Chauncey Gooden: Tennessee's No. 1 OL & a Must-Get For The Vols

2025 offensive lineman Chauncey Gooden is a teammate of several Vol targets, and Tennessee is preparing a pitch of its own for Gooden. It better be good.

Lipscomb Academy houses several Power-5 prospects that Tennessee is in on every year. Mustangs four-star corner Kaleb Beasley is a long-time Tennessee commit that just shut down his recruitment after his official visit, and they are hot after his teammate, four-star linebacker Edwin Spillman. Those are two 2024 prospects, but the Vols will still be poking around Lipscomb in 2025 for their teammate, four-star offensive guard Chauncey Gooden.

Gooden measures in at 6-4 and 315 pounds; while many recruits don't live up to their measurements, Gooden certainly does on tape. He also utilizes that size, pushing defenders onto their force like bowling pins when run-blocking. Gooden may be the most dominant 2025 run blocker in the southeast. He has excellent pad leverage, sinking his hips and exploding through his hands. At his size, high school defenders don't stand a chance.

Gooden is also a strong athlete, routinely getting out into open space to block for ball carriers. Lipscomb schemes him into the open field on screens, using him as the lead blocker. It takes a special kind of athlete at that size to get downfield, and Gooden certainly has that. Lipscomb even has a few goal-line packages where Gooden is the ball carrier, and he makes the most of those touches.

2025 OL Chauncey Gooden

The most impressive thing about Gooden's technique is his nasty streak. You must WANT contact to play in the SEC as an offensive lineman. Gooden seeks it out, attacking defenders and ensuring he gets them onto the ground. Gooden doesn't allow defenders back into the picture, even if it looks like he has the rep won. There are several instances on tape where he pancakes multiple defenders, a reflection of his effort.

An offensive lineman of his magnitude doesn't always live in Tennessee's backyard. Lipscomb is just a three-hour drive from the University of Tennessee, and Gooden has already been to campus twice. Clemson, Auburn, Florida State, Arkansas, Miami, South Carolina, Missouri, and Oklahoma have gotten him in on visits, but the Vols are early contenders in an important recruitment for this coaching staff.

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