Tennessee football adds commitment from 2023 Georgia LB Jalen Smith

Getting a high-profile edge rusher like Chandavian Bradley to commit Sunday wasn’t enough for Josh Heupel. Just a few hours later, Tennessee football picked up another defender for its 2023 recruiting class, this time from the state of Georgia.

Atlanta-area linebacker Jalen Smith out of Grayson High School in Loganville, Ga., committed to the Vols. A four-star on Rivals but a three-star everywhere else, Smith stands between 6’0″ and 6’2″ and weighs in the range of 200 to 215 pounds.

The Gwinnett County prospect is listed specifically as an outside linebacker on Rivals and ESPN and just a linebacker on 247Sports and On3. He announced his commitment to Tennessee football with a video Sunday evening on his Instagram account.

Smith joins Caleb Herring and Jeremiah Telander as to make up the linebacker corps. in the Vols’ 2023 recruiting class. They have been heavy on the defensive front seven with players not locked in at defensive tackle.

After all, just before Smith committed, Bradley became the fourth defensive end in the class, joining Tyree Weathersby as pure edge rushers. Nathan Robinson and Trevor Duncan are more pure defensive linemen, but they can play anywhere on the line.

Simply put, Heupel has added a lot of talent on that front for this class, setting up Rocky Top nicely after Byron Young, Tyler Baron and Roman Harrison are gone. Smith will add more depth at linebacker and likely be locked into that role. Here’s a look at his highlight reel.

As you can see, Smith has a good bit of quickness and speed, which makes him very effective at rushing the quarterback. He is also physical and able to wrap up running backs, which gives him a lot of versatility, necessary for a linebacker in the SEC.

With Smith’s commitment, Tennessee football now has 18 players in its 2023 class, six of whom committed the first 10 days of July. The move also put them in the top 10 across the board and in the top five on Rivals and 247Sports.