Tennessee football: 2023 Georgia LB Jeremiah Telander commits to Vols
After nearly two months without a commitment, Tennessee football picked up three players for its 2023 recruiting class in seven days. They have also picked up two players for their class in two straight days over the weekend.
Jeremiah Telander, a three-star linebacker across the board out of Georgia except ESPN, where he isn’t rated, became the program’s 12th commitment on Sunday. He followed defensive back John Slaughter III, who committed to Rocky Top out of Mississippi Saturday.
Ironically, both of those commitments came from states with major rival SEC schools, and both are on the defensive side of the ball despite UT’s reputation as an offensive team under Josh Heupel. The product of Gainesville High School in Hall County, Ga., announced his commitment to Tennessee football on Twitter.
All glory to god for all my opportunities, thank you to my family and all the coaches that have helped me through this process. I am committed to The University of Tennessee🍊🍊@Vol_Football @CoachHeupelUT @luc_brian @VolScoops pic.twitter.com/xUyuZlxgem
— jeremiah telander (@jeremiahteland1) June 26, 2022
Standing between 6’2″ and 6’3″ and weighing in the range of 205 to 220 pounds, Telander brings a solid bit of size to the linebacker position. He is specifically listed as an inside linebacker on Rivals and On3, so in Tim Banks’ system, there is no other position he’ll play.
With four-star Caleb Herring, the brother of 2022 commit Elijah Herring, already committed, the Vols are truly loading up at the position. Both Herrings play that role. As a result, Brian Jean-Mary has a lot of young talent to work with.
That all makes sense too.Solon Page III will have to be gone after this year, and there’s a good chance Jeremy Banks leaves too. Aaron Beasley and Juwan Mitchell have to be gone after 2023. Those are the main rotational linebackers entering this year.
Because of that, when they’re gone, players like Telander will be crucial. Add in the struggles that happened with the current players named anyway last year, and he could be needed sooner than you think. Here’s a look at his highlight reel.
As you can see, Telander has a lot of strength to win battles with the extra blockers up front, and while his lateral quickness doesn’t seem great, he is very good at taking the right angle, which helps in coverage and on stretch plays. Doing all of that is crucial in the SEC.
Next. Five reasons Vols can stomach Arch Manning to Texas. dark
With linebackers like Jackson Hannah and William Mohan still in the system combined with the commitments that were named, which also includes Kalib Perry for 2022, Tennessee football should be in great shape going forward at linebacker. It was a huge position of need just a year ago, but they have restocked the cupboard. Telander helps with that.