Tennessee football: 2021 Georgia athlete Christian Charles commits to Vols

The Gainesville, Ga. is joining the Tennessee football Volunteers.

After more than a month-long commitment drought on the recruiting trail, Tennessee football has added another prospect to its 2021 class. Once again, Jeremy Pruitt and the Vos went to a neighboring state in the process.

Athlete Christian Charles, a three-star on Rivals who is not yet rated on 247Sports, committed to Rocky Top Thursday. A 6’1″ 185-pound product of Chestatee High School in Gainesville, Ga., Charles has been playing quarterback but was being recruited as an athlete.

Ryan Callahan of 247Sports and Brent Hubbs of VolQuest both report that Tennessee football recruited Charles to play defensive back specifically. You can listen to an interview he did with Austin Price of Volquest about his commitment by clicking on the video above. He announced his commitment to UT on Twitter.

As the 26th commitment in the Vols’ 2021 recruiting class, Charles doesn’t do much to boost the team’s ranking, which is currently No. 6 on Rivals and No. 8 on 247Sports. However, he definitely adds value to the team.

Charles is among five athletes to commit to UT. He joins four-star Kaemen Marley of North Carolina and in-state three-star Elijah Howard as potential defensive backs. Both of those players could play receiver, running back or defensive back. Marley, who hails from Ramseur, N.C., stands at 6’3″ 215 pounds. Howard, who hails from Chattanooga, Tenn., stands at 5’11” 180 pounds.

In addition to being the fifth athlete, Charles is the fourth player from the state of Georgia in this class. Three-star tight end Miles Campbell of Douglasville, Ga., four-star running back Cody Brown of Lilburn, Ga. and four-star wide receiver Julian Nixon of Roswell, Ga. are the other three. Here is a look at Charles’ highlight reel.

With his accomplishments at quarterback taking over the highlight reel, Charles doesn’t provide much detail into what he would be like as a defensive back. However, he does show lots of agility and quickness, which is clearly important for the position.

Then there’s the speed factor, and Charles clearly brings that. Callahan reported back in the summer that he has already clocked in an unofficial 4.51 40-time, and that could get better. Simply put, he’s a solid pickup for Tennessee football and could be a rising star.