Tennessee football: Memphis-area RB Jabari Small commits to Vols for 2020

Another in-state player committed to Tennessee football’s recruiting class Tuesday. Eads, Tenn. all-purpose running back Jabari Small chose the Volunteers.

After securing four-star defensive tackle Omari Thomas out of Briarcrest Christian on Monday, Tennessee football got another pickup from the West Tennessee high school for its 2020 class. This time, the Vols picked up an offensive player.

All-purpose back Jabari Small, who also hails from the high school in Eads, Tenn., just outside of Memphis, committed to Rocky Top on Tuesday. In addition to being the second player from that school, Small is the fifth layer from the Memphis area to commit to UT. The other three are from Whitehaven High School in the city.

Small initially committed to the Ole Miss Rebels back on July 28. However, he reopened his recruitment on Dec. 2, one day after Matt Luke was fired. He announced his commitment to Tennessee football on Twitter.

A three-star on Rivals, Small just barely misses four-star status. He is the No. 13 ranked player at his position and the No. 15 ranked player in the state. Every player ranked ahead of him in the state and all but two all-purpose backs ranked ahead of him have four-star ratings or better.

At 5’10” 177 pounds, Small is going to a program that appears to have its future set at this position with Eric Gray. However, Jeremy Pruitt has consistently talked about his desire to use multiple running backs, and with Ty Chandler, Tim Jordan and Carlin Fils-Aime all being seniors next year, the Vols do need more bodies here.

That’s why Small, the 18th recruit in Tennessee football’s 2020 class and 10th player from within the state, joins Tee Hodge out of Maryville as a second running back in this class. Hodge brings the power back presence at 6’2″ 230 pounds, so these two could be the future together. Here is a look at Small’s highlight reel.

As you can see, Small is great at using his vision to get to open space, and he’s also willing to play a bit physical. His breakaway speed for an all-purpose back is probably not what it could be and certainly not like Gray’s speed. But he clearly has a feel for the position.

With Small’s versatility, Tennessee football should be in great shape now at the position going forward. Pruitt has Gray entering his sophomore year in 2020 and now two true freshmen, one a power back and one an all-purpose back. Small was clearly a great get.