Why the Tennessee Vols' 2024 recruiting class is much better than it appears
On the surface, the criticism that the Tennessee Vols' 2024 recruiting class has received over the last few weeks appears to be fair. Tennessee currently has the No. 13 class in the nation. It's generally accepted that consistent top five classes are needed to truly compete for a national championship. But Tennessee's 2024 recruiting class […]
On the surface, the criticism that the Tennessee Vols' 2024 recruiting class has received over the last few weeks appears to be fair.
Tennessee currently has the No. 13 class in the nation.
It's generally accepted that consistent top five classes are needed to truly compete for a national championship.
But Tennessee's 2024 recruiting class is actually better than its ranking suggests.
The Vols currently have 22 commits/enrollees (including two transfers), which is fewer than most of the teams ahead of them in the rankings (except for a few schools).
The more important number to look at when it comes to the Vols' recruiting class is their average player rating, which is 91.33 (according to 247Sports as of Tuesday afternoon).
That's higher than the average player ranking of four of the schools ahead of them in the rankings (LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Miami). It's barely below teams such as Auburn, Florida, Oregon, and Florida State.
Even a team like Alabama, which has an average player rating of 92.75, isn't as far ahead of the Vols as it appears. Tennessee has two five-star commits and 12 four-star commits while Alabama has three five-star commits and 15 four-star commits. The Crimson Tide are in a better situation, but only slightly.
Tennessee's current 91.33 average is also the highest for a Vols recruiting class since Phillip Fulmer was let go as the program's head coach.
(To put this in perspective, the average player rating in Butch Jones' top five class in 2015 was 89.48, but it had 30 commits.)
While it might seem like Tennessee's recruiting ranking isn't as high as it should be going into Josh Heupel's fourth season, it's clear that the Vols are landing high quality players. And considering that Tennessee has been more adept at keeping players out of transfer portal than some rival schools (they've lost a few, but it hasn't been a mass exodus…and aside from Tyler Baron, they haven't lost any key players), the Vols' 2024 recruiting class could look even better in a few years when you factor in players that leave other programs in the future.
The Vols need to continue to improve, but recruiting is clearly trending in a positive direction for Tennessee.
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