The Tennessee Vols’ highest rated player in their 2024 recruiting class is five-star edge rusher Jordan Ross.
Ross, 6-foot-5/233 lbs from Birmingham, AL, is rated by 247Sports as the No. 1 edge rusher in the nation and the No. 9 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class.
In the past, Ross is a player that would’ve been destined to land with the Alabama Crimson Tide. But the Vols managed to steal Ross out of Alabama’s backyard in part because of how early Tennessee identified him as an elite talent.
And that’s something that 247Sports recruiting analyst Andrew Ivins doesn’t think is receiving enough attention.
“It (landing Ross) was a great win for the Vols,” said Ivins this week. “And that’s because it was a great evaluation by them. Jordan Ross, as a junior, just two and a half sacks. Tennessee, they identify the talent. He’s a guy with long limbs, he’s explosive. You watch him on the hardwood, he’s throwing down dunks. And then he really took a step forward as a senior. We get into the all-star game seasons — Under Armour All-American game, he’s one of the top pass rushers there. And then he took over at the Polynesian Bowl out there in Hawaii.”
“This is a kid who if he was still on the market, Tennessee would have been going head-to-head with all of the big guns out there,” added Ivins. “So kudos to the staff for just getting the job done. And he’s a guy, he’s long been a favorite of 247Sports. He entered his senior season as our No. 12 prospect. A lot of other people didn’t have him in that five-star range, but we saw it. He can dip, he can bend, he can get around the edge. I think his best football is still ahead of him. And I think he’s going to be a guy that can be an impact player for the Vols.”
There’s a chance that Ross has an impact as a true freshman for the Vols this fall — he’s that talented. But regardless of what kind of impact he has for Tennessee in 2024, he’s going to get the benefit from learning from Vols edge rusher James Pearce, a player that might be the best edge rusher in college football in 2024.
Former Vols edge rusher Byron Young just wrapped up his rookie season in the NFL, totaling eight sacks. Pearce is expected to be a first round selection in 2025 NFL Draft. And Ross profiles as a future NFL edge rusher, too.
The talk around Tennessee typically centers on the offense, but the Vols are building a nice edge rusher pipeline in Knoxville.
