The Tennessee Vols’ top 2027 recruiting target is five-star running back David Gabriel Georges.

Gabriel Georges, 6-foot/205 pounds from Chattanooga, TN (he’s originally from Canada), is rated in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 2 running back in the nation and the No. 1 player in the state of Tennessee. He’s also rated as the No. 11 overall player in the 2027 recruiting class.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the Vols’ top competition for Gabriel Georges.

On3’s Steve Wiltfong, in fact, believes Ohio State, at least for now, is the team out in front for Gabriel Georges.

“Ohio State is in my opinion the leader for five-star David Gabriel Georges,” wrote Wiltfong earlier this month.

Wiltfong reiterated this week that “Ohio State is the Rivals Prediction Machine favorite” for Gabriel Georges, citing the five-star recruit’s solid relationship with Buckeyes running backs coach Carlos Locklyn.

Vols insider shares his insight on David Gabriel Georges’ recruitment

VolQuest’s Austin Price joined WNML’s Josh and Swain on Wednesday and shared his latest insight on Gabriel Georges.

“He’s kind of laying low,” said Price of Gabriel Georges. “I continue to maintain that I think Tennessee is in the best spot. And I will stay in that lane as of right now, as we head into the spring. To me, it’s always been a two team race…I just don’t see another team entering this race. Maybe I’ll be wrong, and all of a sudden, here comes another school that factors in. But it just feels like it’s a two team race. Again, I like where Tennessee is there. I think Tennessee’s done a really nice job — they’ve done as well as they possibly could do to this point.”

Price and Wiltfong are two of the best in the business when it comes to recruiting. But recruits can change their minds at a moment’s notice, so nothing is ever really done until a player is enrolled (and even then, things can get crazy).

It sounds like Tennessee is doing everything it can to win this recruiting battle, but it’s always tough to beat the Buckeyes for a top recruit. The Vols have done it before — they landed five-star offensive lineman David Sanders Jr over Ohio State — but Tennessee has also lost several recruiting battles to the Buckeyes.

Based on the intel from Wiltfong and Price, it feels like this one is going to come down to the buzzer later this year.

Tennessee Volunteers News

ESPN isn’t being fair to Tennessee Vols true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon, and it shows a bigger issue with sports media

Tennessee Vols true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon was ranked as a five-star recruit.

Zach Ragan