Tennessee has a need for defensive line help moving forward, specifically at edge rusher. The Vols are targeting several prospects along the D-line in the 2021 cycle, and one of their targets included them in his list of top teams on Monday night.
Najee Story, a four-star strong-side defensive end out of Solon, Ohio, tweeted out his top five teams, and Tennessee was the lone SEC school to make the cut. The Vols are joined by four Big Ten teams: Ohio State, Penn State, Northwestern, and Minnesota.
MY TOP 5 NO PARTICULAR ORDER‼️ @OhioStateFB @GopherFootball @Vol_Football @NUFBFamily @PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/fBgc119rmU
— Najee Story (@Najeestory85) April 20, 2020
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Story is the No. 282 overall prospect, No. 19 strong-side defensive end, and No. 9 recruit in the state of Ohio in the 2021 class. Story holds offers from nearly 20 FBS programs — including the teams in his top five and Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, and others — but he’ll be focusing on these five teams moving forward.
Though Story has not visited Tennessee yet, he maintains contact with UT’s coaches and thinks highly of the Vols. Ohio State was once viewed as the favorite for Story, but now his recruitment is much more undecided. Academics are also important to Story.
Story is a very versatile lineman who is capable of lining up off the edge or playing in the interior in high school. He has the frame to add more weight and move inside in college or play as a bigger defensive end if that’s how coaches choose to use him. He’s an effective run-stopper and tackles with power. Story has good hand placement at the point of attack and is very good at getting into the backfield or finding the running back right around the line of scrimmage.
Tennessee currently has 10 prospects committed to them in the 2021 class, but only one is a projected defensive end/edge rusher in the class. Three-star Darrell Jackson out of Florida is the Vols’ lone defensive end commit in the 2021 cycle as of now.
