Josh Heupel identifies two under-the-radar candidates who could be breakout players for the Tennessee Vols in 2025
A number of new faces have a chance at making a quick impact.
The Tennessee Volunteers are gearing up to get their 2025 season underway this weekend against Syracuse.
Naturally, the lion’s share of attention as it relates to the roster for the season has ended up on the quarterback battle, which went in favor of UCLA/App State transfer Joey Aguilar. The rehab and recovery of Jermod McCoy has also taken center stage as has the drama involving Boo Carter.
However, like any season, there are players who aren’t getting talked about much who will end up standing out in a positive way once the season is in full gear. Volquest’s Austin Price spoke with Josh Heupel on Monday, and Heupel tabbed a couple of players by name that he sees as possible breakout candidates this season.
“There are a lot of guys that are new to our program or played a year ago that are going to step into bigger roles this year, so there’s a bunch of them,” Heupel said. “Jordan Ross is a guy at the defensive end spot that I think has put himself in position to play great football. Jesse Perry has done an elite job on the offensive line. And I mentioned those two guys because they’re on the line of scrimmage. Everybody is going to see the guys that are near the ball. It’s a really good young group. Guys that are true freshman this year, maybe red shirted last year, have a chance to make real impacts this fall.”
Perry, who came to Knoxville as a three-star recruit out of Murfreesboro, is a redshirt freshman who played in four games last year for Tennessee before redshirting. It sounds like he’s had quite the camp thus far, and while Tennessee did not release a depth chart on Monday ahead of the Syracuse game, it appears he is strongly in the mix for the starting right guard spot.
Ross doesn’t appear in line to start on Tim Banks’ defense, but that hasn’t stopped players from standing out before, particularly with how much they rotate their defensive linemen. As opposed to Perry, Ross came to Knoxville with plenty of hype as a five-star recruit and the top overall edge rusher per On3 Sports and 247 Sports. The Vols have plenty of talent coming off both sides in Joshua Josephs, Dominic Bailey, and Tyre West, but Ross should have his opportunities to make an impact quickly.
We’ll find out of Heupel is right soon enough, as toe meets leather inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium just after noon on Saturday, with the Vols and Orange get underway.
