Tennessee still has room to add a few more recruits to their 2020 class between now and National Signing Day on February 5th, and UT has added a new target to their board.
Dylan Spencer, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound offensive lineman from Madison, Mississippi, picked up an offer from the Vols while on an official visit to UT’s campus over the weekend. Spencer was teammates with three-star Vol signee Jimmy Holiday at Madison Central High School the last few years. Holiday, a three-star athlete/quarterback, flipped his commitment from TCU to Tennessee and signed with the Vols in December.
After a great visit I am beyond blessed to receive an offer from the University of Tennessee @CoachJPruitt #GBO ?? pic.twitter.com/aw4hXoRIwH
— Dylan Spencer (@BigSpencer73) January 19, 2020
Spencer has been committed to Southern Miss since late July of 2019, but he’s started to get more and more interest after choosing not to sign in the early signing period. Though he’s rated as just the No. 1,342 overall prospect and No. 111 offensive tackle in the 2020 class according to 247Sports, the big offensive lineman has picked up interest from several Power Five and SEC programs since the beginning of the new year. Mississippi State, Missouri, and Kansas have all offered him over the last two weeks, and now Tennessee has also given him an offer.
Both Spencer and Holiday were part of a Madison Central football team that finished the year 9-3 and averaged just under 30 points per game on offense.
Spencer has played both offensive and defensive line for Madison Central, but he’s been targeted primarily as an offensive lineman by teams, and that’s where he practiced during the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game back in December. During the practice period for that game, Barton Simmons of 247Sports tabbed Spencer as one of the top performers during the early part of the event.
“Spencer has a good frame, really good knee bend and athletic movement,” Simmons wrote. “Along with Xavier Hill and Trey Tuggle, had some of the best upside of any offensive line prospect there.”
It’s worth noting that the other two linemen Simmons mentioned also hold offers from Tennessee. Hill, a three-star prospect from Olive Branch, MS, signed with LSU in December, and Tuggle decommitted from Tulane less than two weeks before the start of the early signing period.
Spencer shows a lot of good movement and footwork as an offensive lineman on film, and he plays aggressively out of the tackle spot. He has the ideal frame for a collegiate tackle, and he’s a more than capable pass blocker to go along with his strong run blocking skills.
Tennessee signed 21 players during the early signing period, and they’ve welcomed in three transfers this offseason as well. The Vols signed three prospects projected along the offensive line in December, but all three figure to be interior linemen. Four-star center/guard Cooper Mays, three-star center Javontez Spraggins, and three-star guard James Robinson all signed with UT during the early signing period. The Vols also brought in Georgia offensive lineman Cade Mays as a transfer, and it’s expected he’ll play at guard if he can get immediately eligible for the 2020 season. The Vols also welcomed in USC grad transfer wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. and Nebraska wide receiver Miles Jones, though it’s expected Jones will be a walk-on at first and will sit out the 2020 season.
Spencer is in no rush to make a final decision on where to sign in February, and he’s still planning on taking more visits with his family before deciding.
