1. Greg Emerson, DL
The Vols were able to sign the best player in the state of Tennessee last recruiting cycle when they landed five-star offensive tackle Trey Smith out of University School in Jackson. Now another highly-rated player in Jackson has the Vols’ attention.
Greg Emerson, who’s rated as the nation’s No. 44 overall prospect, is a four-star defensive end out of North Side High School in Jackson. The Vols may have been one of the first schools to offer Emerson, but they now have a lot of company in Emerson’s recruitment.
Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Ohio State, USC, Georgia, Oregon, Texas A&M, Michigan State, Ole Miss, and others have all extended scholarship offers to Emerson. The 6-foot-4, 275 pound defensive end unofficially visited both Tennessee and Alabama last football season, and Emerson also attended the Vols’ satellite camp in Jackson last summer along with unofficially visiting the campus a couple days after that camp.
The Vols were one of three schools (Kentucky and Texas A&M being the others) to offer Emerson on May 19th of last year, nearly a full month after Michigan State handed him his first FBS offer. Since then, Emerson has exploded onto the recruiting scene and is now considered one of the best defensive ends in the country.
If Tennessee wants to get back to picking up the best talent inside their own state, they must pick up Greg Emerson in the 2018 class.
