2022 defensive end Jimmy Scott commits to Tennessee

It’s never too early to get some momentum for the next recruiting cycle! Tennessee football added their first commitment of the 2022 class with 3-star defensive end Jimmy Scott, out of New York of all places.

You’ll be forgiven if you don’t know much about the 2022 prospects. It’s still early for a lot of analysis to occur, since many of these guys haven’t even played in their Junior seasons. We will do our best to break down Scott’s film and why Tennessee was willing to take his commitment this early.

Scott played running back and defensive end in his most recent high school year, so there’s an obvious baseline of athleticism there. The clips are limited, but a few things stand out. Scott has great size already (6’3” and 250 pounds) yet moves like he’s 15-20 pounds lighter. His reaction time is very good, both on the snap and in the backfield. He gets off a block quickly when he realizes who the ball carrier is. Part of that is also due to some really good hands for his age.

He doesn’t have a refined game at this point (to be expected) but he doesn’t strike anyone as an elite pass rusher even with some more development. Instead, he could slide into the strongside end role seamlessly. Scott will stand his ground on the line and looks like he can set the edge very well. There is also a chance that Scott ends up on the interior if he grows just a little more. He already carries 250 pounds with ease, and bulking up closer to 300 pounds doesn’t look all the difficult with his frame.

Scott is currently not rated by the 247Sports Composite Rankings. In 247Sports own rankings, he is a 3-star who is tabbed as the 29th best strongside defensive end and the 2nd overall prospect in the state of New York. He is the first commitment of the 2022 Tennessee football recruiting class.

As an note: Tennessee is losing at least five contributors on the defensive line after this upcoming season, so expect the 2022 class to have at least three or four commitments in that area.