After losing out on Adrian Martinez and reportedly asking Michael Penix to look elsewhere, the Tennessee Volunteers are left without a quarterback commit in the 2018 class. Tennessee was tasked with filling a massive void last year, replacing longtime signal caller Josh Dobbs. To be blunt, it didn’t go well.
Jeremy Pruitt and offensive coordinator Tyson Helton will inherit senior Quinten Dormady, redshirt sophomore Jarrett Guarantano and true sophomore Will McBride. Simply from a numbers standpoint, you would really like to add another one by national signing day in February. We saw just how thin a three man depth chart at quarterback can truly be in 2017.
With Penix and Martinez out of the picture, this staff had to scramble to find someone else. They immediately offered JT Shrout out of California. Shrout is a three star quarterback that is currently committed to Cal. After a visit to Knoxville last weekend, Shrout is reportedly set to make his final decision between Cal and Tennessee this week. He is planning on signing early, according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.
With all the tumult at Tennessee, including losing two quarterbacks for this signing class, the stakes are high surrounding the recruitment of sleeper quarterback JT Shrout. His father, Jim Shrout, told Yahoo Sports on Monday that his son will be choosing between Tennessee and California this week. (Shrout visited Tennessee this weekend after being a Cal commit since June.)
It’s unclear what Tennessee’s plans are if they can’t pull Shrout. Needless to say, this is a big story to follow this week. It’s pretty interesting that Tennessee was able to get in so late to the party with Shrout. He may just prove to be the perfect backup plan for the Vols.