Tennessee Volunteers 2009 Football Recruits

It’s never too early to discuss college football, especially players being recruited by the Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols have set their sights on the class of 2009 with 18 players being ranked in the top 10 nationally at their respective positions.The two major recruiting sites, Scout and Rivals, have released their “Top 100” lists and you’ll see Tennessee among the mix with the usual suspects for many of the best players. You can view a list of the players Tennessee is recruiting according to Scout by clicking here.

There is one player on the list I can offer my personal scouting report for. The Vols are recruiting Marlon Brown, the nation’s No. 2 wide receiver along with Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas and USC.

Marlon plays for Harding Academy in Memphis and my nephew Stephen just happens to be his teammate. I watched Harding play several games last fall and initially my interest was watching my nephew. But Marlon immediately draws your attention with his size and athletic ability.

Sometimes coaches and recruiting services have a tendency to overdue a player’s height and weight, but in this case Marlon is every bit of 6’5” and 200 pounds. Harding runs the spread option offense and the coaching staff does a good job of moving Marlon around in various formations. Moreover, they understand the concept of getting the ball to their best player and letting him make big plays. Marlon consistently does that for Harding Academy.

Marlon will lineup as the outside receiver, in the slot or in the backfield. They’ll put him in motion to run reverses or give him a chance to get open down the field on pass plays. Marlon is a player that can catch a 10-yard pass and turn it into a 60-yard touchdown.

Harding utilizes every athletic advantage Marlon has and will direct snap the ball to him in a run-pass option. Marlon has a good arm; I watched him throw a nice 20-yard spiral last season that resulted in a TD. I know it sounds cliché but Marlon can literally do it all on a football field.

I’ve estimated his speed somewhere in the 4.6 range, but it’s always difficult to get a real sense unless you’re down on the field. Not to mention, when players are timed they are in shorts as opposed to running in pads.

Before everyone starts envisioning young Marlon in orange, there is a potential drawback. While Marlon does possess tremendous ability and has a near limitless upside, the level of competition he plays against is weak. In fact, it’s no where near the level of competition of the best high school teams in Tennessee, much less the Southeastern Conference.

At this point I really don’t know if Marlon could step onto a field for any major college football program and contribute as a freshman. However, he has so much potential after a year as a red shirt, Marlon would be ready to showcase his talent.

Harding will hold their spring football practices in May and I’ll be taking some time to watch. I’d like to see Marlon add at least 10-15 pounds and improve his route running, which at this point needs some work. I’ll also look forward to seeing my nephew who will be entering his junior year at Harding.

One other point of particular interest, especially those of us supporting the Vols, Marlon won’t be a problem off the field. Harding is a private school with students from good backgrounds and foolishness isn’t tolerated. Players understand early on if they wish to participate that being a citizen off the field is mandatory.

I don’t know how much this is worth, but I’ll continue to post updates regarding Marlon’s development and I can assure you I’ll be at the games this fall wearing my big orange hoodie.