Tennessee football is still pursuing a small group of players in the transfer portal, but as the Vols begin the spring semester and winter workouts this week their roster is mostly set. Josh Heupel and his staff added 18 players in the transfer portal including multiple that project as starters.
There’s a lot to lack about Tennessee’s work in the portal but there’s also a couple areas where the Vols work seems insufficient and leaves them vulnerable entering the 2026 season.
First and most obvious is quarterback. Tennessee kicked the tires with Brendan Sorsby and more intensively explored options with Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson and Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt. But Simpson opted for the NFL Draft and Leavitt opted for LSU leaving Tennessee empty handed with the top transfer signal callers.
Tennessee did add a body, which was a necessity, landing Colorado’s Ryan Staub. Staub started one game for Colorado last season and is a good depth pick up. However, Staub does not seem likely to beat out George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon for the starting job.
Missing out on a big-name transfer quarterback does not mean that Tennessee is screwed at quarterback next season. MacIntyre and Brandon were both big name prospects. But both are young and it is telling that Heupel did pursue touted transfers to give them another year of development.
Maybe MacIntyre or Brandon will be ready. Tennessee has a strong supporting cast around them. But that gave the Vols the chance to grab a more proven quarterback and hit the ground running with maybe one of the nation’s best offenses. Rolling with one of the in-house quarterbacks lowers the floor substantially.
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Tennessee’s second short coming was along the defensive line. The Vols had arguably their worst defensive line of the Heupel tenure a season ago before losing Josh Josephs, Caleb Herring, Jordan Ross, Jaxson Moi, Bryson Eason, Tyre West and Dominic Bailey either to graduation or the transfer portal.
That left just Daevin Hobbs, Nathan Robinson and Tyree Weathersby as returning defensive linemen who played significant snaps last season. Bolstering the defensive line felt like a major priority for Tennessee this offseason. And yet, they landed just three defensive linemen.
Penn State transfer Xavier Gilliam is proven in the middle, Penn State edge rusher Chaz Coleman has a high ceiling and Tulane edge rusher Jordan Norman produced in the American Conference last season. But there’s just not enough bodies and there does not seem to be the star power to overcome a lack of depth.
Tennessee is banking on young players like defensive end Mariyon Dye as well as defensive tackles Ethan Utley and Isaiah Campbell breaking out. They could do that, but Tennessee’s defensive line is in a shaky spot if they don’t.
We’ll dive into more areas where Tennessee excelled in the portal later this week, but these are two areas of concern entering next season.
