Tennessee football announced the signing of 20 of its 21 transfer portal commits on Monday as the Vols begin their second week of winter workouts. Josh Heupel and his staff have filled a number of needs through the portal, bolstering their roster.
The Vols could still add a few more players but their roster is pretty much set entering the 2026 season. What could be Tennessee’s worst position groups? Taking a look at three sports here.
More From RTI: Projecting Tennessee Football’s Three Strongest Position Groups In 2026
Defensive End
Tennessee lost both Dominic Bailey and Tyre West to graduation leaving a major hole at the strongside defensive end spot entering 2026. Unless Tulane transfer Jordan Norman ends up at strongside defensive end instead of LEO, Tennessee did not add a single defensive end to its roster through the portal.
That leaves Tennessee with rising redshirt junior Tyree Weathersby and rising sophomore Mariyon Dye. Weathersby played 243 snaps last season while totaling 24 tackles and one sack. Dye played 98 snaps last season as a freshman, a promising but not dominant debut season.
Behind those two, it’s unclear who is next up for Tennessee. Entering the offseason, defensive end is a position that lacks star power and depth. That’s a worrisome combination.
Tight End
This is a bit of a complicated room. Tennessee lost starter Miles Kitselman to graduation as well as Jack Van Dorselaer to the transfer portal. On one hand, Tennessee is still in a fine spot. Ethan Davis flashed late in the season and could very well be a better option then Kitselman was a season ago.
Projected backup DaSaahn Brame is another talented pass catcher, but how ready is he to get nasty in the run game as a sophomore? That’s an area where Van Doreselaer was further along then him. When Tennessee goes 12 personnel for run game physicality, who is going to be on the field because that’s a question for Brame and to a lesser extent Davis.
The Vols added South Alabama transfer Trent Thomas and UT Martin transfer Drake Martinez, but neither excelled as run blockers at their previous stop.
The good news is that tight end is a position you can get away with not being great at. And other groups could very well end up being worse, but this group is limited and feels like an injury away from having some real issues.
Quarterback
This one is just more uncertain than a true definitive weakness. We simply do not know. Tennessee’s quarterbacks are very unproven.
The Vols pursued a handful of high level quarterbacks in the portal. After they came up empty, they didn’t seem interested in paying a mid level signal caller instead landing Colorado backup Ryan Staub as a depth piece. Depending on how one views it, that is some level of a vote of confidence for George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon.
But entering the season with the projected starting quarterback having played 18 career snaps and underweight is a reason for pause. Especially when the projected backup is a true freshman. There’s a ton of unknown about Tennessee’s quarterback room. It could end up being pretty solid, but there’s serious questions about it entering 2026.
