2019 Defensive End Commit Receives Huge Ratings Bump

Tennessee football already has good news swirling about its recruiting momentum, with the Volunteers poised for a strong finish on the trail. Tuesday’s edition of good news did not come from a new commitment however.

Instead, it came from 2019 defensive end commit Roman Harrison. The Bainbridge, Georgia product committed to Tennessee back in the summer as an unheralded 3-star recruit. At the time of his commitment, the 247Sports Composite Rankings had him as the 870th overall recruit and 63rd ranked weakside defensive end. The 247Sports Ranking itself had him at 531st in the nation.

That changed on Tuesday afternoon. 247Sports released updated rankings for the class of 2019, and Harrison made one of the biggest leaps in the country. He ascended 299 spots to the 232nd overall ranking, making him a 4-star recruit.

While his 247Sports Composite Ranking still has him as a 3-star, he is now 529th overall and the 41st weakside defensive end.

Harrison was always a candidate for a bump. Tennessee secured his commitment early in the process, just when bigger schools like Michigan State and Georgia Tech started to discover him. He is more of a project player at this point in his career, but he has started to put it together in his senior season.

Harrison earned an offer after blowing the coaches away with his testing numbers. At 6-2 and 241 pounds, Harrison recorded a 39-inch vertical, 4.6 40-yard dash, and 400 pounds on the bench press. Not many high school kids possess that raw ability, and the staff decided it was worth it to take a risk and hope they can develop him into a star. It seems that the recruiting services agree with the evaluation.

Tennessee now has seven commits in the Top247 Rankings.