from the Vols. And the next morning, three-star edge rusher Jimari Butler decommitted.
As a result, UT lost two players after picking up one. But that one pickup was worth losing those other two. The Vols are still in better shape for their 2020 class than they were the night before Thomas committed.
A 6’5″ 301-pound lineman out of Briarcrest, which is in Eads, Tenn., Thomas is a top 150 player nationally, a top 15 player at his position and a top five player in the state. So purely from a talent perspective, he’s a big deal. But there are other areas that make him a big win as well.
Thomas fills a major need for Tennessee football, which needs more depth at defensive tackle and will have seven seniors on its defensive line next year, including key players like Aubrey Solomon, Darel Middleton and Emmit Gooden, who is coming back from injury. So Thomas joins four-star Dominic Bailey as two commits up front to keep that unit strong.
What about the other two players? Well, Art Green may be a four-star. But he is a junior college guy, so he’ll only be there for two years when he arrives next year. It’s worth noting that UT already has two defensive backs in this class and built its entire rotation this year around two sophomores and two freshmen at cornerback.
Simply put, Tennessee football doesn’t have an immediate need there, and a junior college transfer with only two years of eligibility fills that lack of need even less than a regular commitment. So Green, although he would have been valuable, is not a terrible loss.
On the other hand, Butler would fill a need as an edge rusher or a defensive end, where the Vols still need a bit of help. But Kivon Bennett will be the specialist on that front for the next two years as a redshirt sophomore. And there are other players who are more highly-rated and could end up fulfilling that need.
Remember, the Vols are an overwhelming favorite to land four-star edge rusher Tyler Baron out of Knoxville. Four-star outside linebacker Tamarion McDonald in UT’s 2020 class could fulfill that role as well. Finally, they are in the running for four-star edge rusher Morven Joseph out of Florida.
Now, on this front, losing Jay Hardy was more of a killer. However, losing Butler, who was more there to provide depth than anything, wasn’t a big deal. It certainly doesn’t outweigh Thomas’s commitment to Rocky Top.
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Simply put, despite these losses, Jeremy Pruitt had a good start to the week by getting Thomas. He lost a junior college guy and a three-star for a four-star at a position of great need. That’s a big plus, and losing the other two guys could just make room for more commitments.