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Tennessee football: 10 key 2022 Vols who were three-star rated recruits or lower

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee running back Jabari Small (2) is congratulated after scoring a touchdown at the 2021 Music City Bowl NCAA college football game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Kns Tennessee Purdue
Tennessee running back Jabari Small (2) is congratulated after scoring a touchdown at the 2021 Music City Bowl NCAA college football game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Kns Tennessee Purdue /
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Elijah Simmons participates in a drill during Tennessee Vol spring football practice, Thursday, April 1, 2021.Volfootball0401 0703
Elijah Simmons participates in a drill during Tennessee Vol spring football practice, Thursday, April 1, 2021.Volfootball0401 0703 /

Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Defensive lineman. Elijah Simmons. Junior. 9. player. 839

6’2″ 340 pounds

Moving over to the other side of the ball, Elijah Simmons was another in-state three-star. He came out of Pearl-Cohn High School in Nashville, Tenn., in 2019 and was recruited because of his size, which allowed him to play nose tackle in the old system. The switch to Tim Banks’ nickel-heavy 4-3 defense didn’t seem to favor him.

However, the Memphis native before going to high school in Davidson County adjusted and actually had his best year with Tennessee football this past year. He registered one and a half tackles for a loss, a pass deflection and 11 total tackles, four of which were solo.

Simmons and Kansas Jayhawks transfer Da’Jon Terry split time as that pure nose tackle playing defensive tackle in Banks’ scheme, but Simmons was a little bit more productive. As a result, he’s the one who makes this list, and him trimming down to 340 only helps that.

There’s going to be a greater need for Simmons as well given the fact that the Vols lost Matthew Butler, Caleb Tremblay and Ja’Quain Blakely on the line. Those three are on the smaller side, so it’s not like they would directly lead to more playing time for Simmons, but it’s still likely they’ll have to use him more for depth purposes with them gone.

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