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Tennessee football makes cut for elite 2023 Alabama DE Tomarrion Parker

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee players take the field as the University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland marching band performs a pregame show and fans checker Neyland Stadium orange and white for the Florida game on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016.0925 Kcsp Utfl 012 Mp
Tennessee players take the field as the University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland marching band performs a pregame show and fans checker Neyland Stadium orange and white for the Florida game on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016.0925 Kcsp Utfl 012 Mp /
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The 2022 recruiting class just finished up, and after a strong first year, Josh Heupel already has Tennessee football much better positioned for 2023. In addition to a couple of elite players already committed, he’s got the Vols trending for lots of top talent too, and now an elite Alabama defender is in the mix.

Phenix City, Ala., Defensive end Tomarrion Parker, a four-star across the board, has the Vols in his top five. A product of Central High School in Lee County, Parker stands at 6’4″ and weighs in the range of 255 to 260 pounds.

Joining Tennessee football on Parker’s list are the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, Ohio State Buckeyes and Penn State Nittany Lions. He announced the schools Wednesday almost at noon on the dot on Twitter.

Given his size, Parker could play a couple of different roles in Tim Banks’ system. The Vols like to run one hybrid defensive lineman who plays on the outside or at defensive tackle. That’s what Caleb Tremblay and Ja’Quain Blakely, who are both gone now, did last year.

On the other hand, despite returning to a nickel-based 4-2-5 scheme, they still have designated edge rushers in similar fashion to what Jeremy Pruitt had with the Vols. There’s usually an end classified as a defensive lineman and one classified as an outside linebacker on either side.

Parker could really fill either role. He’s listed as a strongside defensive end on Rivals, a standard defensive end on ESPN and a defensive lineman on 247Sports. However, he is classified as an edge rusher on On3, so he could truly go either way. No matter what, Parker would be a huge pickup for the Vols.

Next. Ranking position groups in Vols' 2022 class with grades. dark

Currently, UGA is a unanimous favorite on the Rivals Future Cast and the 247Sports Crystal Ball (with two predictions) to land Parker. The Dawgs are a majority favorite on On3. As a result, Tennessee football has a lot of work to do to land him, especially with Alabama in the mix too. However, just being in this mix shows where Heupel has the Vols trending.

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