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Tennessee football signs 2021 JuCo OL Jeremiah Crawford

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: A general view of the outside of Neyland Stadium prior to the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Indiana State Sycamores on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: A general view of the outside of Neyland Stadium prior to the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Indiana State Sycamores on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Look at that! National Signing Day wasn’t a complete waste for Tennessee football. In a surprise move, Josh Heupel was able to lure one of the top junior college prospects in the nation out of Kansas for 2021 to Rocky Top, and he only needed a week on the job to do it.

Jeremiah Crawford, a three-star across all major recruiting services who is initially from Goddard, Kan. and attends Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kan., announced his commitment to Rocky Top on National Signing Day. Crawford stands at 6’6″ 300 pounds and is officially listed as an offensive tackle.

Due to the pandemic, Crawford did not play in the fall, but he is set to play a spring season with the program before joining Tennessee football. He announced his decision to attend UT on Twitter, and before that, the university itself announced the signing of him on Twitter.

Make no mistake, Crawford is an impressive pickup for Heupel. The last time he played, 2019, he earned All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) second-team. He is ranked the No. 3 junior college offensive tackle and the No. 40 junior college played overall.

We should note that Crawford had offers from the Baylor Bears, Ole Miss Rebels, Houston Cougars, Iowa State Cyclones, Kansas State Wildcats and Maryland Terrapins, so he was drawing some serious interest. Here is a look at his highlight reel.

As you can see, Crawford is great on designed stretch plays, which allows him to be a solid run-blocker. However, there’s not much competition for him when it comes to his pass protection on film, and that combined with the fact that he’s playing right tackle suggests he has some work to do on that front. Still, he has potential.

Next. Five reasons Josh Heupel hire could work out for Vols. dark

With the recent losses of Wanya Morris to the Oklahoma Sooners and Jahmir Johnson to the transfer portal, it was crucial for Heupel to do something to maintain depth on the exterior of the offensive line. Darnell Wright and K’Rojhn Calbert are still there, Tennessee football desperately needed more players at that position. Adding Crawford does that.

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