Tennessee quietly lost a player to the transfer portal who they could really use right now
The Tennessee Volunteers are dealing with some tough injury issues and the grind of the SEC schedule hasn’t even hit yet.
Tennessee lost a couple of big names to the transfer portal last offseason — specifically offensive lineman Lance Heard (Kentucky) and defensive end Jordan Ross (LSU).
There’s no doubt that the Vols could use Heard right now given the team’s struggles along the offensive line.
Another player who left the program last winter that the Vols could use right now is a name that didn’t get quite as much attention when he hit the transfer portal: tight end Jack Van Dorselaer.
Van Dorselaer, who was a true freshman at Tennessee in 2025, transferred to Oklahoma in January.
The former four-star recruit didn’t put up big numbers at Tennessee last season, but he was used as a blocker in some key situations.
Tennessee is thin at the tight end position right now after losing senior Ethan Davis to a season-ending injury last month.
DaSaahn Brame, South Alabama transfer Trent Thomas, and true freshman Luca Wolf are currently the Vols’ top tight end options. Only Brame and Thomas played last week against Texas.
Tennessee used 12 personnel (two tight ends) quite a bit in the first three games of the season, which helped the running game find success. The Vols used more three wide receiver sets last week against Texas, presumably because of the lack of trust in the tight ends without Davis.
If Tennessee trusted Van Dorselaer in big moments as a true freshman, it’s fair to assume that he would’ve been used in those moments as a sophomore had he stuck around for another season.
Van Dorselaer, though, chose to transfer because he wanted to be more involved in the passing game.
“As the season went on, I learned some things,” said Van Dorselaer in the spring. “I just felt like this offense was better for me, and a better opportunity for me to succeed at the next level.”
Van Dorselaer also said that Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle sees him as more of an everything tight end.
“I think he (Arbuckle) sees me more as a hybrid guy,” said Van Dorselaer. “Like I said earlier, not just blocking, not just pass catching, but doing everything. So I think that’s kind of also what drew me to Oklahoma was that aspect of it.”
You can’t keep every player — it’s just part of the transfer/NIL era — but Van Dorselaer would probably be playing a pretty important role for the Vols right now had he stayed.
Instead, he’s caught 0 passes for 0 yards this season and he played only four snaps in Oklahoma’s loss to Georgia last week.
