Tennessee’s home date with Furman doubled as a recruiting stop Saturday, with four-star EDGE Jeremiah Figaro taking in the action in Knoxville.
Figaro, a 2028 prospect from Dexter Southfield High School in Brookline, Massachusetts, is ranked No. 139 overall in the class, No. 18 among EDGE rushers, and No. 4 in the state of Massachusetts. It was his first visit to Tennessee, and he left with a clear message for the Vols on X: “Awesome time today at Tennessee Football!”
Figaro posted to X on Saturday. “Thank you for having me [Josh Heupel], [AJ Jackson], [Rodney Garner].”
During the visit, Figaro also spent time around several Tennessee players, including wide receiver TK Keys, DL Tyree Weathersby, and DE Carter Gooden.
His recruitment is already picking up plenty of attention. Figaro currently holds more than 30 scholarship offers, and Tennessee is expected to face competition from programs closer to home and in the Northeast, including Boston College, Syracuse, Rutgers, and Notre Dame.
One reason Tennessee has a real shot with elite defensive line talent is Rodney Garner. The veteran assistant has built a strong reputation in that space, and the Vols have also produced a recent run of EDGE success with Byron Young, James Pearce, and Joshua Josephs.
The 2027 class is still sorting itself out, but the 2028 cycle is starting to heat up with in-season visits. As the year goes on, more high-profile names figure to make the rounds, including five-star defensive lineman Kellen Hall.
In Other News...
Tennessee Just Took An Early Hit In Its Receiver Rotation
Tennessees receiver depth took an early blow in the season opener when Joakim Dodson went down with a leg injury against Furman. Josh Heupel later confirmed the injury was season-ending, and Dodson was seen on crutches after getting hurt on a kickoff return in the fourth quarter.
For a Tennessee offense that leans on its wideouts to keep the tempo and spacing intact, the timing is less than ideal. The immediate ripple effect points to freshman Tyreek King moving into the backup slot role, a quick promotion that puts more responsibility on a young player before the Volunteers have even settled into September. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee's Opener Told One Story But The Film May Say Another
Tennessees 56-9 win over Furman looked like the kind of season opener that can smooth over a lot of early questions, but the game film offered a more layered picture. Pro Football Focus went back through the matchup and graded Volunteers players on a 1-to-100 scale, giving the staff and fans a different lens than the scoreboard alone.
Those grades are built to strip away some of the emotion that comes with a comfortable win, and they can sometimes diverge from what coaches see on the sideline or in the meeting room. For Tennessee, that makes the opener less of a finished product and more of a first checkpoint, with the real value coming in how the performance is judged once the film slows everything down. [Read more 🡒]
Jesse Perry Just Gave Tennessee An Encouraging Offensive Line Sign
Jesse Perry gave Tennessee a useful glimpse of what the offensive line can look like when it is holding up its end of the bargain. On a recent 55-yard touchdown pass, the right tackle was a key part of the play, coming through with the kind of block that helps turn a routine snap into a chunk gain. It was the sort of snap linemen usually only get noticed for when something goes wrong, but this one stood out for all the right reasons.
SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic singled out Perrys blocking in a Twitter recap, and Pro Football Focus graded him as Tennessees highest-rated offensive lineman from the game. For a unit that is always under the microscope in the SEC, that kind of recognition matters, especially when it comes on a play that helped the offense hit big. The question now is whether Perry can keep that level of play going as the Volunteers keep sorting out their front. [Read more 🡒]