Tennessee football needs to bolster its secondary through the transfer portal, but has missed on another proven safety target. On Thursday, Kansas safety Lyrik Rawls committed to Arizona State, according to On3. He visited UT earlier this week, his agent Zach Williams told RTI beforehand.
Rawls will have one final year of eligibility remaining. He began his career in 2021 at Oklahoma State before taking a redshirt. Then, in 2023, still with the Cowboys, he was injured and handed a medical redshirt. This means this upcoming season will be his sixth season of college football.
Though he redshirted in 2021 and saw limited action, it does give him a prior connection to Tennessee’s coaching staff. New Vols defensive coordinator Jim Knowles led the Oklahoma State defense that year and was one of the coaches presumably recruiting him to OSU. That proved not to be enough to land him, though.
Rawls started all 12 games at safety for the Jayhawks last season. In that time, he posted 73 tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception. The result was an impressive PFF grade of 70.1 on the season.
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Rawls would’ve projected as an immediate starter at safety for Tennessee. The Vols have already picked up portal commitments from Kansas State’s Qua Moss, who projects as the STAR, and Auburn’s Kayin Lee, who should start at cornerback.
Now, Tennessee will be looking for another candidate to start next to Edrees Farooq. He is coming off his second year with the Vols and will be a true junior. Farooq was a starter next to Andre Turrentine this past season.
Other options at safety include Kaleb Beasley, who was the third man in the room a year ago, second-year players Dylan Lewis and Sidney Walton and a myriad of true freshmen.
