The future looks bright for Tennessee football. The Vols have a consensus top five recruiting class.

According to Rivals.com the Vols have landed the nations number 3 class. ESPN and Scout.com have Tennessee at number 5.

The recruiting class includes 32 incoming players from 13 different states.

Head coach Phillip Fulmer continued to recruit well in-state by landing 11 players from Tennessee which helped to pave the way for the rest of the class.

"We are extremely excited with what we put together as a team. We started with our in-state guys which are very important to us," Fulmer said. "They allowed us to build a foundation to recruit from and fill the needs around them. It was a very important part of what we were able to do."

Tennessee had some glaring needs which needed to be addressed, one of which was the defensive back field.

"We lost both starting corners and a safety, and we had to make some significant strides in the secondary. I think we signed some young men that will certainly be able to help us quickly in the secondary," Fulmer said.

One of those recruits that will be able to help quickly is Eric Berry.

Berry from Fairburn, Georgia, is the number one ranked cornerbackin the country according to Scout.com and Rivals.com. Berry also played running back and wide receiver in high school.

Quarterback Erik Ainge lost his top three receivers from 2006 in Jayson Swain, Bret Smith, and Robert Meachem. Fulmer brought in eight wide receivers to fill that void.

Three of those eight receivers are ranked in the top 15 at their position according to Scout.com.

Leading the way is Brent Vinson and Kenny O'Neal. O'Neal is a junior college transfer from City College of San Francisco.

"We had to have some help at wide receiver with the graduating of our seniors and Robert Meachem deciding to leave and I think we did really well in that area," Fulmer said.

There are five running backs included in this class; Lennon Creer from Tatum, Texas, is a big physical back at 6-foot-1 inch 201 pounds.

Creer is considered a top ten recruit at the running back position. Fulmer said that some of the incoming running backs my play at other positions.

"We signed a couple of really fine running backs, actually several running backs. A couple of those guys will wind up playing the position. We've had good success at finding athletes at this position and finding a place for them," Fulmer said.

Another need on the defensive side of the ball was finding players that can get pressure on the quarterback.

Defensive end Ben Martin is ranked number 3 in the country at the position and accumulated 22 sacks in his junior in senior years at La Salle High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The best in-state talent comes at the linebacker position.

Huntingdon native Chris Donald, was rated the number 2 linebacker in the country  and Chris Walker, from Memphis, was rated number 14 by Scout.com.

B.J. Coleman is the lone quarterback in the class. Coleman is from Chattanooga and Fulmer said he is a guy that has a great arm.