4-star defensive end Morven Joseph is heading to Knoxville. The highly sought after defender announced that he would be signing with Tennessee on the first day of the Early Signing Period.
Tennessee did a fantastic job in this recruitment. Despite Joseph being committed to both Florida and Florida State at various points in the cycle, Tennessee never let up. Jeremy Pruitt made sure Joseph knew where he stood on their board. When Florida State fired Willie Taggart in October, Pruitt swooped in and made a closing pitch to Joseph. He had to fend off new FSU head coach Mike Norvell at the end—an effort which proved successful Wednesday.
Here’s what we had to say about Joseph back in November.
Joseph is a bit of a one trick pony at this point in his development. He has special burst off the line and can be argued as a top-10 pass rusher in the nation (if there ever was such a category). Besides that however, he is a very raw prospect who isn’t even playing defensive end full time in high school right now.
Calling him a one trick pony sounds like an insult, but if your pony’s one trick is a good one, do it all the way to the County Fair podium. If the staff feels that the pass rush will be greatly diminished with Darrell Taylor gone, Joseph is the logical guy to put their effort into.
That has not changed in the past month. Joseph’s burst has allowed him to rack up insane numbers in high school: In 2018 and 2019, Joseph combined for 46.5 tackles for loss, 21.5 sacks, and five forced fumbles. It’s not like he’s playing scrubs either, he’s a legitimately impressive player.
That being said, he needs to tweak some aspects of his game if he wants to play early. Joseph is too upright on a lot of plays, and it doesn’t burn him because he’s going against high school linemen. In college that won’t fly. He also needs to bulk up and be more willing to set the edge on some plays.
Joseph recently received a ratings bump by 247Sports and achieved 4-star status. He ranks as the 352nd overall player and 18th weakside defensive end. Joseph is the fourth blue-chip defensive lineman in the class.