Devante Brooks
Tight End – 2016 Class
6’5, 220 pounds
Washington, D.C. (St. John’s College)
Other top offers
Kentucky, Nebraska, Pitt, Rutgers
Status
Tennessee was among the first schools to offer Brooks in the recruiting process and made him their early priority at tight end in the 2016 class. After visiting the Vols unofficially in October for the game against UTC – on the heels of visits to Penn State and Virginia Tech – Brooks decided to wait until the end of his junior year before making his final decision. Brooks committed to Tennessee on January 15th.
Ratings
Rivals.com: ★★★★
Scout.com: ★★★
247Sports: ★★★★
ESPN.com: ★★★★
RTI Average: 3.75 stars
How He Fits
Even in his sophomore, you can see that Brooks has a level of athleticism at the tight end position that you don’t see every day. His length gives him the ability to go up over defenders to make the catch, but he also possesses enough speed to separate from defenders after making the catch. He doesn’t fear contact and looks advanced for his age in run-blocking situations.
He also shines as a rush-defensive end, using his speed and hands to get by the block and explode to the quarterback. With Tennessee’s tight ends coach Mark Elder serving as his lead recruiter, it appears that Tennessee’s plan at this stage of the game is to keep him on the offensive side of the ball. The Vols have four scholarship tight ends that are scheduled to still be on campus when Brooks arrives – Ethan Wolf, A.J. Branisel, Neiko Creamer and Kyle Oliver, and only Wolf, to this point, has seen significant playing time.
Brooks announced early in the summer that he would miss his senior season due to a second ACL tear.
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