Tennessee is already hosting talented Georgia cornerback Warren Burrell on an official visit this weekend. Now he’s set to have some elite company on his visit.
According to Jesse Simonton of Rivals.com, five-star offensive tackle Darnell Wright will be visiting the Vols this weekend as well. Wright is likely coming in on an unofficial visit rather than an official visit, but it will mark the second time in the last two and a half months that Wright has come to Tennessee’s campus.
In addition to hosting 4⭐ CB Warren Burrell on an official visit this weekend, the Vols will also have 5⭐ OT Darnell Wright on campus for this second time this spring.
— Jesse Simonton (@JesseReSimonton) June 1, 2018
Wright is rated as the No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2019 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, and he’s the No. 3 overall player in the country per those rankings as well. The Huntington, West Virginia lineman has offers from Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, Florida State, and many other top schools across the country.
The 6-foot-6, 314 pound lineman visited the Vols on an unofficial visit back on March 24th, and he visited the Vols twice in 2017 while Butch Jones was still the head coach. He’s recently visited North Carolina and Alabama on unofficial visits as well.
Recently, the Director of Recruiting for 247Sports said he views the Vols as the favorite to land both Wright and five-star athlete Quavaris Crouch right now.
Wright, who also plays defensive end for Huntington High School, has all the tools to be a successful offensive linemen at the collegiate level. He’s already very strong and dominates defensive linemen in high school. He’s extremely aggressive while run blocking, and he can move very well in space. He has a quick first step and plays through the whistle. Wright has tenacity and that grit that coaches want in an offensive lineman. And he has the type of frame that’s coveted by college coaches everywhere. He’ll need to play a little lower in college, but any of his shortcomings are teachable and things that he can eventually smooth out once at the next level.
The Vols already have a five-star offensive tackle committed in their 2019 class in Wanya Morris. The 6-foot-5, 293 pound Morris committed to Tennessee on May 1st and has been an active recruiter for the Vols ever since. He’s ranked as the No. 23 overall player and No. 5 offensive tackle in the 2019 class per the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Morris isn’t the only offensive lineman the Vols have committed in their 2019 class either. Four-star offensive lineman Jackson Lampley committed to Tennessee the day after the 2018 National Signing Day. The Vols also recently made the top five for a four-star offensive lineman out of Georgia.
The only offensive lineman the Vols have brought in recently in recruiting who can even compare to Wright when it comes to recruiting rankings is Trey Smith. The 247Sports Composite rankings had Smith rated as the No. 14 overall player and No. 4 offensive tackle in the 2017 class. The regular 247Sports rankings had Smith as the fifth-best player in the class and No. 3 tackle. And Smith went on to be a Freshman All-American and All-SEC performer last season.
If the Vols can land Wright, he would arguably be the Vols’ biggest get in recruiting since Eric Berry in the 2007 class. But there’s still a long way to go for Wright’s recruitment, as he’s not expected to make a college decision any time soon.
