Where will Tennessee Vols' ('14) Class Rank?

Tennessee’s 2014 recruiting class has been entrenched for months in the top five of 247Sports’ team rankings.

Tennessee coach Butch Jones' staff has compiled 33 commitments to date for the Vols' 2014 recruiting class, which currently is ranked No. 3 in 247Sports' team rankings.
Even after losing four-star defensive lineman DaVonte Lambert — who had been committed to Tennessee for more than four months before signing with Auburn on Wednesday — the Vols are ranked No. 3 in 247Sports’ rankings, which are based on the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

But will they stay there until signing day?

History suggests, based on where Tennessee’s class currently stands, that the Vols are likely to slide a few spots in the team rankings.

With 33 commitments to date — the most among all Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams — UT appears unlikely to add more than a few more players to its class leading up to National Signing Day on Feb. 5.
Other teams that now are behind the Vols in the rankings, meanwhile, are likely to continue picking up commitments and could end up surpassing Tennessee.

LSU, for instance, currently is the favorite to land five more uncommitted, five-star prospects, according to 247Sports’ Crystal Ball. Adding all five would give the Tigers a team score of 303.11 points in the 247Sports team rankings, which would give them a realistic chance of challenging Alabama for the nation’s No. 1 class.

Florida State and Auburn also could vault past Tennessee if they’re able to land the remaining targets for whom they’re currently favored on the Crystal Ball. And it’s still not out of the question that a few other teams, including Georgia, could catch the Vols.

Tennessee’s current team score of 271.83 points in the 247Sports team rankings would have finished ninth nationally in the team rankings for the 2011 and 2013 class and eighth in the 2012 team rankings. The Vols’ current average score of 89.18 points per commitment also is lower than the average score for every team that has finished in the top seven in 247Sports’ team rankings since 2011.

It’s still possible, though, that Tennessee could improve its team score before signing day by adding another highly ranked prospect or two. Five-star cornerback Adoree’ Jackson and five-star athlete Bo Scarbrough are among the Vols’ top remaining targets, and landing either would give UT a mathematical chance of staying in the top five.

Adjustments to prospect rankings in the 247Sports Composite over the next several weeks also could help — or hurt — Tennessee’s team score.

For now, don’t count on the Vols finishing with a top-five class. They likely would need to add another highly ranked prospect — perhaps a five-star — to their class to have a realistic chance of remaining close to their current ranking, and while that’s still not out of the question, it appears a bit unlikely at the moment.

At the very least, Tennessee should finish with its first top-10 class since 2010. But look for the Vols to end up somewhere between No. 6 and No. 8 in the 247Sports team rankings, barring any major surprises between now and signing day. - Ryan Callahan, 247

http://tennessee.247sports.com/Arti...nessee-Vols-2014-recruiting-class-rank-167274

 

Have you been hanging around Tenny?

 

Understudy, imo. NY has competition.

 

5-8

 

What commits, if any, are most likely to pull a Lambert?

 

A while ago, I thought a few. However, I'm starting to think that there will be very few. It appears to be a tight knit group.

 

I would like to throw myself into that competition, as well.

I think the class will stay in the top 5 just from simple numbers. And if they do drop out of the top five, it will be down to 6, maybe 7 after the big boys get all their 5* in. But it is a hell of a lot better than being ranked 35th or some crap that #ddiapos pulled down.

Just have to start winning and CBJ can probably pull in some real numbers in a couple years. But, we gotta win.

 

Two of you in this thread are likely to find someone other than St. Nick coming down your chimney.

NYY is like Smucker's - the mega jelly type.

 

I'd love to see it stay top 5. It would be hard to get overly excited about a class that barely finishes inside the top ten and 5th or 6th in the conference.

 

I think 8th or so.

 

There's a lot of good football players coming in, regardless of where it gets ranked. I'm excited about that, but have to keep building on it.

 

There are elite level recruits in this class. We hit both lines hard. Deep LB class and we're adding speed to the secondary.

I'm excited.

 

I agree. The rank of this class, as long as we don't lose guys, shouldn't be looked at all that much. We're addressing needs with some great players. That's all that matters right now.

 

Ranking isn't some guarantee of success, but the fact is we need to start bringing in better players than our competition.

And as far as addressing needs, we need just about everything.

 

Dont know that we will ever bring "better" players than the competition. We could bring in "just as good" type classes and I think this is where most programs will be with maybe the exception of bama. When this class is complete it won't be far behind at all in ranking with the other classes. At some point it all comes down to coaching. And we won't keep bringing in good classes if the product on the field doesn't get better quickly. JMO

 

Due to a combination of our current (33) numbers and school's like OSU, TAMU, Auburn, GA, LSU who will close strong I'm sticking to what I said in Sept, between 8-12.

 

Overall, yep.

If you aren't excited by the athleticism and talent of this class then your heads buried in sand

That said, ideally I would like us to get one more highly touted JUCO DT, a physical and fast RB, and a QB. Either way in the end the numbers will work themselves out.

 

Losing Lambert really hurt. Doesn't kill us but he would have really helped us next year.

Would really like to see us get Scott but I think he's going to USCe.

I don't think we should take anyone else unless they're solid players. No need in taking someone just to fill a spot.

 

My biggest concern right now is Weathered and Bryant.