Chris Russell, LB
He may not be very highly-rated, but make no mistake about it: Tennessee’s coaches really, really like in-state linebacker Chris Russell. And they aren’t the only ones.
Russell, who plays for Dyersburg High School, was scheduled to take a visit to Knoxville this past weekend, but family matters prevented him from making it in. Now, he’ll be signing in February and will take several official visits between now and then. Arkansas will get one of those visits, and Texas A&M is expected to get one as well. Tennessee will get one of his visits, it’s just a matter of when in January he comes to Knoxville.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker is big, physical, and moves exceptionally well on the field. He plays like a linebacker who’s rated much higher than what he is. Part of that might be because of the competition he faced over in Dyersburg, but even discounting that, he has some immense potential. Tennessee and other SEC schools have taken notice of that, and he’ll be a hot commodity over the next month and a half.
Russell is rated as just the No. 1,425 overall player and No. 61 inside linebacker in the 2019 class. He’s also the No. 42 player in the state of Tennessee.
