Tennessee’s top prospects from the 2022 and 2023 signing classes, edge rusher James Pearce Jr. and quarterback Nico Iamaleava, elected to move on from the program after last season’s run to the College Football Playoff.
As for Tennessee’s top signee in the 2024 class, five-star edge rusher Jordan Ross, last year was somewhat of a self-admitted mulligan.
“Last year, I really didn’t take it that serious,” Ross said Wednesday during a news conference following the sixth preseason practice for the Volunteers. “There were so many guys in front of me that I didn’t think I would get my chance. This year, I kind of matured.”
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound sophomore from Vestavia Hills, Alabama, a Birmingham suburb, certainly made a splash in last season’s 69-3 opening rout of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, tallying his first collegiate tackle for loss and blocking a punt that he returned 13 yards for a touchdown.
His season stats, however, consisted of only three tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in 11 games. He was indeed buried on a depth chart behind the more experienced trio of Pearce, Joshua Josephs and Caleb Herring, but playing time should be more prevalent now with Pearce having bypassed his senior season to be a first-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL draft.