Tennessee continues to pursue a number of cornerback prospects in the 2019 and 2020 classes both. And on Thursday, they found out one of their top corner targets in next year’s recruiting cycle has the Vols as one of his favorites.
Malachi Moore, a four-star cornerback out of Trussville, Alabama in the 2020 class, released his top six schools on Twitter on early Thursday evening. And Tennessee made the cut along with Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Florida, and Auburn.
Top 6 ? pic.twitter.com/TCv4yw1dtV
— Kinggchi?? (@malachi_moore13) August 2, 2018
The Vols’ coaching staff sent Moore an offer back in January of this year, and he’s already visited Tennessee twice in 2018. He took an unofficial visit to Knoxville in late March to watch a spring practice session, and he visited again on June 10th. Not only does he hold offers from the prestigious schools in his top six, but he also has offers from Michigan, Oregon, Mississippi State, and Arkansas among others.
Right now, Moore is rated as the No. 148 overall player and No. 13 cornerback in the 2020 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. The regular 247Sports rankings have him placed higher, rating him as the 87th overall prospect in the 2020 cycle.
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Though he’s just a rising junior, Moore has undeniable talent. And he showcased that plenty of times during his sophomore season for Hewitt-Trussville High School.
Moore plays exceptional man-to-man coverage, and he’s a very physical player. He measures in at 6-foot, 170 pounds and plays like a bigger corner than what he is. He has great anticipation and awareness, and he’s very quick too. Moore can play with bigger receivers or with quicker, smaller receivers. He can press well and pursue ball carriers with ease. When I watch his film, I see a cornerback who would be a perfect fit in Jeremy Pruitt’s defense.
As a sophomore, Moore totaled 30 tackles, an interception, 10 passes defended, a forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. He played on offense and special teams as well.
Plucking a talented player out of Alabama away from the Crimson Tide will be no easy feat, but Moore has already shown he has a lot of interest in the Vols. Alabama is the only school Moore has visited more than Tennessee, and Clemson is his most recent offer. So it’s likely the Tide and Tigers both will be the Vols’ biggest competition for him, and that has to be fairly daunting.
But don’t count Jeremy Pruitt and his staff out of a battle for an elite cornerback. And it helps, too, that Moore is in the 2020 class. If Pruitt and his staff can show improvement in 2018 and even more in the 2019 season, they could gain a lot of momentum here.
