Tennessee has plenty of holes to fix on their roster in the coming seasons, but one of the biggest areas of deficiencies this year has proven to be the Vols’ pass rush (or lack thereof). UT’s coaches are trying to fix that issue on the recruiting trail in both the 2019 and 2020 classes, and on Sunday the Vols sent out an offer to a junior college defensive end in the 2020 class.
Jordan Davis is a JUCO defensive end who plays for Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi. He originally hails from Memphis, and he just recently committed to Alabama. On Sunday, he tweeted out that Tennessee had extended a scholarship offer to him.
Bless to Receive an Offer from @Vol_Football ? pic.twitter.com/097xiBbCSh
— Jordan Davis… (@jlpdavis99) October 29, 2018
Davis played for Southwind High School in Memphis before going the JUCO route, and he was a four-start prospect in high school. According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Davis was the No. 108 overall player and No. 2 player in the state of Tennessee in the 2018 class. He signed his National Letter of Intent with Alabama in the 2018 cycle, but he ended up having to go to junior college instead of enrolling at Alabama. Tennessee’s previous staff offered him while he was in high school, and he unofficially visited UT in the summer of 2017.
Though he’s currently not rated as a JUCO player on 247Sports, the 6-foot-5, 238-pound defensive end is getting attention from other schools despite his recommitment to the Tide. The Vols are the first school since Alabama to offer him since he joined the roster at Copiah-Lincoln, but they won’t be the last.
Looking at his freshman film this season at Copiah-Lincoln, Davis shows good athleticism and a “never say die” attitude. Even if he doesn’t get the sack on the play, he often gets pressure on the quarterback and disrupts the play. His film shows several plays where he forces the quarterback to make an errant throw or simply throw the ball away because of his presence in the backfield. But he’s not just a one-trick player; Davis can stop the run as well, and he’s played at different positions along the defensive line for Copiah-Lincoln.
In nine recorded games from his first season for the Wolves, Davis totaled 42 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble according to the school’s site.
Tennessee has a couple players committed to them in their 2020 cycle right now, but none of them are pass rushers. Three-star wide receiver Antonio Barber and long snapper Will Albright are the Vols’ two 2020 commitments at this point.
