Tennessee hosted a number of official visitors this weekend as they attempt to finish up their 2018 recruiting class. And one of the Vols’ targets at their biggest remaining position of need came away impressed.
Eddie Smith, a 6-foot, 178 pound cornerback out of Louisiana, said in an interview on Sunday afternoon that the Vols are now in the lead for his commitment.
Former TCU cornerback commit Eddie Smith told @Volquest_Rivals that Tennessee now leads his recruitment following his OV with the Vols.
— Jesse Simonton (@JesseReSimonton) January 14, 2018
Smith, though rated as just a three-star according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, has offers from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi State, Arkansas, and many other schools. He was committed to TCU for a while before decommitting from the Horned Frogs in mid-December. Since then, Jeremy Pruitt and Tennessee’s staff have been pursuing Smith a great deal.
Though the Vols are now his favorite, Smith still has a couple SEC visits lined up before National Signing Day on February 7th. He’s still planning on visiting Mississippi State on January 19th and still has an official visited planned for Alabama on January 26th. The Tide are the most recent school to offer Smith, as they extended an offer to him on January 11th.
Smith played both wide receiver and cornerback in high school, but Tennessee is targeting him as a corner. He’s a bigger, bruising corner who can also turn on the jets when needed. His skills as a wide receiver help him at corner as well.
The Vols have an immediate need at cornerback. Tennessee is having to replace a trio of seniors (Emmanuel Moseley, Justin Martin, Shaq Wiggins) and a junior who just declared for the NFL draft in Rashaan Gaulden. Tennessee needs to add a few corners in their 2018 class, and getting Smith to commit and ultimately sign would be a step in the right direction.
