Tate Ratledge is a MAJOR target for Tennessee and others in the 2020 class and he is looking to make a decision in the spring or summer. Ratledge told me Monday morning that he is looking to take visits to Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee "soon" because he is getting "closer" to a decision.
He did say that the loss of Brent Key at Alabama does hurt the Tide some because they have a great relationship. Key going to Georgia Tech does not put the Yellow Jackets in this race. Ratledge said that he is now waiting to see who Alabama hires to the OL, then he will re-evaluate things there. South Carolina is another school that he mentioned that he may visit in the near future.
He has no visits set and one thing that he told me this morning is, he wants to take visits when there is not much going on at each school. He knows a lot about Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, so he said he wants "more one-on-one time with the coaches" during each visit. Ratledge is very low-key, he does not like to draw attention to himself, so look for him to try to take some quiet visits in the coming weeks/months as he works towards a decision before his senior season.
As of now, I hear UGA has the edge, especially with Key leaving Alabama. Tennessee is the dark horse here because he and his family grew up HUGE Vols fans. Ratledge saw some improvement last season at UT. The Vols have always been on the list, and they have been viewed as the No. 3 school behind Bama and UGA, and I still see it that way today, but the visits will be key here.
Sam Pittman at UGA has put the Bulldogs in a good spot today, but this is far from over. Alabama has been viewed as the favorite too in recent months. Can Will Friend, Jeremy Pruitt and the staff at UT change this? Ratledge does not want to go visit schools right now for Junior Days, and things of that nature, so he is one we will try to track when not much is going on at the schools mentioned.