One of the top defensive tackles in the 2020 recruiting class has the Vols as one of his top teams moving forward in his recruitment.
Jaquelin Roy is a four-star defensive tackle who plays for University Lab down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He’s already shown a lot of interest in Tennessee, and now he’s included them in his list of top 10 teams. The Vols join Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, LSU, Texas A&M, Texas, Florida, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State in his top 10.
I been through a lot of tough times 1 thing I never did was fold… #Top10 pic.twitter.com/qk8GJTJraN
— Jaquelin roy (@d1roy1000) April 30, 2019
The 6-foot-4, 290-pound defensive tackle unofficially visited Tennessee twice in the month of March, and he visited the Vols again in early April. He recently reopened his recruitment in February after being committed to his home state LSU Tigers since September of last year.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Roy is the No. 65 overall prospect and No. 4 defensive tackle in the 2020 class. He’s also the No. 2 player in the state of Louisiana, trailing only four-star wide receiver Kayshon Boutte. He helped his team to a Louisiana Division II State Championship as a sophomore and an undefeated regular season in 2018. He has also been invited and will compete in the Under Armor All-American Game.
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It’s easy to see why Roy is one of the most sought-after players in this class when you watch his film. The talented defensive lineman has an incredibly quick first step off the line of scrimmage. He uses his speed to easily get by offensive lineman, and he has very good footwork. He’s able to get his man off balance with a quick inside or outside step and shows off a powerful bull rush, easily knocking his man into the backfield.
As a junior last season, Roy totaled 42 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and two interceptions for University Lab while helping them to an undefeated regular season.
Since he reopened his recruitment, Tennessee has made a major push for Roy. He’s one of their top defensive line targets in the 2020 class. He’s not the only Louisiana prospect the Vols are after, though.
Four-star athlete Joel Williams, four-star safety Major Burns, and four-star linebacker Brandon Williams are some of Tennessee’s other top targets in the 2020 class who play down in Louisiana. Roy has a relationship with at least Joel Williams, but it’s likely all of these players know one another and keep up with each other’s recruitment.
The Vols have one defensive tackle commitment in their 2020 class so far. Four-star Dominic Bailey is UT’s lone defensive tackle commit in this cycle, but Tennessee will likely take another defensive tackle — or maybe two — in this class.
