Darnell Washington wanted to take a second look at Tennessee following a visit last sunmer, and after spending two days in Knoxville over the weekend, the 5-star tight end from Las Vegas decided the Vols are essentially guaranteed to get one of his coveted five official visits this fall.

“I see myself taking an official. It’s probably official that I’m going to take an official here,” Washington told Volquest.

The nation’s No. 17 overall prospect, who holds more than 30 offers, spent a couple days learning more about the program, watching Saturday’s scrimmage and spending ample 1-on-1 time with tight ends coach Brian Niedermeyer and head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Washington feels a certain honesty that emanates from Tennessee’s coaches. He talks with Niedermeyer regularly but he liked the relaxed conversation with Pruitt in the coach’s office, saying, “They keep it real. I don’t want to go a school where the coaches say, ‘This, this or that,’ but it’s not like that when I get there. I just want the truth up front.

“(Niedermeyer) is an honest coach. He’s going to tell me how it is. He’s not going to sugarcoat anything.”

Washington kept a close eye on the tight ends during the scrimmage Saturday night. Senior tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson made several catches, but Washington was more interested in seeing how Niedermeyer responded when Wood-Anderson or others in the unit didn’t perform well.

“Like if the tight end messed up or dropped the ball, I wanted to see how he would react. He was calm during the whole scrimmage. Dominick (Wood-Anderson) had a few catches, dropped a few,” Washington said.

With Wood-Anderson graduating and several unknowns (Jacob Warren, James Brown, Princeton Fant) battling for an actual role, the 5-star prospect sees real opportunity at Tennessee. Wood-Anderson told him it was “the best decision he’d ever made in his life” to join Pruitt’s program.

“By the time I get to college, the tight end position may be looking a little thin so I will have an opportunity to come in and show my talents early,” Washington said.

The 6-foot-7, 248-pound tight end is among the more freakish athletes in the 2020 class, calling himself, “an oversized Calvin Johnson or Randy Moss.”

Washington was named a top performer at the Pylon 7-on-7 earlier this year and at the Los Angels Regional Opening he clocked a 4.78 40-yard dash, a 4.46 short shuttle and had a 38-foot power ball toss. Right now, the plan is to commit at the Under Armour All-American Game in January.

While Texas, Michigan, Oregon and others are involved with Washington, the 5-star tight end has a real desire to play in the SEC. In the last year, he’s already made the cross-country trip twice to see Georgia and Tennessee.

“The SEC is the best conference. I just want to compete against the best,” he said.

“The physicality (is different). In the Pac12, there’s some guys here and there, but in the SEC, it’s everybody.”