All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football makes cut for elite 2023 Florida OL Roderick Kearney

By Caleb Calhoun

Sep 1, 2018; Charlotte, NC, USA; A Tennessee Volunteers helmet is seen pregame before the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 1, 2018; Charlotte, NC, USA; A Tennessee Volunteers helmet is seen pregame before the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Given Josh Heupel’s connections, Florida is a crucial place for him to find talent to continue building up Tennessee football. Looking ahead to 2023, he’s on the right track right now, as it was revealed Monday he’s got the Vols trending for an elite Jacksonville-area player in the trenches.

Clay County, Fla., offensive lineman Roderick Kearney, a four-star across every service except for On3, has UT in his top 12. He is listed as a tackle on Rivals and 247Sports at 6’4″ 300 pounds. However, ESPN and On3 have him as an offensive guard, listing him at 6’4″ 270 pounds and 6’3″ 255 pounds respectively.

Joining Tennessee football on Kearney’s list are the Florida State Seminoles, Florida Gators, Miami Hurricanes, UCF Knights, Georgia Bulldogs, Arkansas Razorbacks, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Penn State Nittany Lions, Cincinnati Bearcats and Rutgers Scarlet Knights. He announced the schools on Twitter.


Obviously it’s always helpful to add offensive lineman. Assuming Kearney is up to 300 pounds and can play tackle, he would bring a ton of immediate value to Rocky Top. Tackle is already a position of need with the departure of Cade Mays from this past year.

By 2024, Heupel and co. will be without Darnell Wright, Jeremiah Crawford and Dayne Davis. Sure, there are other guys on the roster right now, and others will come in, but a player like Kearney could help with that depth. Being in the running for him is a huge deal.

It does appear as if getting Kearney out of Florida will be tough with all four schools recruiting him, but UCF isn’t a Power Five program yet, and the other three are in questionable situations right now. Florida and Miami have a first-year head coach while FSU has a coach on the hot seat.

Next. Five out of state 2023 prospects for Vols to pursue. dark

Simply put, don’t count out Tennessee football. There are no favorites to land Kearney right now, but FSU is a plurality favorite on the Rivals Fan Future Cast and the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine. On3 has Florida and UCF in second and third respectively, which is more evidence the challenge is getting him to leave the state.

Home/Vols Football