The Tennessee Volunteers moved into the top three of 247Sports’ team recruiting rankings yesterday when they secured the commitment of defensive end Dorian Gerald and defensive end Adam Anderson decommitted from LSU. Gerald’s commitment moved Tennessee into the fourth spot, and Anderson’s decommittment put them into the top three behind Miami and Ohio State.
That puts the Vols first in the SEC, ahead of LSU (No. 5), Texas A&M (No. 12), Kentucky (No. 16), Vanderbilt (No. 28), South Carolina (No. 34), Mississippi State (No. 38), Arkansas (No. 41), and Ole Miss (No. 45) in the Top 50.
Tennessee currently has 17 commitments, including one 5-star, seven 4-stars, and nine 3-stars, which still gives them a blue-chip ratio of under .500. It will be interesting to see what they do with the rest of their class. As DylanVol said yesterday, they can now afford to be especially picky the rest of the way, and they’ll need to to hold off traditional recruiting rivals Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.
Currently, Alabama has only six total commitments, including five 4-stars and one 3-star. Florida and Georgia each have seven total commitments, with the Gators having two 4-stars and five 3-stars and the Bulldogs having one 5-star, one 4-star, and four 3-stars.
It’s, of course, extremely early, and National Signing Day is still seven months away, so a lot will happen between now and then. Alabama has a remarkable ability to finish the recruiting season with the best player available at each position, and Georgia and Florida usually do extremely well, too. Things are going to tighten up.
Currently, Tennessee and Georgia are the only SEC teams to have commitments from 5-star players. There are 25 5-star players in this year’s class (at this time), and 15 of them are uncommitted. There are another 337 4-star players.
Although it’s early and we expect a lot of shifting in the standings over the next seven months, there is no doubt that the Vols are in great position right now. They can hold that ground if they indeed are picky with the rest of their commitments and fill out the class with more blue-chippers.