The Tennessee Vols are one of the top five schools for one of the top 2027 recruits in the state of Georgia.

According to 247Sports, 2027 four-star running back Jerry Beard included the Vols among his top five schools this week, along with Alabama, Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Oklahoma.

Beard, who is the nephew of former NFL running back Garrison Hearst (a former Georgia standout), visited Tennessee earlier this season for the Vols’ loss to the Bulldogs.

“Tennessee is electric,” said Beard to 247Sports of his interest in the Vols. “It’s by far the best atmosphere I’ve been in. With them leading the SEC in rushing last year, they were an easy choice.”

Beard, 5-foot-9/180 lbs from Bogart, GA, is rated by 247Sports as the No. 4 running back in the nation and the No. 6 player in the state of Georgia. He’s also rated as the No. 64 overall player in the 2027 recruiting class.

The talented running back doesn’t have a planned commitment date yet.

Jerry Beard isn’t Tennessee’s top running back target in the 2027 class

Beard is one of the top running backs in the nation, but he’s not Tennessee’s top running back target in the 2027 recruiting class.

That honor belongs to five-star running back David Gabriel Georges, the No. 1 player in the state of Tennessee and the No. 2 running back in the 2027 recruiting class.

“Ohio State and Georgia are the other two teams (in the mix for Gabriel Georges),” said VolQuest’s Austin Price during an appearance on 104.5 The Zone this week. “Tennessee is, to me, the team to beat right now. They have the most momentum as we head off into the high school playoffs. I don’t think he’ll take another visit this year. I think the likelihood is [that] he’s done.

“Tennessee’s got a lot of momentum there. They’ll just have to keep the momentum. That thing will drag into next year — like 90 percent of the recruitments will. And so you just have to keep the momentum. But currently, right now, they have a lot of momentum. And having Gabe Osenda and having Jamyan Theodore, two of his teammates, committed here, that’s huge for Tennessee. Because he is very relationship based, and he’s very tight with those kids.”

Both of these recruiting battles will likely stretch well into next year.

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports Tennessee Vols as Tennessee Vols among top 5 schools for 2027 4-star recruit from Georgia.

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