Tennessee football adds commitment from 2023 Kentucky athlete Cristian Conyer

Josh Heupel continues to add Tennessee football defensive players for Fourth of July weekend, and they continue to come from players out of states of rival SEC schools. This time, he added an athlete out of Kentucky who is likely to play defensive back.

Three days after announcing Rocky Top was in his top two along with the Kentucky Wildcats, Cristian Conyer committed to the Vols. A four-star on rivals and three-star everywhere else, Conyer, who hails from South Warren High School in Bowling Green, Ky., is listed as a cornerback on 247Sports and an athlete everywhere else.

Standing between 6’1″ and 6’2″ and weighing in the range of 165 to 170 pounds, Conyer’s commitment comes two days after Tennessee football added defensive lineman Tyree Weathersby out of Georgia. He announced his decision Sunday on Twitter.

With Conyer’s decision, the Vols have four people likely to play defensive back already committed in this class. However, the other three commitments are safeties, so Conyer is the first guy who appears to be more of a cornerback, which is a big deal.

UT lost Alontae Taylor and Theo Jackson this past year, and while they return a lot of promise, Warren Burrell is the only player with experience starting for the Vols on a regular basis who is coming back. He will be gone by 2024 at the latest and maybe earlier.

Taking that into account, adding a guy like Conyer is a huge deal. If he doesn’t work out at defensive back, though, he’s got a lot of promise as a receiver, and he could line up at wideout or in the slot. His production shows that level of versatility. This is a look at his highlight reel.

As you can see, Conyer is uniquely skilled at staying with his man on defense, and he can guard the other team’s biggest receiver. Offensively, he has great agility and breakaway speed. These things should be a huge boost to the Vols when he arrives.

Following the decisions of Conyer and Weathersby, Tennessee football now has 14 commitments from seven different states. They are targeting quite a few other prospects intending to commit in July as well, so this should be a huge recruiting month for them.