Earlier this month, former Tennessee Vols quarterback Jonathan Crompton appeared on the Big Orange Podcast and suggested that UT should look to add a quarterback from the NCAA transfer portal.

The feeling is that more competition will yield better results at the quarterback position for the Vols.

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Despite Crompton's suggestion, it doesn't appear that Josh Heupel and the Vols are looking to add a quarterback from the portal.

Instead, Tennessee seems to be content going into the 2023 season with Joe Milton, Tayven Jackson, and Nico Iamaleava as their options.

Milton is expected to win the job over Jackson, who will be a redshirt freshman, and Iamaleava, who will be a true freshman.

There's no doubt that Milton has an insane amount of upside, but he's yet to show he can be consistent (dating back to his days at Michigan). Jackson and Iamaleava are also unproven, which leaves the Vols without a "sure thing" at quarterback next season.

There's plenty of potential for Tennessee, but there's no guarantee that the Vols will pick up next season where they left off with Hendon Hooker.

Finding a portal QB could be difficult for Tennessee, but the Vols should still try

I can see how it would be difficult for Heupel to find a transfer with Nico on the roster (he has Heisman Trophy-winning upside and allegedly a rich NIL deal, which could scare away some portal quarterbacks), but he should still give it a shot.

And Heupel can look to Baton Rouge for an example of why he should pursue a transfer quarterback.

When Brian Kelly arrived at LSU late last year, he inherited a roster that had three potential starting quarterbacks on the roster in Myles Brennan, Garrett Nussmeier, and Walker Howard. It was essentially the same situation that Heupel will have in 2023.

Brennan was like Milton — a college veteran entering his final season of eligibility and still looking to put it all together. Nussmeier and Jackson are similar — four-star quarterbacks flying under the radar. And Howard played the Nico role — hot shot five-star quarterback with lofty expectations.

Despite having those players on the roster, Kelly still pursued a transfer quarterback. He ended up landing Jayden Daniels from Arizona State. Daniels won the job and led the Tigers to an SEC West division title in Kelly's first season. Earlier this week, Daniels announced he's returning to LSU in 2023 (Daniels is an early Heisman Trophy contender for next season).

You don't have a quarterback until someone takes the job and doesn't look back. And right now, the Vols don't have that guy. Maybe Milton will show against Clemson that he's taken a big step forward and can be a top SEC quarterback. Or maybe he will struggle with consistency against Clemson. If the latter is true, then Heupel won't have a choice but to look for a transfer. If Milton hasn't figured it out by now as a soon-to-be sixth-year senior, then there's a good chance it's never going to happen.

It's not the end of the world if Tennessee doesn't land a transfer quarterback, but Heupel and the Vols should at least be window-shopping right now for one. They don't want to end up in a situation after the bowl game (if Milton struggles) where they're trying to scramble to find a quarterback that's available in the portal with the skill to run Tennessee's offense.

Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports