Even amidst the all-systems-go attitude this summer for the class of 2023, Tennessee Football and head coach Josh Heupel still have their eye on the class of 2024 as well. According to a new prediction on Monday, it looks as though Tennessee and EDGE rusher Jonathan Echols could be off to a great start.
On Sunday morning, On3 Sports Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons locked in a new prediction for Echols to land at Tennessee. Simmons’ prediction comes with a 60 percent confidence level.
On3 Sports has Echols as the No. 8 overall player in the class of 2024, the No. 3 EDGE rusher, and the No. 3 player from the state of Florida.
The Franklin, Georgia native began his high school career locally at Heard County High School before transferring to IMG Academy (Fla.) in early 2022 for his junior season this upcoming fall. As a sophomore at Heard County, Nichols was a multi-position player as he was able to compete at quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive end.
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Jonathan Echols stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs in at 215 pounds according to 247.
The prediction for Echols from Chad Simmons comes just one day after the star recruit was in Knoxville. Echols was part of Tennessee’s star-studded recruiting weekend that just wrapped up and seems to factor into the new prediction that was made on Sunday.
According to On3 Sports’ Recruiting Prediction Machine, Tennessee is the favorite to land Echols by a long shot. The Vols are currently the favorites at 92 percent, followed by Georgia (1.5 percent), Alabama (1.3 percent), and Florida (1.1 percent).
Despite being very early into the recruiting process, you would hardly know it when looking at Echols’ offer list. The rising high school junior already has passed 30 scholarship offers including Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Texas, and Texas A&M.
While Jonathan Echols is in the class of 2024, Tennessee received two big commitments to the class of 2023 this weekend. The Vols locked in a commitment from three-star Mississippi safety John Slaughter on Saturday, which was followed by a commitment from three-star linebacker Jeremiah Telander on Sunday.
With the two commitments, Tennessee’s 2023 class is now sitting at No. 13 in 247 Sports’ 2023 Team Rankings.
Echols responded to Simmons’ prediction on Twitter Monday.
— Jonathan Echols ✪ (@jechols24) June 27, 2022
