A 247Sports recruiting analyst thinks 2025 five-star offensive lineman David Sanders Jr has an extremely bright future.
Sanders, who has been committed to the Tennessee Vols since August, is rated by 247Sports as the No. 1 offensive tackle in the nation.
247Sports recruiting analyst Andrew Ivins said recently that he thinks Sanders has the talent to be a future top 10 NFL draft pick.
From 247Sports: “It’s rare to see an offensive tackle win Gatorade Player of the Year. He has prototypical size. He was the first five-star in the class of 2025. He’s lean but an elite athlete with freaky reactionary skills. He’s also found a mean streak as a senior. This was a massive win for Josh Heupel and Tennessee. They’ve had to go into the transfer portal to find tackles. Now, they have a chance to grow one in-house. His biggest thing is adding size. The other thing is staying healthy. He’s dealt with several different injuries over the years. If it all comes together, he will go top 10 in the NFL Draft one day.”
Those are the type of players that Tennessee needs if they’re going to continue to be a College Football Playoff/championship contender. It’s hard to win national championships without elite offensive linemen. And right now, outside of maybe left tackle Lance Heard (who is still a young player that’s developing), the Vols don’t have an obvious future early-round offensive lineman on the roster.
Sanders will instantly change that. And he should compete for a starting job as a true freshman next summer.
It’s never ideal to have to rely on a true freshman to start along the offensive line, but Sanders clearly isn’t going to be your typical true freshman. He has a chance to be a special player on Rocky Top.
