Former Tennessee standout named one of the top draft prospects from spring transfer portal window
A former Tennessee Vols standout who transferred after the 2023 season was named by NFL scouts as one of the top NFL draft prospects from the spring transfer portal window. Edge rusher Tyler Baron, who spent the first four seasons of his career at Tennessee, left Knoxville after the 2023 season for Ole Miss. Baron […]
A former Tennessee Vols standout who transferred after the 2023 season was named by NFL scouts as one of the top NFL draft prospects from the spring transfer portal window.
Edge rusher Tyler Baron, who spent the first four seasons of his career at Tennessee, left Knoxville after the 2023 season for Ole Miss. Baron then transferred to Louisville, where he went through spring practice before re-entering the NCAA transfer portal.
Baron eventually landed at Miami.
247Sports spoke to various NFL scouts and Baron was listed as one of the top five draft prospects from the spring transfer window.
Those scouts believe that Baron will enter the 2024 season as a "early-to-mid Day 3 type prospect".
From 247Sports: Baron, who had transferred from Tennessee to Louisville during the winter portal cycle, re-entered the portal this spring and picked the Hurricanes over teams such as Ole Miss.
Like with (KeAndre) Lambert-Smith, scouts whom 247Sports spoke with view Baron as an early-to-mid Day 3 type prospect entering the season. At Tennessee last year, Baron tallied 28 tackles and six sacks.
Baron was a solid player for the Vols throughout his time in Knoxville, playing in 48 career games while totaling 13.5 sacks and 101 total tackles.
The former four-star recruit was praised before the 2023 season by Vols defensive line coach Rodney Garner for being more of a "team guy" than he was in previous seasons.
"I think he's matured a lot," said Garner last August. "And I think he's grown as a young man. And I think he's bought in more to the team concept. And I think he's been more of a team guy and a Tennessee guy than a Tyler guy. I think he's starting to see that if Tennessee does well, then Tayler Baron's going to do well. But if Tennessee does poorly, then odds are that Tyler Baron's not going to do as well."
Baron had the best year of his collegiate career in 2023, recording 6.0 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss (both career highs).
There's no doubt that Tennessee could've used Baron this fall. But fortunately for the Vols, the program has the best defensive line depth its had in decades, which makes the loss of Baron sting a little less.
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