The Tennessee Vols are only a week into fall camp, but a potentially major roster concern has already emerged for the program.

If you follow the Vols closely, you’re likely well aware that Tennessee is extremely inexperienced at the wide receiver position.

The Vols have only one one returning starting wide receiver on the roster — redshirt junior Chris Brazzell.

And Brazzell has yet to practice this fall due to a recent procedure.

The other two receivers with experience on Tennessee’s roster are sophomore Mike Matthews (seven receptions in 2024) and redshirt freshman Braylon Staley (three receptions in 2024).

Matthews missed practiced over the weekend (he returned to practice on Monday), and Staley missed practice on Monday.

The next men up behind those three wide receivers are a trio of true freshmem (Travis Smith, Joakim Dodson, and Radarious Jackson) and a redshirt freshman with no experience (Alabama transfer Amari Jefferson).

(We’ll see if Boo Carter will have a role on offense as a receiver in 2025…it would be a huge help to Tennessee if he does.)

I’m not tying to be an alarmist, but I think it’s more than fair to say that the numbers at wide receiver are a concern for the Vols — Tennessee is a couple of injuries away from starting a group of receivers that have never played in a college football game before.

The big reason why the Vols are in this situation is because several of their experienced, albeit less talented, wide receivers transferred in the offseason. Tennessee lost Kaleb Webb, Chas Nimrod, Squirrel White, Dayton Sneed, and Nathan Leacock to the transfer portal. Those five wide receivers had a combined 185 receptions for 2,226 yards and eight touchdowns for the Vols.

Those players left Tennessee for opportunities (and likely more NIL money) elsewhere.

Losing depth to the transfer portal is just part of life in college football in the NIL era. Tennessee couldn’t pay all of those guys to stay while also paying the young (and more talented) wide receivers on the roster.

If there was one of those wide receivers they should’ve found a way to keep, though, it’s White.

White was quite productive during his time at Tennessee, recording 131 receptions for 1,665 yards and six touchdowns during his three seasons with the Vols.

The experience that White has in the Vols’ offense would’ve been helpful to many of those young wide receivers that are learning the offense ahead of the 2025 season. White, who is a tough player that battled through injuries while playing in all 13 games last season, also would’ve been a safety net for Tennessee’s coaching staff.

I don’t know what kind of NIL demands White was making, but surely something could’ve been worked out.

And honestly, this is the kind of stuff that Tennessee needs a general manager for. The Vols’ current wide receiver situation is something that most folks could see coming before the end of last season. A general manager could’ve started working on the situation near the end of the 2024 season, ensuring that Tennessee had quality wide receiver depth in 2025 (that’s how many other Power-4 programs handle those situations).

White isn’t a player that’s ever going to be a household name, but the Vols’ wide receiver room would certainly look a lot more stable this fall if he was in it.

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