3 Underrated Positions Tennessee Football Should Address In The Transfer Portal
Obviously, safety, quarterback and the interior of the defensive line need attention, but where else on the roster could Tennessee look to add reinforcements?
Tennessee football figures to be pretty active once the transfer portal officially opens on January 2. You don’t have to be a Certified Ball Knower to know that the Volunteers need to address the safety position in the portal. The Vols need to add a quarterback, whether that’s a high-dollar name or cheaper depth piece remains to be seen, but Tennessee has to add a body there. The Vols also need veteran help on the interior of the defensive line and need multiple bodies there to help bridge the gap with Tennessee’s vast amount of young, blue-chip talent.
But are we sure there aren’t a couple of other positions that Tennessee should be swimming in deeper, perhaps more expensive, waters here in a couple of weeks?
I think there are a couple of positions where I could understand the line of thinking if head football coach Josh Heupel elected to dip his toes into the transfer portal market for these overlooked spots.
Let’s dive in below.
Linebacker
Of the three underrated spots I’m writing about today, linebacker is the position I feel most strongly about. There is no question that linebacker coach William Inge’s room is stockpiled with intriguing, young blue-chip talent. The problem is that outside of Jeremiah Telander now, most of those ‘backers will go into 2026 as still intriguing and young. With Arion Carter off to the NFL, I think it would make sense for the Vols to look to add a one-year guy like Tennessee did when they added former BYU linebacker Keenan Pili going into the 2023 season as a graduate transfer. Obviously, due to Pili’s terrible injury luck, his stay in Knoxville was longer than anticipated, but you saw and understood the vision.
Edwin Spillman and Jadon Perlotte shone and struggled at different points this season, but you don’t have to squint too hard to see that duo being a fantastic combination in 2027. In 2026, though, I think Tennessee has to really consider finding another Pili-like player that can help bring along these talented young pieces while still being a guy who can play at a high level for new Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. Had Carter opted to return to Knoxville for one more season, I think running it back with your in-house guys would have been completely understandable. Now, I think it’d be too risky not to allocate some funds to find another Pili for 2026.
EDGE/LEO
Former Tennessee star LEO James Pearce Jr. is having himself a phenomenal rookie season with the Atlanta Falcons. Former Tennessee star LEO Byron Young is also having another fantastic year for the NFC-best Los Angeles Rams, where PFF has him ranked 9th among all edge defenders this season. If history is any indicator, it would probably be wise for one NFL franchise to take Joshua Josephs if they need help on the edge in 2026 and beyond.
For the last three, maybe even four seasons, though, Tennessee hasn’t had to wonder about the production and rotation at this premium spot on the football field. Former four-star LEO Caleb Herring and former five-star LEO Jordan Ross both have the potential to be early-round NFL guys. However, if you’re Heupel and Tennessee, you can’t be as certain about their 2026 production as you were about Josephs, Pearce Jr., and maybe even Young, too. Ross has 1.5 sacks in two seasons, and Herring graded out on PFF as the 782nd best LEO out of the 856 that qualified last season. What complicates matters with Herring is how great he played against Georgia, where he added two sacks. He added two on the road in Starkville against Mississippi State as well, which were critical plays for the Vols. After that ball game, though, Herring never had a pass-rush grade above 66, per PFF.
You wonder if Tennessee would be able to keep both Herring and Ross if they were to explore adding a high-profile LEO, and that’s what makes all of this so challenging. Tennessee was proven to be correct in betting on their young wideouts, Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews, last offseason. That could happen with Ross and Herring, too. LEO is a position, like linebacker, that I’m definitely going to be fascinated to see which path the Vols take.
Wide Receiver
With Chris Brazzell II opting out of the Music City Bowl, it seems as though freshman Radarious Jackson is going to have a huge opportunity to showcase his abilities and that he can be the third wideout alongside Staley and Matthews in 2026. However, five-star freshman Tristen Keys is also on the way for 2026, and although we haven’t seen a true freshman start right away in Knoxville under Heupel yet, Keys seems like he has the talent and upside to pull it off like a Ryan Williams, Cam Coleman, or Jeremiah Smit,h who all started as true freshmen in 2024.
Still, it definitely helped Tennessee to have a veteran transfer burner on the outside with Brazzell II and Dont’e Thornton Jr. the last two years. The conundrum, of course, is that both players broke out in their second year in the program. However, Bru McCoy did reel in 52 balls for 667 yards and four touchdowns in his first season on Rocky Top as a transfer. JaVonta Payton added six touchdowns in 2021 as a Mississippi State transfer and averaged 22.4 YPR.
How Jackson looks against Illinois in the bowl game will be something to monitor. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that Tennessee needs to add a veteran wide receiver to the mix who is both long and a speedster like Brazzell II and Thornton Jr. were for Tennessee these last two seasons. If not, the Vols are an injury or two away from being both extremely young and extremely green at wide receiver next season.