FIRST TAKE: SAM SPIEGELMAN, TEXAS & LOUISIANA RECRUITING ANALYST
“I legitimately think Tennessee is a player, but Joel is doing a good job of keeping a lot of schools in the fold. In addition to Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Texas A&M and LSU are all in the picture among others. Even though he’s a Baton Rouge kid, he’s eyeing plenty of out-of-state schools and he’s taking the time to visit all of them and keep in touch with all of them. While LSU is a legitimate player, they’re on an even playing field with those other schools including Tennessee and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him playing football outside of Louisiana next year.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, NATIONAL RECRUITING DIRECTOR
“Tennessee could get him. Not every kid is going to stay home. It’s tough to beat LSU for those home-state kids if they want them, so it depends on how much love LSU and some other programs show him. Right now, Tennessee is recruiting him the hardest and sometimes that trumps anything geographically. I wouldn’t count LSU out just because he wore a Tennessee hoodie to a camp, but I also wouldn’t say Tennessee could be counted out, especially if they keep recruiting him this hard.”