Tennessee’s coaching staff continues to try and reshape the Vols’ defensive and offensive lines through recruiting. And in their quest to do so, UT’s coaches sent out an offer to the top defensive tackle in the junior college ranks on Thursday.
Savion Williams plays for Lackawanna Community College in Scranton, Pennsylvania and tweeted out on Thursday morning that the Vols had sent him an offer.
Truly and highly blessed to say I’ve received my 9th offer from THE University Of Tennessee #GoVols #PoweredBYtheT #SEC ??? pic.twitter.com/HVeSWoUm3E
— Qb’s Worst Nightmare? (@50reazons) June 21, 2018
Later on Thursday, Williams picked up an offer from Georgia as well. He also holds offers from Nebraska, West Virginia, N.C. State, and others. He took an official visit to N.C. State last week.
Williams is a three-star prospect and is rated as the No. 1 JUCO defensive tackle according to 247Sports. They also have him as the No. 18 overall JUCO product in the 2019 class. He wasn’t rated by 247Sports coming out of high school but originally hails from the Washington D.C. area.
The 6-foot-4, 315-pound tackle has excellent size but doesn’t really lose any explosiveness even with his large frame. He has a great initial burst off the line of scrimmage, and you can see that more in his high school film than his limited film from his first year in junior college. But even his JUCO film shows off his athleticism and his ability to get a strong first step. He moves extremely well for his size, and he has a variety of moves to try and get past offensive linemen. He has a little more trouble when playing against beefier offensive linemen who can absorb his initial burst, so some time in the weight room in college should really benefit him.
As a senior in high school, Williams totaled 52 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, six sacks. three passes defended, and a forced fumble according to MaxPreps.
After this season, the Vols will be losing Shy Tuttle and Alexis Johnson to graduation, and both of them are slotted in at defensive tackle for this season. And in 2019, they’ll lose Emmit Gooden after his second year after transferring in from the JUCO ranks in the 2018 class. That will decimate all of UT’s defensive tackle depth.
The Vols currently have two defensive tackles committed in their 2019 recruiting class. Three-star LeDarrius Cox and three-star JUCO tackle Darel Middleton have already committed to Tennessee, but the Vols’ coaching staff wouldn’t mind adding another tackle to this class. And someone who could come in and play immediately like Williams would be a big addition.
