Tennessee has one highly-rated quarterback committed to them in their 2020 class, and they’re looking to add at least one signal caller in their 2021 class as well. The Vols are in on a couple QBs in the 2021 cycle already, and one of their top targets has included UT in his list of top schools moving forward.
Jake Garcia is a five-star pro-style quarterback who plays for Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California. Late Monday night, Garcia took to Twitter to announce his top 10 teams, and the Vols made the cut along with Georgia, LSU, Florida, Auburn, USC, Florida State, Miami, Arizona State, and San Jose State.
Although things can change, these are the schools I will be taking a closer look at. Thank you to all the coaches that have recruited me pic.twitter.com/5uaeJA7PS2
— Jake Garcia (@JakeGarcia14) July 30, 2019
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound quarterback is rated as the No. 21 overall prospect and No. 4 pro-style quarterback in the 2021 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Garcia hasn’t even started his junior year of high school yet, but he already holds two dozen scholarship offers.
Garcia participated in a regional camp for Nike’s The Opening back in February, and he was recorded running a 4.99-second 40-yard dash and a 4.84-second shuttle. He also had a 27.5-inch vertical leap.
Tennessee extended an offer to Garcia back in late January. Since then, he’s added offers from Auburn, Alabama, Purdue, Texas, and Arkansas. He’s also taken unofficial visits to Auburn, Alabama, and Florida State, and he’s visited Miami twice.
Garcia is a precision passer who has extremely good pocket awareness. Even as just a sophomore, Garcia was capable of making a number of throws and fitting passes into very tight windows. He has a strong arm and is one of the more accurate high school quarterbacks I’ve seen. He’s tough in the pocket and has good movement there as well. Garcia isn’t going to blow by anybody with his speed, but he’s mobile enough to escape pressure and extend plays. He can throw his receivers open and doesn’t just rely on them to get open and connect with them after the fact.
As a sophomore for Narbonne, Garcia completed 75.7 percent of his 202 pass attempts for 2,130 yards, 15 touchdowns, and five interceptions according to MaxPreps. He also added 99 rushing yards and two scores on 17 carries.
It may seem weird to be focusing on 2021 recruiting so early in the process, but the quarterbacks in the 2021 cycle are already starting to close up their recruitment very early on. The top three quarterbacks in the 247Sports Composite rankings are already committed to schools, and 10 of the top 20 overall quarterbacks in the 2021 class are committed already. A couple of Tennessee’s targets at QB in the 2021 class announced their commitments over the summer. Five-star pro-style quarterback Brock Vandagriff committed to Oklahoma, and four-star pro-style QB Drake Maye pledged himself to Alabama.
Tennessee will need to add at least one quarterback in their 2021 class, but they may look to add two depending on what happens at the position after the 2019 season ends.
