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Tennessee football: Vols in four-star 2021 N.C. defensive end’s top five

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: General view of a Tennessee Volunteers flag during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: General view of a Tennessee Volunteers flag during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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Coming off the NFL Draft, Tennessee football was back to recruiting trends. The Volunteers made the cut for Jahvaree Ritzie of Kernersville, N.C.

With an edge rusher headlining the 2021 NFL Draft class for Tennessee football in Darrell Taylor, it makes sense that the Vols would gain some ground with elite defensive ends on the recruiting trail that weekend. They made the cut for one such prospect the day after the draft ended.

Jahvaree Ritzie, four-star on Rivals out of Glenn High School in Kernersville, N.C., put the Vols in his top five. Ritzie is the No. 125 ranked player nationally and the No. 9 ranked player at his position and in the state of North Carolina.

Joining Tennessee football in the 6’5″ 265-pound strongside defensive end’s top five were the North Carolina Tar Heels, South Carolina Gamecocks, Georgia Bulldogs and Ohio State Buckeyes. He announced his list on Twitter Sunday afternoon.

Given his size, Ritzie is likely to be an end who would play up on the defensive line in Jeremy Pruitt’s and Derrick Ansley’s 3-4 scheme. However, there is a chance he plays off the line as an outside edger  rusher. It somewhat depends on what his size is coming in.

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Ritzie would obviously be a great pickup either way. Pruitt has lamented his lack of depth at outside linebacker, even with some real talent, and the Vols are loaded with seniors on the defensive line heading into this year.

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Jay Graham and Jimmy Brumbaugh are the guys tasked with recruiting Riztie. Currently, the North Carolina Tar Heels are the unanimous favorite on the 247Sports Crystal Ball and the Rivals Future Cast, but the Vols are the favorite by a plurality to land him on the Rivals Fan Future Cast.

However, UNC is clearly the favorite, as the former two forecasts are the more credible ones. As a result, it will be a major uphill climb for the Vols to land him, but making it into his top five is another step towards doing that.

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Graham being from North Carolina, though, gives the Vols somewhat of an advantage, and although UNC is his home state school, Kernersville is not too far away from Knoxville either. So Tennessee football has certain things working in its favor, and they might be able to pull off the steal because of those things. Luring him away from Mack Brown will be tough, though.

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