The Tennessee Vols need to find a quarterback after true freshman Tayven Jackson entered the NCAA transfer portal on Friday.

With Jackson moving on, it leaves the Vols with just two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster — Joe Milton and Nico Iamaleava (who will be a true freshman next fall).

Walk on Gaston Moore, who transferred from UCF to Tennessee before the 2021 season, is the de facto No. 3 quarterback with Jackson hitting the portal.

That's obviously not ideal. While it's true that Tennessee's championship hopes would likely be erased if they have to roll with their No. 3 option, they still need to a quality No. 3 quarterback. Going 7-5 with a quality No. 3 option is a lot easier to stomach than going 5-7 with a walk-on.

Finding another scholarship quarterback won't be easy considering most quarterbacks in the transfer portal are looking for a starting opportunity.

Here are a few quarterbacks in the portal that would be an upgrade over Moore that I think Tennessee could have a shot to land as a backup.

Dylan Hopkins — UAB

Dylan Hopkins is a Maryville, TN native who played in 33 games at UAB before entering the portal recently. Hopkins passed for 1,913 yards, 10 touchdowns, and four interceptions this past season. In 2021, he passed for 2,274 yards, 18 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

I'm not sure what Hopkins is looking for in his next program, but considering he's not an NFL prospect, I could see him returning to East Tennessee to spend a year as a Vol.

Hopkins was a three-star recruit in the 2018 recruiting class. He was rated in 247Sports' composite rankings as the No. 55 dual-threat quarterback in the nation and the No. 56 player in the state of Tennessee. Those types of players usually don't get to play a key role in the SEC, but this is a unique situation where it could make sense.

DC Tabscott — Appalachian State

DC Tabscott might be looking for more playing time considering he still has four years of eligibility remaining.

But he's still a player that Tennessee should check on.

Tabscott, who had an offer from Kentucky, is from Nashville and he was rated as a three-star recruit during the 2021 recruiting cycle (No. 76 quarterback in the 2021 class and the No. 29 player in Tennessee).

I don't think Tabscott has the arm talent that it takes to thrive in the SEC, but he's athletic enough that he could make some plays happen and keep defenses off guard.

Dylan Mehrotra — UAB

Dylan Hopkins isn't the only quarterback named Dylan leaving UAB.

Dylan Mehrotra is a former three-star recruit from Baton Rouge, LA who recently entered the transfer portal. He was rated as the No. 135 quarterback in the 2021 class and the No. 60 player in the state of Louisiana.

Mehrotra is another quarterback that likely doesn't have an NFL future that could be looking for an opportunity to experience SEC football.

Tristan Gebbia — Oregon State

This is my favorite option. Tristan Gebbia is seeking a seventh year of eligibility (which he should get) after recently entering the transfer portal.

The Calabasas, CA native actually played for former Vols quarterback Casey Clausen at Calabasas High School before signing with Oregon State during the 2018 recruiting cycle.

Gebbia, a former four-star recruit who was rated as the No. 9 pro-style quarterback in the nation in 2018, has played sparingly at Oregon State. He has 1,250 career passing yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions.

Gebbia wants to get into coaching after he's done playing. Going to Tennessee for a year would certainly help him build some connections in the SEC.

The situation with Gebbia kind of reminds me of Garnder Minshew, who was going to transfer to Alabama in 2018 in case Jalen Hurts or Tua Tagovailoa transferred out of the program. Nick Saban was then going to give Minshew a graduate assistant job after he was done playing. Minshew instead went to Washington State to play for Mike Leach. He's now a backup quarterback in the NFL.

Gebbia could follow the path that Minshew was originally going to take (transferring to an SEC school with the idea of getting into coaching).

The Vols have some options, but it remains to be seen if any of them will be viable.

Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports