Tennessee Vols

The class

Recruits: 25 (21 high school seniors, seven enrolled early, and four junior college players, one who enrolled early).

Top prospects: The Vols signed two of the top 6 receiver prospects in the country in Da'Rick Rogers and Justin Hunter. They wound up with six ESPNU 150 prospects, including two of the top linemen in the country. Ja'Wuan James is the No. 2 offensive tackle prospect, and Corey Miller is the No. 4 defensive end prospect. Both are already enrolled in school, too.

Sleepers: Linebacker John Propst isn’t the biggest guy or the fastest guy on the field, but all he does is make plays. Zach Fulton has great size. With the right seasoning, he could develop into a very good offensive guard in college. Derek Dooley also likes linebacker Raiques Crump, who was a last-minute take by the Vols.

Needs met: The most glaring hole in this class is at defensive tackle. Losing J.C. Copeland on the final day to LSU was a killer. Otherwise, Dooley and his staff addressed the most pressing needs -- offensive line, defensive end, receiver and kicker.

Analysis: Dooley didn’t have much time after replacing Lane Kiffin, but give him credit for whipping together a top-10 class in less than three weeks. Having the eight early enrollees helped, but going out and getting players the caliber of James Stone, Rogers and Hunter tells you a little something about Dooley’s recruiting prowess. The Vols were able to get Tyler Bray in early from California, but they still need another quarterback, especially with Nick Stephens heading into his senior season. New defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox has to like the pass-rushing potential of the Jacques Smith-Corey Miller tandem.

Scouts Inc. grade: A-

What Derek Dooley said:

• "I guess I was hired on a Friday (Jan. 15), and that next Saturday, I guess it's an understatement to say that the program was in a fragile state. We had so much to do and a short time to get there. We really just had to focus in one step at a time. That started that Saturday. Our first priority was getting some coaches in to help us hit the road recruiting, and of course putting all our energy into those eight mid-term enrollees, which was a fragile state as well. So I was really pleased that all eight of them came back and I thought that was a good first step."
• "Tennessee has so much to sell. So it wasn't as hard as people think to go out there and convince some of these young men to come to Tennessee. It was just a matter of me getting in front of them and selling who I am and what I believe; selling our coaching staff and selling where we are headed with the program."
• "One thing that is certain is that we have to do a good job in the state of Georgia, among other states. There's a lot of good football players in that state. In the past, in all my years of watching this program [Tennessee], when they've won, they've had some very good football players come out of Georgia. I remember when I was on the Georgia staff as a G.A. Cosey Coleman, Jamal Lewis and Deon Grant get plucked right out of the state. And what happens a few years later? National championship."