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Tennessee football: Ranking position groups in Vols’ 2022 recruiting class with grades

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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KNOXVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 15: Tennessee Volunteers live mascot Smokey X preparing to lead the team out during the game between the UTEP Miners and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-0. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 15: Tennessee Volunteers live mascot Smokey X preparing to lead the team out during the game between the UTEP Miners and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 24-0. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /

3. Edge rusher: A-

Byron Young was Tennessee football’s breakout edge rusher last year. Tyler Baron and Roman Harrison were both proven producers as well. All three are back this year, and they all have at least two years of eligibility remaining. As a result, Josh Heupel didn’t really need to add any edge rushers when thinking about the future.

He still added two. James Pearce and Joshua Josephs both committed to the Vols. Pearce is the more highly touted across the board of the two, as he is a four-star across every service except for ESPN, where he is a three-star. Once there’s a need at edge rusher again, he would be expected to fill it immediately.

However, Josephs is a four-star on two of the services, On3 and 247Sports, and he is a three-star on Rivals and ESPN. As a result, he comes into this class with a ton of potential as well, and a year or two of experience could make him a legitimate threat.

With these two guys on the roster, the Vols will have at least four edge rushers in 2023 and potentially five. There is more quality as well given the recruiting rankings, so Heupel scored big on this front. Rocky Top could make a ton of plays on defense next year because of these guys.

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