Jake Merklinger's Commitment Won't Affect Tennessee's QB Approach

The Tennessee Volunteers landed a big-time addition on Thursday, 2024 quarterback Jake Merklinger. However, sources say this won't stop them from recruiting other top QBs.

Quarterback Jake Merklinger ended his recruitment on Thursday. He pledged his services to the Tennessee Volunteers over Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan State. The top-100 prospect has strong relationships with the coaching staff and is a natural scheme fit for their downfield passing attack.

While the Vols are excited about adding their sixth 2024 commit and likely their sole quarterback in the class, sources indicate that his commitment is independent of Tennessee's involvement with other quarterbacks. Tennessee views him as a long-term piece of the room, intending for him to compete with Nico Iamaleava eventually.

Merklinger is talented but needs refinement when he arrives in college. The Vols brought him in because they believe in his raw, foundational tools, but they have a laundry list of other signal callers they are frequently communicating with.

• Jadyn Davis, 2024
• George MacIntyre, 2025 
• Cutter Boley, 2025
• Antwann Hill, 2025
• Deuce Knight, 2025
• KJ Lacey, 2025

Sources confirm that his pledge doesn't change anything in the eyes of these quarterbacks. The coaching staff has created an environment based around competition; their offense maximizes the quarterback position, but you need to create a culture that pushes the eventual starter to better himself. Tennessee sees something in each of the aforementioned names, and if they believe they can add something to the quarterback room, they will recruit them in such a manner.

Jake Merklinger, 2024 QB

Their involvement with Merklinger likely resulted from Jadyn Davis trending toward Big Ten Schools like Michigan and Ohio State. His commitment doesn't take them out of the Davis sweepstakes, but the writing on the wall says it's exceedingly unlikely that Davis commits.

The pace is set with Iamaleava. His future success will determine when Merkligner, and likely another high-profile quarterback, see playing time. Pundits expect Iamaleava to have a brief starting tenure at Tennessee before forgoing college for NFL riches, but that's a large projection without seeing live game reps.

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