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Tennessee football in four-star 2022 athlete Ken Talley’s top seven

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee football Volunteers made another cut for the Philadelphia, Pa. prospect.

Although Jeremy Pruitt is still looking for that first commitment in the 2022 Tennessee football recruiting class, he continues to have the Vols trending for different players. Over the weekend, he did so again with another key target.

Less than two weeks after making the top 13 for Pennsylvania athlete Ken Talley, the Vols made the cut for him again. A four-star on Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN, the 6’2″ 225-pound prospect from Northeast High School in Philadelphia put UT in his top seven.

Joining Tennessee football on Talley’s list were the Penn State Nittany Lions, West Virginia Mountaineer, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Michigan Wolverines, Texas A&M Aggies and Arizona State Sun Devils. He announced the schools on Twitter.

Despite being listed as an athlete on Rivals, it is likely Talley would play weakside defensive end in college, as that’s where he’s listed on 247Sports and ESPN. Given the fact that he’s a weakside end, he’d be that versatile edge rusher in Jeremy Pruitt’s scheme who plays outside linebacker out of the base defense but up on the line in the nickel package with four down linemen.

Such edge rushers are a big deal for the Vols. Pruitt has lamented about the lack of them since he arrived on Rocky Top, and with the departure of Darrell Taylor, Deandre Johnson entering his senior year and Kivon Bennett entering his junior year, he clearly needs help there.

Adding four-stars Roman Harrison in 2019, Tamarion McDonald in 2020, Morven Joseph in 2020 and Dylan Brooks in 2022 has helped with that depth. But Pruitt could certainly use more players, and Talley would definitely help on that front.

It also may help Pruitt that UT is building somewhat of a pipeline into Philly. After all, defensive back Romello Edwards and offensive lineman Jahmir Johnson both committed to Pruitt, and both hail from there. As a result, he and his staff could be developing a connection into that region.

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However, it’s clear that landing Talley will be tough. The Penn State Nittany Lions are a unanimous favorite to land Talley on the Rivals Future Cast and 247Sports Crystal Ball, and they are a majority favorite on the Rivals Fan Future Cast. As a result, Tennessee football has work to do before his scheduled announcement, which is set to come on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. ET.

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