2024 four-star offensive tackle Bennett Warren (Sugar Land, Tex.) has signed his national letter of intent with the Tennessee Volunteers.
With early national signing day approaching, the Tennessee Volunteers want to go out on top. Under head coach Josh Heupel, they have added a lot of players to their 2023 signing class, including some players who could make a significant impact. Volunteer Country will give readers a detailed analysis of every signee.
Bennett Warren, an offensive tackle, is the twelveth recruit to submit their national letter of intent. In the cycle, he is ranked No. 148 by the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Examine what the Vols are receiving.
Potential: Bennett Warren
Position Projected: Offensive Tackle
Vitals: 330 pounds, 6-7.5
Fort Bend Christian Academy is the school (Sugar Land, Texas)
Warren’s frame is 6-7.5 and his weight is 330 pounds. In comparison, those figures surpass the combined stature of Tennessee’s starting offensive tackles for the 2022 season. Even before he played a play in his senior season, he had the makings of an SEC tackle. possesses long arms that allow him to reach linebackers and tackles with ease during a run.
Athleticism: Warren is still nimble at 330 pounds, allowing him to move quickly through opponents and advance to the second level. Glen Elarbee, the offensive line coach at Tennessee, would probably rather see Warren put more muscle into his lower body to provide a more potent knee drive. Still, they wouldn’t create a whole new body; they would just modify body composition. Warren is such a graceful athlete that it would be incorrect to force him to undergo drastic physical changes upon entering a college, as is the case with many offensive linemen.
Instincts: Tennessee’s offensive line searches frequently center on framing. They are looking for players who are willing to give up their own highlight play in favor of a significant gain—that is, players who can turn their body in relation to the entire field. Warren can quickly swivel his lower body and block defenders from getting to the ball because to his ankle flexion. Warren’s pad level is still not consistent, so college defensive linemen might occasionally take advantage of his high set, but there will be three situations before Warren is the last player to seal a big run in the run game.
Polish: Not many offensive linemen have a go-to move for pass protection when they get to college. Warren possesses one. Before moving forward and latching onto his defender, he does a good job of gaining depth on his initial two steps in his pass set. Warren’s size and arm length prevent an edge rusher from capturing the corner early in his set, so he nearly always gets his hands in position. Warren then utilizes his strength to rip his opponent’s shoulder pads into the ground by getting under them. This is a strategy that NFL offensive line coaches teach high draft picks who have tools because it works well most of the time and depends on tools.
Bottom Line: Warren’s skill set is very diverse. You go into the watch knowing that, but he still looks bigger than everyone on camera. Warren stands out due to his length and foot quickness, which combined are too much for pursuing rushers. Warren appears to be a natural at right tackle because of the way his timing works there. He can go square, play with little pad leverage, and stretch out to give his quarterback a pocket ring while rapidly kicking back into his set. For many candidates to put all that together as well as Warren does, years of college growth are required. His one year on campus should be enough to get him into the starting right tackle conversation starting in the 2025 preseason.