UCLA Weekend Dampens No Enthusiasm: Vols Pick Up Corey Miller, Brandon Willis, and DeMarco Cobbs

Get used to the word.  Not even a deflating loss like what was seen on Saturday can slow down the recruiting engine that Lane Kiffin has had installed.  I would love to know what goes on behind the scenes with the recruits and the staff because, whatever it is, it works.  There are now three new Vols commits, bringing the total to 21.  And you're going to love these guys.

Brandon Willis, Defensive Tackle

Willis is a defensive tackle from Duncan, South Carolina.  He's rated as a 5-star by Scout and a 4-star by Rivals, but perhaps his metrics are of more interest.  He's 6'-4" and 255 pounds, and will clearly add weight to a low center-of-mass frame.  He runs a 4.7 40 time and squats 500, and is thought to be quick and powerful at the line.  Right now, he's all lower-body, which is unusual because the lower body is normally the more difficult half to develop.

Corey Miller, Defense End / Tight End

Corey Miller, also from Duncan, South Carolina, is most likely a D-end, but does play some tight end as well.  He's 6'-3", 231 pounds and also runs a 4.7 - 40 and rates as four stars on both Rivals and Scout.  His build is very lean and lanky, which makes him more of an edge rusher than a run-stopping end.  Strength development will be key for him, as longer builds tend to have more trouble disentangling once an offensive tackle gets close in. 

DeMarco Cobbs, Wide Receiver

This is the one that will probably excite UT fans the most at the moment.  We've all heard of Cobbs, who is rated at 5 stars by Scout and four stars by Rivals.  Another Oklahoma receiver, Cobbs was considered to be leaning heavily toward UT for a while now, as other Sooner State players like Gerald Jones have established goodwill between the program and the state.  Landing Cobbs appears to answer two questions.  One is that the commitment of Ted Meline did not cause Cobbs to look elsewhere, and the other is that Meline may indeed be headed to the defensive side of the ball.  We'll have to wait and see how that plays out as they arrive in Knoxville, but that scenario seems more likely.

I'll have more to say later on, but time is pressing and I have to end here.  The board will be updated later on, and we get to look forward to yet another exciting Recruiting Tuesday!

P.S.  For what it's worth, we currently outscore Alabama on Scout with the same number of recruits and sit 3rd overall.