With the 2019 recruiting cycle in a dead period, prospects in the 2020 cycle are using this time to take some of the spotlight for themselves. The Vols already made the early list of favorites for two elite in-state players in the 2020 class this week, and now one of the top overall players in the next cycle included Tennessee among his top teams.
Rakim Jarrett is a five-star wide receiver from the Washington D.C. area. On Wednesday night, he tweeted out a video that included his top six schools, and the Vols made the cut.
— Rak (@RakimJarrett) December 26, 2018
Tennessee is included along with Alabama, Ohio State, USC, LSU, and Florida as Jarrett’s top teams thus far in his recruitment.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Jarrett is the No. 27 overall player and No. 4 wide receiver in the 2020 class. The 6-foot-1, 182-pound receiver plays for St. Johns’s College High School in D.C. and also holds offers from Penn State, Florida State, Michigan, Auburn, Texas A&M, and others along with the schools listed in his top six.
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Jarrett hasn’t been too active with his visits yet. He’s unofficially visited Penn State a couple times, and he’s unofficially visited Alabama and Ohio State. Otherwise, he’s not really taken many visits as of yet. But Tennessee will try and get the talented receiver to come to their campus in 2019.
When looking at his film, it’s very easy to see why Jarrett is so highly rated. He has elite speed and athleticism, and he can make defenders who even take correct routes to try and chase him down look silly and slow because of his quickness. He has good hands and awareness, and he shows a good amount of toughness despite not being the biggest receiver. He’ll need to work on running crisper routes in the future, but the intangibles and talent are clearly there. You can’t teach speed and instincts, and he has both of those.
As a junior, Jarrett caught 36 passes for 782 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had a 21.8 yard per catch average in his junior season for St. John’s.
Tennessee will be looking to add a few receivers in their 2020 class with several of their wideouts departing after the 2019 season. Expect the Vols to pursue Jarrett and a handful of other highly-rated receivers in a big way in the 2020 cycle.
