Tennessee football makes cut for 2022 Florida DL Ahmad Moten

Losing out on Walter Nolen will always be hard for Tennessee football to get over, but in the midst of that, Josh Heupel has done relatively well on the defensive line. He flipped Tyre West from the Georgia Bulldogs on the early signing day, and now he has UT trending for another 2022 prospect.

Rocky Top is now one of five schools in contention for Fort Lauderdale, Fla. defensive lineman Ahmad Moten. A four-star on Rivals listed as a defensive tackle and a three-star on 247Sports, Moten stands between 6’3″ and 6’4″ and weighs around 290 pounds.

Joining Tennessee football on the list for the prospect out of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Florida’s Broward County are the Oklahoma Sooners, Miami Hurricanes, North Carolina Tar Heels and Iowa State Cyclones. He announced the schools Tuesday afternoon with a video on Twitter.

Right now, the two commitments at defensive tackle for the Vols are West, a four-star across the board, and Jordan Phillips, a three-star across the board. However, they could definitely use more talent given the players leaving.

Matthew Butler, Caleb Tremblay and Ja’Quain Blakely are all unable to return. Meanwhile, Aubrey Solomon and LaTrell Bumphus are likely gone unless they redshirt this year. A guy like Moten could be an underrated addition.

There’s a huge gap between where Moten stands on Rivals and 247Sports, and it’s not just in the star ratings. Rivals has him as the No. 25 ranked defensive tackle nationally and the No. 45 ranked player in the state of Florida. Meanwhile, he is the No. 135 ranked defensive lineman and No. 121 ranked player in the state of Florida on 247Sports.

Currently, there are no favorites to land Moten on the Rivals Future Cast. However, the 247Sports Crystal Ball has one prediction for Oklahoma to land him, with a high confidence interval (7), and Oklahoma is the plurality favorite to land him on the Rivals Fan Future Cast.

As a result, Tennessee football has an uphill battle to land this guy, particularly with Miami being in play and him being from South Florida. However, Heupel has connections to both the state of Florida and Oklahoma, so he could recruit against schools in both states.