Josh Heupel is looking for help immediately to start building the Tennessee Vols into the team he wants them to be playing the style of football that he prefers. Heupel – who replaced Jeremy Pruitt after the 2020 season – has attacked the uphill battle of the Vols roster shortage by looking at all avenues to bring talent to Knoxville.
By Steve Wright
Those avenues include the junior college route and it is there that the Vols landed the commitment of Roterius “Ro” Torrence back in May.
Torrence – who chose the Vols over the likes of Auburn, Nebraska, and Mississippi State – will arrive on campus having just completed his sophomore season this spring (because of Covid-19) for Hutchinson (KS) Community College. Thomas – who is originally from Bessemer, Alabama – is regarded as one of the top junior college transfers available and he will bring a set of unique traits to the cornerback position he occupied for the Blue Dragons where he made 20 tackles and had six passes defended this season.
The most obvious trait – and the one that shows immediately in the video below – is that Torrence is massive for a corner. He is 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds – size more associated with a safety/linebacker hybrid – and it will be interesting to see how he develops in a major college system and the coaching that comes with it.
The worry with tall cornerbacks is always that they will be too stiff in the hips and lack the fluid moves and agility to stay with the top-end wide receivers in the SEC. Torrence – on film at least – looks to be a player with an unusual ability to twist and turn for his size. He is a beast in press coverage and he will be a massive asset in the outside running game defense as he is going to tower over and out power any wide receiver tasked with moving him out of the way of a jet sweep or pitch play. Torrence has a unique skillset and this video shows it is one he has learned to use very effectively at Hutch JuCo.
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