Defense
Tony Grimes, CB – No. 7 overall, No. 1 CB
Maason Smith, DT – No. 20 overall, No. 2 DT
Smael Mondon, OLB – No. 25 overall, No. 2 OLB
Leonard Taylor, DT – No. 27 overall, No. 3 DT
Tywone Malone, DT – No. 56 overall, No. 4 DT
Payton Page, DT – No. 80 overall, No. 7 DT
Nyland Green, CB – No. 86 overall, No. 8 CB
Jeremiah Williams, WDE – No. 107 overall, No. 6 WDE
Nathaniel Wiggins, ATH – No. 124 overall, No. 10 CB
Jahvaree Ritzie, SDE – No. 142 overall, No. 12 SDE
Greg Penn III, ILB – No. 187 overall, No. 8 ILB
Terrion Arnold, S – No. 191 overall, No. 9 S
Naquan Brown, WDE – No. 201 overall, No. 11 WDE
Jamon Dumas-Johnson, OLB – No. 213 overall, No. 14 OLB
Dink Jackson, S – No. 268 overall, No. 15 S
Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, DT – No. 286 overall, No. 17 DT
Prince Kollie, OLB – No. 302 overall, No. 21 OLB
De’Jahn Warren, CB – No. 1 JUCO, No. 1 JUCO CB
Tennessee still has a large number of highly-rated targets on the board on the defensive side of the ball. While the Vols certainly won’t land all of these recruits, they’re right in the thick of things for a number of them.
The Vols have an outside shot of getting three of the first four names on this list — five-star Tony Grimes, Maason Smith, and Leonard Taylor — but the odds are against Tennessee for those three. The first prospect in this group that Tennessee has a real, legitimate shot at landing is five-star linebacker Smael Mondon.
Right now, Mondon is still likely a Georgia lean, but the Vols are right there in the battle with the in-state Bulldogs for Mondon’s services. Tennessee already has a commitment from the No. 1 outside linebacker in the 2021 class in Terrence Lewis, and grabbing Mondon — the No. 2 outside linebacker — would just cement UT’s 2021 linebacker group as the best in the nation.
Along the defensive line, Tennessee seems to be in a great spot to eventually land four-star North Carolina defensive tackle Payton Page. The Vols appear to be the leader there, and the mammoth tackle would really help fill UT’s need for a nose tackle in the future. Other defensive linemen the Vols are battling for include New Jersey’s Tywone Malone, North Carolina’s Jahvaree Ritzie, and South Carolina’s Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. Both Malone and Ritzie appear to be longer shots for Tennessee to land, but Ingram-Dawkins is much more gettable. He was originally supposed to announce his commitment earlier this month, but he’s pushed those plans back and will be announcing a new top six soon. Tennessee figures to be in that group still. Malone does want to visit Tennessee again, and he plays at the same high school that current Vol quarterback Jarrett Guarantano did. Ritzie likes the Vols, but he seems to be a heavy North Carolina lean.
A couple other linebacker prospects outside of Smael Mondon who Tennessee is still targeting are Jeremiah Williams, Greg Penn III, Naquan Brown, Jamon Dumas-Johnson, and in-state defender Prince Kollie. Both Penn and Dumas-Johnson play up in Maryland, a state the Vols have really targeted this recruiting cycle. Dumas-Johnson goes to the same school as four-star Vol commits Aaron Willis and KaTron Evans.
Jeremiah Williams included Tennessee is his top eight back in early April, and the Vols appear to be still right in the thick of things with him. The Alabama defender is being heavily pursued by both Alabama and Auburn.
Naquan Brown has shown Tennessee a lot of love on Twitter, and the Vols may be trending more positively there, but right now I’d say UT still has some ground to make up. In-state defender Prince Kollie could play linebacker or safety in college, and he’s absolutely blown up over the last few months. The Vols are positioned well with him right now, but he has plenty of other interests to look at, too.
In the secondary, Tony Grimes and Nyland Green are the top-rated prospects still left on Tennessee’s board, but the Vols aren’t likely to land either of them. But that doesn’t mean UT will quit trying. Nathaniel Wiggins projects as a defensive back in college, but the Georgia athlete seems to be trending towards USC at the moment.
Terrion Arnold appears to be the most likely secondary prospect the Vols could land of this group. Tennessee has made him a priority for a bit, and UT’s current commits have been peer recruiting him hard. Dink Jackson has a lot of interest in the Vols, and top JUCO cornerback De’Jahn Warren plans on taking an official visit to Knoxville and likes Tennessee.
