One of Tennessee football's top in-state targets is pushing back his previously planned commitment date.

Joel Wyatt, an athlete out of Bell Buckle, initially was going to pick between the Vols and Vanderbilt on July 6.

Now, he's looking for a new date.

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While Tennessee and Vanderbilt were the finalists for the initial commitment date, he also holds offers from the likes of LSU, Georgia, Auburn, Indiana, Kentucky, Florida State, Texas A&M, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Miami, UNC, West Virginia, Penn State, South Carolina, Maryland, Missouri, Minnesota, Purdue, Arkansas and Virginia Tech.

Wyatt has made the approximately three hour trip to Knoxville multiple times throughout his recruitment. This included a stop by the 865 Live and an official in June.

After the visit, Rivals National Recruiting Analyst Sam Spiegelman double-downed on his prediction that the Vols would seal the deal.

It isn't a lock, though. In May, Vanderbilt writer on Rivals Trevor Hulan predicted the Commodores would land the prospect.

Rivals National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney also gave an interesting perspective. While he noted Tennessee still appears to be at the top, he said that there is some dispute on where he may play in college.

"The four-star athlete from Bell Buckle (Tenn.) Webb isn’t fully comfortable with his future position as Tennessee wants him as an outside linebacker/edge rusher but Wyatt would prefer to play a more hybrid safety role like Derwin James," Gorney wrote. "Georgia and Vanderbilt are the biggest threats to Tennessee especially if the position stuff becomes more of an issue."

The Vols currently hold 13 commitments in the 2026 class and are expected to land more in the near future. This is good for the No. 24 group in the country to this point.

The group is headlined by five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon who is the top signal caller in the cycle and No. 2 overall player.

Tyreek King and Osenda are knocking on the door of five-star status, but currently sits as a highly-ranked four-stars.

Other four-stars committed to this point are tight end Carson Sneed, edge rusher Zach Groves, linebacker Kedric Golston II and athlete Legend Bey.

Three-stars in the boat are edge rusher CJ Edwards, linebacker Braylon Outlaw, safety KJ McClain, offensive lineman Edward Baker and athlete Zaydyn Anderson. Unranked athlete Luke Thompson joined, as well.

In 2027, Tennessee just landed the commitment of three-star local linebacker JP Peace.

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