Tennessee has reached out to several grad transfer quarterbacks this offseason. And now it appears one of them is set to visit the Vols this weekend.
According to a report from Bruce Feldman of Sports Illustrated, Stanford grad transfer quarterback Keller Chryst will be visiting Tennessee this weekend.
Feldman was writing about another grad transfer quarterback whom the Vols have been in contact with, Gardner Minshew, when he mentioned that Chryst was planning on visiting the Vols this weekend. Chryst played for Stanford the last three years and was a part-time starter for the Cardinal.
Chryst started the final six games of Stanford’s 2016 season and turned in an efficient effort in the process. He led the Cardinal to a 6-0 record while throwing for 848 yards, 10 touchdowns, and only one interception in his six starts. He completed 59.3 percent of his passes as a starter.
Stanford gave Chryst the starting job to begin the 2017 season, but Stanford’s coaches elected to go with KJ Costello midway through the season after Chryst suffered an injury. And Chryst was relegated to the bench even after he returned from that injury. He finished the 2017 season with 962 yards, eight touchdowns, and four interceptions while completing 54.2 percent of his passes.
In his Stanford career, Chryst completed 55.4 percent of his passes for 1,926 yards, 19 touchdowns, and six interceptions. He also ran for 164 yards and three scores on 66 carries.
Chryst was a four-star quarterback coming out of Palo Alto, California in the 2014 recruiting class. He was rated as the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in the class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, and they also had him as the No. 51 overall player in the class.
Right now, Tennessee only has two scholarship quarterbacks on their roster with a third set to join them after the spring. Rising redshirt sophomore Jarrett Guarantano and rising sophomore Will McBride all played and started last season for the Vols, but neither looked particularly great enough to lock down the starting spot.
Tennessee’s new coaching staff also signed three-star J.T. Shrout in the 2018 signing class, and he’ll join the team as a true freshman after spring practices.
The Vols had one of the worst passing offenses in college football last season, averaging just 173.7 yards per game. Their passing attack ended up being the 109th overall in the FBS in terms of yards per game. Tennessee’s 11 passing touchdowns as a team had them tied for 109th in the FBS, and their 56.4 completion percentage was tied for 88th.
