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Tennessee football makes cut for elite 2023 Alabama DL Hunter Osborne

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 13, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Power T on the field before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 13, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Power T on the field before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /
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Between the use of edge rushers and hybrid defensive linemen in Tim Banks’ system, Tennessee football needs all the strongside defensive ends it can get. Josh Heupel knows it, and he now has the Vols trending for an elite prospect at that position for 2023 in the state of Alabama.

Hunter Osborne, a four-star across the board out of Hewitt-Trussville High School in Jefferson County, Ala., just northeast of Birmingham, has the Vols in his top six. Standing between 6’3″ and 6’4″, Osborne weighs in the range of 250 to 255 pounds.

Joining Tennessee football on Osborne’s list are the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, LSU Tigers, Clemson Tigers and Texas Longhorns. He announced all of the schools with a picture on Twitter Friday afternoon.

Listed as a strongside defensive end on Rivals, a defensive end on ESPN and a defensive lineman on 247Sports and On3, there are multiple roles a guy like Osborne could fill in Banks’ system. In both cases, he’d provide a ton of value.

One is just a standard edge rusher, such as Byron Young, Tyler Baron and Roman Harrison. Osborne would be a defensive end when Banks uses four down linemen but could line up at outside linebacker if UT is in its base 4-3 with no nickel or if it runs a 3-3-5 formation.

Another role, though, would be hybrid defensive lineman, where if he put on weight, he’d always play on the line but could move between defensive tackle and defensive end. That’s what Caleb Tremblay and Ja’Quain Blakely played last year, and both are gone.

Simply put, Rocky Top could use some help at both positions. Edge rusher will have a greater need within the next couple years, as Young and Harrison will be gone by 2024 at the latest, and Baron will be gone by 2025 at the latest.

Top five out-of-state 2023 recruits for Vols to target. dark. Next

Currently, there are no favorites to land Osborne on the Rivals Future Cast and no 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions. However, Tennessee football is a plurality favorite on the Rival Fan Future Cast, and while On3 has Auburn as the plurality favorite, UT is a very close second. As a result, Heupel has a great chance here.

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