While the margins are small when you’re dealing with the Top 10, Tennessee still made a nice jump up the recruiting rankings are landing consensus five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. on Saturday afternoon.
Sanders is Tennessee’s first consensus five-star commit to the 2025 group and is the Vols’ highest commitment in the class from all metrics. 247 Sports has Sanders ranked as Tennessee’s second-highest commit since 2000, two spots ahead of quarterback Nico Iamaleava from the 2023 cycle.
247 Sports’ Composite rankings have Sanders as the No. 2 player in the class, the No. 1 offensive tackle, and the No. 1 player from the state of North Carolina.
Tennessee was sitting on the back end of the Top 10 prior to Sanders’ commitment thanks to a summer recruiting surge from Josh Heupel and his staff. The Vols landed 11 commitments in June and July and began August with a pair of 2026 commitments from No. 1 overall prospect QB Faizon Brandon and three-star tight end Carson Sneed.
With a commitment from Sanders on Saturday, though, Tennessee is now a few steps closer to breaking into the Top 5.
Tennessee moved up from No. 8 to No. 6 in 247’s rankings while On Sports had Tennessee rising from No. 9 to No. 7 overall. Rivals, meanwhile, had Tennessee with the biggest jump from No. 10 to No. 7 in their rankings. The Vols jumped over Texas A&M in all three publications, as well as Notre Dame from 247, Clemson from On3, and both OU and Miami from Rivals.
Here’s a look at Tennessee’s recruiting ranks before and after landing David Sanders Jr. on Saturday:
- Pre-Sanders Commitment: No. 8 overall, No. 6 SEC
- Post-Sanders Commitment: No. 6 overall, No. 5 SEC
- Jumped Texas A&M, Notre Dame
- Pre-Sanders Commitment: No. 9 overall, No. 6 SEC
- Post-Sanders Commitment: No. 7 overall, No. 5 SEC
- Jumped Texas A&M, Clemson
- Pre-Sanders Commitment: No. 10 overall, No. 7 SEC
- Post-Sanders Commitment: No. 7 overall, No. 5 SEC
- Jumped Texas A&M, OU, and Miami
More from RTI: Tennessee 2025 Commit David Sanders Jr. Highlights
Sanders comes in as Tennessee’s 22nd commitment in the class and tops the list on all publications.
247Sports and On3 Sports have Sanders as Tennessee’s lone five-star commit while Rivals also has quarterback George MacIntyre tagged as a five-star prospect. Tennessee has 12 four-star commits according to both On3 and 247 while Rivals has Tennessee with 10 four-star commits.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee football recruiting news.
