Tennessee has a number of highly-rated prospects already committed to them in their 2021 class. But a very small amount of the Vols’ 23 current commits hail from inside Tennessee’s own state borders. It looks like the Vols may be able to check off both of those boxes with one of their targets in the coming days, however.
Four-star tight end Hudson Wolfe plays for Hardin County High School in Savannah, TN, and he’s considered one of the top prospects in the state of Tennessee in the 2021 cycle. He’s expected to make an announcement on his commitment on or around June 13th, and it looks like Tennessee has grabbed the momentum ahead of that announcement.
For a while, Ohio State seemed to be the favorite for Wolfe, and several analysts were predicting the Buckeyes to land the talented tight end. In fact, Steve Wiltfong, the Director of Football Recruiting for 247Sports, put in a crystal ball prediction in favor of Ohio State for Wolfe back in late March.
Now, Wiltfong has changed his mind, and several other recruiting analysts are also predicting the Vols to land Wolfe.
On Wednesday, Wiltfong flipped his crystal ball prediction from Ohio State to Tennessee, and he was joined by both Ryan Callahan and Grant Ramey of Tennessee’s 247Sports site. Bill Kurelic of Ohio State’s 247Sports site also logged a prediction in favor of the Vols.
Tennessee first extended an offer to Wolfe back in late January of 2019, and he’s visited campus multiple times since then. Wolfe’s most recent trip to Knoxville came in mid-March before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down recruiting visits indefinitely. Wolfe also took a visit to see Ole Miss at the beginning of March and had a trip planned to see Ohio State before recruiting visits were shut down temporarily.
The 6-foot-6, 240-pound tight end is rated as the No. 225 overall prospect, No. 9 tight end, and No. 6 recruit in the state of Tennessee in the 2021 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Wolfe is built exactly how you want a tight end to look for SEC play. He has a big frame and good weight, and he could even add more and still be effective. At Hardin County, he lines up as a wide receiver often, and he has soft hands and good route-running ability. He’s not easy at all to bring down and powers forward for extra yardage. As a blocker, Wolfe gets very physical and is good blocking downfield.
In his junior season, Wolfe caught 25 passes for 381 yards and nine touchdowns in nine games according to MaxPreps.
Should Tennessee land Wolfe, that would give the Vols three different options at tight end in their 2021 class. It’s believed, however, that if Wolfe does commit and sign with the Vols, both he and Miles Campbell will stick at tight end while three-star Alabama athlete Trinity Bell could move to the defensive side of the ball. Bell is a huge 6-foot-7, 260-pound athlete who plays wide receiver, tight end, and defensive end for Albertville High School. He committed to UT back on May 22nd.
The Vols currently have 23 prospects committed to them in their 2021 class, but only two of those commits are in-state recruits. Three-star wide receiver Walker Merrill and three-star running back/athlete Elijah Howard are UT’s lone in-state commits right now.
