Now that the season is underway, recruiting news has gone a little quiet for the most part. Aside from recruits planning visits, there hasn’t been a great deal of news. But Tennessee’s coaching staff sent out an offer recently that is worth pointing out.
Jason Blissett is a defensive lineman who plays for Poly Prep in Brooklyn, New York. He’s currently committed to Miami, but he picked up an offer from Tennessee a couple days ago.
WOW! Honored to have received an offer from the University of Tennessee? @CoachOsovet @CoachPruitt_UT #GoVols pic.twitter.com/UCiRZwR5UP
— LII? (@RealBliss52) September 14, 2018
Blissett is a three-star and the No. 3 player in the state of New York according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Those rankings also have him as the No. 551 overall player and No. 35 defensive tackle in the 2019 class. He actually committed to the Hurricanes the same day the Vols offered him, at least according to his Twitter and the timing of his tweet.
As of now, Blissett has nearly two dozen scholarship offers. He holds offers from Florida, Texas A&M, Purdue, and schools like Yale, Dartmouth, and Duke as well.
Though he’s listed as a defensive tackle on recruiting services, the 6-foot-3, 271-pound lineman plays mostly at defensive end for Poly Prep. And he thrives as a run stopper and is effective in rushing the passer too.
Blissett shows off great awareness and tackling in his highlight film. He makes good reads quickly off the line on read-option plays, wraps up running backs and quarterbacks well, and has great initial burst. He keeps his head on a swivel and is rarely caught off guard by a play and is able to disrupt the passer even if he doesn’t sack him. He’ll need to learn a few more moves to get by collegiate blockers because right now he relies a little bit too much on just being bigger and stronger than most other high school linemen, but the potential is certainly there.
As a junior last season, Blissett led the entire Brooklyn area in sacks and forced several fumbles as well. He also played offensive tackle for Poly Prep, though he’s likely being looked as a defensive lineman by most schools.
The Vols already have several defensive linemen committed to them in their 2019 class, but early returns on Tennessee’s 2018 season are showing that UT needs to get as many players in the front seven as they can for the future. Blissett committing to Miami the same day Tennessee offered him is certainly interesting, but don’t expect the Vols to back off him if they truly like what they’ve seen from him.
