Tennessee’s defensive backfield failed to impress against quality competition and was often more of a liability than a strength in Jeremy Pruitt’s first season on Rocky Top but that doesn’t mean the unit doesn’t possess plenty of young potential. This week, Tennessee added another intriguing athlete to the mix for Pruitt’s defense.

One key attribute Pruitt looks for from his defensive backs is length and that’s something Latrel Riley-Murphy can provide to the Volunteers. The 6-foot, 169-pound Princeton, Kentucky native announced on Monday that he would be joining Tennessee’s program. Riley-Murphy is a 2019 prospect and was rated as a three-star prospect coming out of Caldwell County High School. He will begin his career at Tennessee as a walk-on.

Riley-Murphy passed up scholarship opportunities with Western Kentucky, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin to walk-on in Knoxville, which should give fans a clue to what he thinks about his confidence to one day earn a scholarship on Rocky Top. While Pruitt and company may now have two signing classes worth of defensive backs that fit their system, Tennessee is still far from where they want to be on the backend and an addition of a player like Riley-Murphy should ease those concerns come fall camp.

One look at his high school highlight reel and you’ll see the potential the coaching staff sees from the Princeton native. He can hit, makes plays on the ball and isn’t afraid to help in defending the run: