Every time Tennessee gets a commitment in either football or men’s basketball, we will write up an impact report looking at what that recruit does well, what he needs to improve in his game, and what his projected impact with the Vols could be over the next few years.
Latest Commit: Javontez Spraggins, OL
Height/Weight: 6-foot-3, 330 pounds
School: East St. Louis (Illinois)
Home Town: East St. Louis, Illinois
Rankings
247Sports Composite: No. 854 overall, No. 49 OG
247Sports: No. 884 overall, No. 53 OG
Rivals: 5.6 rating, No. 9 C
Notable Offers: Missouri, Illinois, Iowa State
What we like:
Power. Aggression. Footwork. Javontez Spraggins has all of those and more. Originally, I thought Spraggins was probably a little raw and needed to clean up some stuff. That was before I really dove into his film, though. Upon watching, he’s actually quite a bit more polished than I thought, and he has very good movement for someone his size. He’s listed closer to 300 pounds on some services now, and if that’s the case, that would be huge (pardon the pun) for him. If he is trimmed down, that could be all he really needs to take his game to the next level. Spraggins is incredibly strong, and he has a good base for driving off his heels. He’s a mean lineman who is extremely aggressive in run blocking, but he’s no slouch when it comes to stepping back and pass blocking, either. He can also snap the ball cleanly, giving him added versatility to what’s already a solid list of attributes. He primarily plays guard, and it remains to be seen if he’s cerebral enough to actually play center long term. But he has a strong skill set and appears to only be getting better.
Areas to improve:
My biggest issue with Spraggins at first was his weight, but if he’s really already trimmed down closer to 300 pounds rather than 335 pounds, then that’s a big plus. He does still need to work on some more technical aspects like hand placement and improving his overall pass blocking, but he’s more put together than I originally suspected. He possesses a great deal of upside if he can continue to learn and develop. He also needs to be a little wary of his aggression and that it doesn’t get him in trouble. Having a mean streak is good, but learning how to control it and make it sure it doesn’t lead to costly penalties is important.
Analysis:
With the kind of depth Tennessee brought in on the offensive line in their 2019 class, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of impact Spraggins can have early in his UT career. My gut says he may need a year or two to really develop and learn, but that’s really only because I don’t know as much about him and he’s only really just started to go to camps and get evaluated. He’s added over a dozen offers in the last two weeks, and he’s likely to pick up some more in the summer. Assuming he doesn’t hit any setbacks, I think Spraggins will be a solid four-year player who has a chance to leapfrog other interior players on UT’s roster.
Looking for a strong interior lineman? @j_spraggins76 of @Football_Flyers is a guy you need to talk to. Impressive performance at @TheOpening finishing in the top 5. #EliteOrNothing @DarrenSunkett pic.twitter.com/LqEzG7Z0Y6
— EliteAm #eliteszn (@eliteamsports) April 16, 2019
East St. Louis (Ill.) OL Javontez Spraggins picked up quite a few new offers at Lindenwood. His tenacity was one of the reasons why. https://t.co/Q4mpagozEE @Football_Flyers @j_spraggins76 @JWerner247 pic.twitter.com/MZw2m29Dyj
— Allen Trieu (@AllenTrieu) June 5, 2019
