signing day helmetBIGGEST GET
The signing day highlight for Tennessee was flipping Drew Richmond from Ole Miss. The touted offensive tackle took an official visit to Knoxville over the weekend, and the Vols swung the momentum enough to land him on Wednesday. The significance was clear to Tennessee's coaching staff, which greeted the arrival of Richmond's letter of intent with applause and high fives. Sporting a bowtie he told Richmond he'd wear, Butch Jones walked into Tennessee's war room and proudly held above his head the gray Vols jersey with Richmond's name on the back. Richmond fills what arguably was Tennessee's biggest remaining need.
BIGGEST MISS
After fending off Ohio State to hold onto offensive lineman Venzell Boulware, there were no signing-day defections for Tennessee, which landed the majority of its top targets. The Vols missed out on offensive linemen Chuma Edoga (Southern Cal) and Marquel Harrell (Auburn) last April, but there were few glaring misses. The list of former Tennessee commitments that wound up elsewhere includes defensive end Marques Ford (Rutgers), linebacker Cecil Cherry (Texas), running backs Kendall Bussey (Texas A&M) and Rocky Reid (Wake Forest), defensive end/offensive tackle Dylan Jackson (Stanford) and athlete Jaylond Woods (East Mississippi Community College).
QUOTABLE
ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill on Tennessee flipping Richmond: "It's monumental. They knew that this was going to be a position of significant need and focus for last year's class and this year's class. This was a huge haul, a huge steal from a team, a competitor within the conference. As difficult as it is to come in and play right away as a true freshman, he might not have a choice at Tennessee. With this pickup, this might be a guy that plugs in somewhere, whether it's at guard, whether it's on the right side."
MOST LIKELY TO PLAY
Tennessee solidified its offensive and defensive lines in this class with strong hauls that, according to Rivals.com, included three five-stars and six four-stars along the line of scrimmage. The Vols will need Richmond and five-star defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie -- the headliners of the class -- to play right away. Asked if he thought Richmond would make an immediate impact, Vols offensive line coach Don Mahoney replied, "Absolutely." Barton Simmons, the national scouting director for 247sports, believes McKenzie is "NFL-ready" physically and "ready on all fronts" to be an immediate difference-maker in 2015 for the Vols.
CLASS SLEEPER
What the Vols added along the lines of scrimmage and the junior college transfer tandem of running back Alvin Kamara and cornerback Justin Martin takes up most of the spotlight, but Tennessee quietly snagged a solid group of linebackers. The Vols landed early enrollee Darrin Kirkland out of Indianapolis and went to the Atlanta area to sign Quart'e Sapp and Austin Smith, two underrated prospects. Kirkland may have a chance to help at middle linebacker in 2015 if he overcomes his injury setback, Sapp is athletic and fast enough to play safety and Smith garnered scholarship offers from multiple SEC programs.