Vols insider details what positions Tennessee could target in the NCAA transfer portal
December has turned into the busiest month of the year if you're a college football coach. And for the Tennessee Vols, this December is particularly busy. Between the early signing period, the NCAA transfer portal, preparing for the College Football Playoff, and the coaching carousel, there's plenty on the agenda for Tennessee during the final […]
December has turned into the busiest month of the year if you're a college football coach.
And for the Tennessee Vols, this December is particularly busy.
Between the early signing period, the NCAA transfer portal, preparing for the College Football Playoff, and the coaching carousel, there's plenty on the agenda for Tennessee during the final month of 2024.
The transfer portal will be especially important with the Vols set to lose numerous key players after the 2024 season.
VolQuest's Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone's Ramon, Kayla, and Will on Friday and he detailed which positions he thinks Tennessee could target when the NCAA transfer portal officially opens next week.
Hubbs specifically mentioned interior offensive line, wide receiver, and defensive line as positions that Tennessee could show interest in.
"I think inside interior offensive linemen, they're looking for some Ramon Fosters (former Vols OL) if they can find those guys to play inside at guard," said Hubbs. "So I think that's where you start. And then some of it may depend on who else jumps in the portal. You know, does another receiver at some point jump in? If that's the case, then I think you're going to look at a receiver. When you look at expected portal entries on Monday, when it becomes official, based on everybody who's tweeted out 'hey, I'm heading into the portal', the transfer portal at the receiver position is going to be really deep. There are a lot of receivers going into the portal. I mean, a bunch of guys that are going into the portal. So, we'll see if Tennessee elects to do anything there."
"I think the other position that you're always looking at is you're always looking at defensive linemen — particularly interior defensive lineman," continued Hubbs. "If you're a school that rotates heavily like Tennessee does. Tennessee would like to play four to six interior defensive linemen a game — somewhere between 15 and 25 to 30 snaps is what they would like to do. And so I think you're always looking if there's a grown man who's got a couple years in a college weight room and a couple years of eligibility left that you can get your hands on and get him to your campus and get him, then you're going to take him.
"When you look at Tennessee's depth going into this past season, on paper, there wasn't any need for Jaxson Moi, really. I mean, you know, you just kind of looked it like why are [the Vols] taking an interior defensive lineman? You got Bryson Eason, Omari Thomas, Elijah Simmons, Omarr Norman-Lott, Daevin Hobbs, Nathan Robinson, you know, you've got some young depth. You've got older players there, but Jaxson Moi is a guy that you felt like was too good to pass up on because you're rotating so heavily at that position. So I think you're always going to be in the market for a potential interior defensive lineman every year, and that's the case this year as well."
The Vols are losing four of their five starting offensive linemen after this season with guards Andrej Karic and Javontez Spraggins, center Cooper Mays, and tackle John Campbell moving on after 2024 (left tackle Lance Heard will be the lone returning starter).
Key depth offensive linemen like Jackson Lampley and Dayne Davis will also be moving after the season.
The Vols signed 2025 five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr this week, and they have several talented young offensive linemen on the roster, so it's not like the cupboard is bare. But it seems highly likely that Tennessee will target a couple of offensive linemen in the portal to help mitigate their losses at that position group.
As for other positions, such as wide receiver and defensive line, it seems like Tennessee, as Hubbs noted, will take the approach of keeping an eye open for any players that are "too good" to pass up (which means they're talented and good fits for the Vols' culture/offense).
In that sense, Tennessee fans will just have to trust Josh Heupel and his staff to bring in the "right" players and not the players that just look "right" on paper.
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