Tennessee football: Vols top five 2020 signees who could contribute early

With a top 10 recruiting class that may not be done, Tennessee football got some real talent for 2020. These Volunteers signees who could play early.

Despite losing only six starters and just 10 two-deep rotational players from last year’s team, Tennessee football lost some very key players. These guys were small in numbers but large in their production on Rocky Top.

Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway were the Vols’ top offensive playmaker, Nigel Warrior and Darrell Taylor were their top defensive playmakers, Daniel Bituli was the quarterback of the defense holding things together, and Dominick Wood-Anderson was truly a tight end as a great blocker and receiver. All six are gone.

As a result, Tennessee football certainly has some openings for new talent this year. The Vols secured a top 10 class just for that with 23 new recruits, and many of them will be looking to immediately insert themselves into the rotation.

In this post, we’re going to rank the five incoming recruits with the greatest chance to play in 2020. Our rankings are based on the projected talent they have, their profiles and also the positions they play and just how much of a need there is at those positions.

Of course, this post will be altered if five-star running back Zachary Evans, a guy whose signing has been delayed, commits. But his recruitment is going to be up in the air through spring practice, so we had to leave him off the list.

Given the previous recruiting success of Jeremy Pruitt, some positions that lost key talent may not generate a lot of need for the new recruits. After all, Pruitt has built up a lot of depth in a lot of different places at this point.

Still, there are plenty of openings this year to fill up rotational spots. This post doesn’t just look at those most likely to start, although start would mean playing. It looks at those who could have an impact by being on the two-deep depth chart and come in to make key plays.

So which recruits fit this profile? How much of an impact could they have on the Vols going forward? Let’s look at that here. These are the five members of Tennessee football’s 2020 recruiting class with the best chance to play this year.