Missing on Top OL Target Drew Richmond Major Blow for Tennessee Recruiting

Recruiting misses have been rare for Tennessee coach Butch Jones during his first two years on the recruiting trail, as he has turned the Volunteers into one of the hottest names among prospects.

But Tuesday's news that Memphis University School 4-star offensive tackle and top UT target Drew Richmond chose Ole Miss certainly qualifies as a big whiff.

Richmond picking the Rebels is a considerable loss for the Vols in what is shaping up to be another otherwise exceptional recruiting class.

Any time the state's top-ranked player in the 247Sports Composite elects to attend another school, it stings. Since he plays a position that is Tennessee's greatest need in recruiting, it only magnifies the miss.

The Vols are struggling at offensive tackle early this season, already losing fifth-year redshirt senior Jacob Gilliam to a season-ending injury.

Redshirt freshman Brett Kendrick has been thrust into action before he's ready, and junior Kyler Kerbyson—a player who is more of an ideal fit at guard—is playing out of position at right tackle.

Last year's key signee, junior college transfer Dontavius Blair, has not yet panned out, and Coleman Thomas hit a freshman wall. He lost the right tackle spot he held through much of spring and the early parts of fall camp and hasn't seen much game action.

The Vols need tackles, and they need them en masse.

"Drew Richmond has been one of Tennessee's top targets in the 2015 class for more than a year-and-a-half, and the Vols really could use an elite offensive tackle, so it's obviously a big loss for them to miss out on Richmond," GoVols247 recruiting analyst Ryan Callahan told Bleacher Report.

"They already have at least four offensive linemen in their class, and two of them could end up being tackles, so they're still not in bad shape. But they definitely could have used Richmond, who might be good enough to come in and play right away next year."

Where Now?

Credit: 247Sports

Jones has excelled in recruiting during the past two cycles, landing the nation's seventh-ranked class a season ago with one that currently ranks eighth in the 247Sports Composite rankings this season.

But those classes have been short on true tackles.

Two of this year's commitments—4-star Jack Jones and 3-star Chance Hall—are being recruited to play the demanding position.

Another candidate to be a future tackle is UT strong-side defensive end commit Dylan Jackson, who possesses the necessary frame at 6'6" and 250 pounds to grow into that role, though he also could stay on defense.

It's been a difficult week of news for Vols' tackle prospects, as Hall found out he will have season-ending surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon, according to WDBJ7's Brad Zahar. Though he'll be ready by next season, that injury could stunt his development as a tackle.

So with Richmond currently off the board, where do the Vols look next?

Callahan (subscription required) mentioned several potential tackles UT could recruit moving forward, including Nashville's Alex Givens, North Carolina commitment William Sweet and former Tar Heels commit Emanuel McGirt, among others.

Though Richmond was an integral piece to UT's future along the offensive front, there are five months to go until national signing day, and plenty of viable targets will emerge.

The Vols won't stop recruiting Richmond, either.

Upon pledging to the Rebels, the 6'5", 320-pound tackle told Rivals.com's Woody Wommack (subscription required): "I'm not 100 percent sure. I tell people you're not 100 percent sure until you sign your name on that paper. That's how I feel."

That wasn't the only noncommittal thing he said, either.

Does that sound like somebody whose word is oak?

If UT continues to make him a priority, the Vols (among other suitors) will have a chance to change his mind.

"The good news for Tennessee is that signing day is still almost five months away, and Richmond's recruiting isn't over by any stretch of the imagination," Callahan said. "I don't expect Tennessee to slow down its recruitment of him, and he probably will visit the Vols again at some point."

State Struggles

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It's extremely difficult to nitpick a recruiting class that's ranked in the nation's top 10, but the Vols haven't fared as well within state boundaries as they did a season ago.

During UT's historic 2014 recruiting cycle, the Vols nabbed nine of the state's top 11 prospects, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Out of that group, Jalen Hurd, Josh Malone, Todd Kelly Jr., Derek Barnett and Jashon Robertson all have seen significant playing time as true freshmen. The in-state players were the glue and are now the backbone of the class.

That hasn't been the case this year.

Thus far, UT has just two of Tennessee's top 10 players. That number is skewed because the Vols didn't recruit as many in-state players as they did a season ago.

But the Vols were actively involved at one point in recruiting Richmond, Rico McGraw (Alabama) and Van Jefferson (Georgia), who chose other schools.

Kyle Phillips is the only undecided player in the top 10, and the Vols desperately need to get him in the fold at strong-side defensive end.

Meeting Needs

Credit: 247Sports

Jones has made recruiting the state a major priority, but the Vols have met needs elsewhere during this particular cycle.

However, an argument also can be made that Richmond was the biggest remaining priority left in this class.

With UT's quarterback of the future Quinten Dormady secured along with several impact prospects such as Kahlil McKenzie, Preston Williams, Alvin Kamara and Jauan Jennings, left tackle was the last piece of this year's puzzle.

That's what makes Richmond's decision to go to Ole Miss Jones' biggest recruiting miss to date.

Memphis is always going to be a geographical obstacle for UT to overcome, with seven SEC schools closer, but it seemed the Vols were in good shape with Richmond not long ago, just fading recently.

With a lot of time left before prospects become official college players, Jones still has plenty of time to secure an impact player to help UT solidify its tackle turmoil.

Given his track record in recruiting, he deserves the benefit of the doubt that he'll get a quality player on board.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics gathered from CFBStats.com and quotes as well as observations obtained firsthand. All recruiting information from 247Sports, unless otherwise noted.

Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter here:

@Brad_Shepard