Tennessee football: Top 10 out-of-state 2022 prospects for Vols to pursue

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 22: Smokey the live Tennessee Volunteers mascot on the sidelines during the game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida won the game 47-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /

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9. Julian Humphrey

DB; Houston, Texas

Okay, full disclosure, these are the only two prospects we have listed out of Texas. It’s clear that Tennessee football is targeting them, they are truly elite and the Vols haven’t been eliminated yet by any of our standards. We should also note that despite limited proximity, Josh Heupel may have connections to Texas from his years with the Oklahoma Sooners.

Well, we’re looking at another defensive back. Clear Lake High School cornerback Julian Humphrey is another four-star across the board, standing 6’0″ to 6’1″ and weighing somewhere between 175 and 185 pounds. Coming out of Houston, he’s probably already a bit more connected to SEC country than Cristian Driver is.

Anyway, the Vols aren’t going to be able to ignore cornerbacks in 2022 just because they need safeties. Alontae Taylor will probably gone after this year, and Shawn Shamburger is in his last season too. There’s not a lot of proven talent at the position.

The same way Tim Banks could help with recruiting safeties, the return of Willie Martinez could help with cornerbacks. Martinez was also at Oklahoma in 2010 and 2011, so he probably can provide some value, and that may put UT in play for Humphrey.

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