Braylen Russell Narrows Recruitment

Running back Braylen Russell has released his top ten schools, and the Tennessee Volunteers are in the thick of this recruiting battle.
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The future of the running back position at Tennessee is quite interesting. Head coach Josh Heupel has two directions he can take: recruit slender backs with three-down ability or heavier backs that can sustain a large workload.

Running back Braylen Russell may be our first clue. Russell stands 6-2 and 230 lbs. but has the explosive lower body needed to stay on the field in passing downs. He recently released his top ten schools and included Tennessee.

Russell is down to Tennessee, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Purdue, Texas A&M, Baylor, Kansas State, Cincinnati, Kansas, and South Carolina. The Arkansas Razorbacks seem to be positioned well, but Russell has been to Knoxville before and enjoyed his trip to Rocky Top.

He plays for Benton High School in Arkansas, a three-hour drive from the University of Arkansas. Running back Jordan Marshall also included Tennessee in his top ten recently; Marshall stands 5-10.5 and 195 lbs., a much smaller size than Russell.

Even Heupel seems split on deciding which direction to take, but he's keeping his options open. Russell has a lot of interesting traits that translate to the next level, and we will see how Tennessee proceeds in his recruitment.

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Evan Crowell
EVAN CROWELL

Evan Crowell is the lead publisher of Sports Illustrated-FanNation's Volunteer Country, serving as a beat reporter covering football, basketball, and recruiting. He previously worked as the lead publisher of Sports Illustrated-FanNation's Gamecocks Digest.