In a rare late December announcement, Junior College Offensive Tackle Jahmir Johnson announced he signed with Tennessee last week. Johnson is from Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia, but played last season Arizona Western College in Yuma, Arizona. Arizona Western is the same junior college that current Vols Defensive End Jonathan Kongbo attended.

Johnson Signs With Tennessee

Tale of the Tape

Johnson comes in as a composite three-star recruit, although 247Sports.com has him rated at four-stars. He’s rated as the 21st rated JUCO prospect in the nation and the fourth-ranked JUCO offensive tackle. Johnson is 6’5″, 278. Johnson also considered Missouri and USC.

The Fit

Johnson joins Jerome Carvin and Tanner Antonutti, as offensive tackles in new head coach Jeremy Pruitt‘s first recruiting class. He is a good complement to Carvin, who is bigger, but shorter. Johnson is leaner more athletic than Carvin at this point in his career. While Carvin is a more effective run-blocker at this point, Johnson’s reach and quick hands make him the better pass blocker. He’ll need to add a few pounds to defend against SEC-caliber defensive ends.

Tennessee’s offensive line went through multiple different combinations this season. There was seemingly a different line-up up front for each game. With the retirement of Jack Jones and departure of Jashon Robertson, Pruitt said that offensive tackle was a position of immediate need for the 2018 Vols. The addition of Johnson and Carvin will challenge Drew Richmond next season. It will also allow Freshman All-American Trey Smith to focus at offensive tackle.

Pruitt’s First Class

Jeremy Pruitt now has 14 signed letters of intent. Johnson was thought to be committing today, but the official Tennessee Twitter account reports that he actually signed with Tennessee last week. With three offensive tackles, Pruitt is likely done at that position. There is probably space for one or two more offensive linemen in this class, as Antonutti will likely move to the interior of the line at some point.

#TheNextVolunteer ??⬇️

Jahmir Johnson / @jahmirjohnson34
➡️ OL
?Philadelphia (Arizona Western)
? 6-5 / 290
? Helped anchor Arizona Western to 9-1 season in 2017
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Jahmir signed with the #Vols last week, but waited to announce so he could be with his family when he did pic.twitter.com/5Ue2Mqpdt5

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) December 27, 2017

Pruitt still has room in this class for another six to eight recruits, depending on what happens with the current roster. The class is still ranked in the mid-20s nationally. After the disaster of the coaching search, Pruitt has salvaged this recruiting class nicely, and Johnson helps solidify that.