Last week, Rivals.com updated their top 250 prospects in the 2020 class, and several Vol signees made some big moves in the rankings, including quarterback Harrison Bailey picking up his fifth star. On Tuesday, 247Sports announced their updated recruiting ratings for the 2020 class, and even more Vols shot up the rankings.
Four-star pass rusher Morven Joseph and four-star wide receiver Jalin Hyatt saw by far the biggest jumps of UT’s signees, and they’re two of the biggest movers in 247Sports’ updated rankings period. Joseph climbed 250 overall spots and is now a top-150 overall prospect on 247Sports, coming in at No. 140 overall. Hyatt, who saw a huge bump on Rivals last week, got another big boost by 247Sports, climbing nearly 200 total spots and coming in at No. 113 overall.
Those two had the biggest jumps among Vol signees, but they weren’t the only ones to see a major increase in their rankings.
Quarterback Harrison Bailey got a bump and is now a top-100 overall player on 247Sports, rising 76 spots to come in at exactly No. 100 overall. Bailey doesn’t have a fifth star on 247Sports, but he’s a five-star on Rivals and is a consensus top-100 recruit on both major services.
Four-star athlete Jimmy Calloway eclipsed the top 150 prospects as well, climbing to 145th overall and rising over 50 spots total. Four-star defensive tackle Omari Thomas also saw a bump, moving up 22 spots to No. 96 overall and breaking into the top 100.
Two Vols saw their rankings fall, but not by a great deal. Four-star Len’Neth Whitehead fell because of the injury he sustained in his senior season, but it wasn’t a dramatic fall, as he dropped 54 spots to No. 142 overall. Four-star safety Keshawn Lawrence is still a top-100 overall prospect, but he fell to No. 85 overall.
Four-star defensive end Tyler Baron fell rose spot, going from 130th overall to No. 129 overall.
All in all, Tennessee now has eight prospects ranked inside the top 150 recruits in the 2020 class on 247Sports, including three in the top 100.
The Vols’ group of 21 signees now ranks No. 14 in the 2020 class on 247Sports, and UT’s average rating of .8973 per recruit is higher than two of the teams ranked ahead of them (Penn State, Michigan).
As for some of Tennessee’s remaining 2020 targets, there was some movement there as well.
Running back Zachary Evans lost his five-star status in the 247Sports rankings, though he keeps his five-star ranking in the composite rankings. Evans fell from No. 17 overall to No. 33 overall in the regular 247Sports rankings, making him the highest-rated four-star in the 247Sports rankings. The Vols just hosted Evans on an official visit this past weekend.
Four-star wide receiver Malachi Wideman saw a slight jump, moving up 23 spots to No. 115 overall in the 2020 class per 247Sports. Tennessee hosted Wideman on an official visit two weekends ago, and Steve Wiltfong, the Director of Recruiting for 247Sports, predicted yesterday that Wideman will end up signing with the Vols on National Signing Day on February 15th.
