Desmond

Evans

The 2024 sixth-round pick was crowded out by a new GM who brought in a pair of fourth-round picks. Jackson did not play in the preseason. The Titans also waived: WR TJ Sheffield, DT Josiah Bronson, DT TJ Smith, OLB Desmond Evans, ILB Amari Burney, CB Jalen Kimber, CB Clarence Lewis, CB Jermari Harris, CB Davion Ross, S Julius Wood, and S Joshuah Bledsoe. They released DE Joe Gaziano, G Arlington Hambright, and C Sam Mustipher while putting a waived/injured designation on Matt Landers.

It goes without saying that this is a huge pickup for Mack Brown’s program, as Evans (6'6/240) is one of the top prospects in the 2020 class regardless of position. The Lee County HS (Sanford, North Carolina) senior picked North Carolina over Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia Tech, and he also held offers from schools such as Alabama and Clemson. UNC is now up to 23 verbal commitments in its 2020 class to date.

That starts this weekend, when Evans will have a bit of a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ scenario. The 6-foot-6, 240-pounder could potentially either take an unofficial visit to North Carolina or an official visit to South Carolina. Looking beyond the weekend, he is talking with both Florida and UNC on setting up his officials for down the road and has one OV -- to Virginia Tech on Oct. 18 -- already set. Tennessee is the final that made Evans’ top-five cut. On the 247Sports composite board, the Sanford, North Carolina, native lands as the No. 20 overall prospect in the 2020 class. All six of Evans’ 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions currently see him siding with UNC when all is said and done.

That starts this weekend, when Evans will have a bit of a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ scenario. The 6-foot-6, 240-pounder could potentially either take an unofficial visit to North Carolina or an official visit to South Carolina. Looking beyond the weekend, he is talking with both Florida and UNC on setting up his officials for down the road and has one OV -- to Virginia Tech on Oct. 18 -- already set. Tennessee is the final that made Evans’ top-five cut. On the 247Sports composite board, the Sanford, North Carolina, native lands as the No. 20 overall prospect in the 2020 class. All six of Evans’ 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions currently see him siding with UNC when all is said and done.

Late in August, Evans announced a top five that included UNC, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia Tech. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound defender is one of the top defensive ends in the class, and ranks third overall on ESPN’s Top 300. " The fact that North Carolina got off to a great start to the season, beating South Carolina, certainly won’t hurt its effort to reel in an elite defender,” writes VanHaaren. “If North Carolina can sign Evans, it would be a huge boost to Brown’s recruiting efforts to show other top-ranked recruits that UNC a can be an option.” Tough to argue.

Evans (6'6/240 knocked out the likes of Alabama and Clemson in cutting down his list from 10 programs to five programs. At the end of July, Rivals’ Mike Farrell predicted that the Sanford, North Carolina, native would ultimately end up staying in-state with the Gamecocks. On the field, Evans packs a physical punch in his playing style but is still working on his technical bonafides. The 247Sports composite board ranks Evans as the No. 21 overall prospect in the 2020 class.

Evans (6'6/240), one of the top defensive ends in the Class of 2020, is the focus of a hotly-contested recruiting battle between North Carolina and South Carolina. Will the Sanford, North Carolina native stay in-state? Or will he cross the border? Farrell believes that the former option is the most likely one at this point in the process. “I think Mack Brown and North Carolina win this one as Evans seems to be a strong Tar Heel lean and Brown and his staff have done an amazing job recruiting this cycle,” Farrell wrote.

ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren writes that Evans is “long and lean with a lot of upside. He hasn’t announced a commitment date yet, so there is plenty of time for schools on his list to make moves.” His list of schools includes UNC, South Carolina, Ohio State, Alabama, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, NC State, Florida, and Clemson. South Carolina and UNC are reportedly the front-runners for the highly-touted recruit.

Evans (6'6/240) will be on hand to check out the Gamecocks’ spring game. Beyond South Carolina, he has already checked in with both NC State and North Carolina on unofficial visits multiple times. Tennessee is another program pushing for his pledge, though they have not yet had a chance to make their pitch in-person. Rivals analyst Adam Friedman sees UNC and South Carolina as the two teams currently in the best place to land the four-star edge rusher. Rivals ranks Evans as the No. 38 overall prospect in the 2020 class.