4-star linebacker Aaron Willis commits to Tennessee

A talented duo from Maryland committed to Tennessee this weekend, continuing a string of dominance on the trail. Defensive tackle Katron Evans committed yesterday, now teammate Aaron Willis has followed.

“Heat seeking missile” is the most appropriate phrase for Willis. He’s got breathtaking speed when he’s closing in on the ball carrier, and he converts that speed into some pretty devastating hits. He’s the type of linebacker that makes a quarterback think twice about scrambling and a running back think twice about cutting towards the inside. Yet Willis doesn’t fall victim to the issue that many speedy linebackers do: overpursuit. In fact, his tape shows great discipline when dealing with a ball carrier in open field. Willis has good lateral ability in addition to his impressive downfield pursuit.

The biggest concern with Willis is his frame. Right now he’s listed as an outside linebacker, but he may simply not be big enough to contribute there in college. Willis is 6-foot and 200 pounds right now, but even 6-foot might be generous. He’s still got some room to fill out his frame at least, so he’s not maxed out physically. Willis strikes me as more of an inside linebacker who can shift to outside in certain playcalls. As we mentioned above, his discipline in the open field is intriguing and gives him more versatility.

Willis and fellow teammate/Tennessee commit Katron Evans firmly plant Tennessee’s class in the #2 spot nationally and #1 in the SEC. We keep saying it, but it remains true: there is no team with more momentum on the trail than Tennessee right now. What the Volunteers are doing in the 2021 class is almost unheard of in the modern recruiting era. Have no doubt, this is a truly incredible amount of success. Whatever these next few months hold, just keep in mind that Tennessee is not just aiming to be the best in their division. They want to be the best in the nation.