With week one of the college football season just over a week away, The Athletic released its rankings of the 100 best players that transferred this offseason with three Vols landing on the list.
The first Vol on the list is receiver Dont’e Thornton who transferred to Tennessee from Oregon this offseason after catching 17 passes for 366 yards and a touchdown last season. Thornton comes in at No. 25 on the list.
“Thornton has an opportunity to do a lot of damage in Tennessee’s wide-open offense,” The Athletic’s Max Olson and Bruce Feldman wrote. “The 6-foot-5, 214-pound junior started five games in his two seasons at Oregon and averaged a team-best 21.5 yards per catch in 2022. The Vols need to replace the production of NFL Draft picks Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman and should lean on Thornton and his freaky combination of size and speed.”
Linebacker Keenan Pili came in at No. 40 on the list after transferring to Tennessee from BYU earlier this offseason. A fifth-year senior, Pili totaled 62 tackles and one sack last season for the Cougars.
Pili will start beside Aaron Beasley at linebacker for Tennessee to open the season and is the third highest rated inside linebacker on the list.
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“The 25-year-old linebacker began his career at BYU as a freshman in 2016 before leaving for a two-year mission and rejoining the program in 2019,” The Athletic wrote. “Pili developed into a 24-game starter and two-time team captain for the Cougars who totaled 190 career tackles. Coaches say the 6-foot-3, 240-pound grad transfer has quickly established himself as a major leader for the Vols’ defense.”
The final Vol on the list is Miami transfer John Campbell Jr. Campbell is the leader to start at left tackle for Tennessee this season after starting for Miami last season.
Campbell comes in as the No. 44 player and No. 5 offensive lineman in the rankings.
“Campbell enjoyed a good bounce-back season last year, recovering from a season-ending torn ACL suffered in 2021 and starting all 12 games at left tackle for the Hurricanes,” The Athletic wrote. “He’s just what the Volunteers needed for that position and has impressed coaches with his athleticism as a 6-foot-5, 320-pound pass protector.”
Tennessee has a number of other incoming transfers that missed out on the list who could end up making a top 100 transfers list by the end of the season. Arizona State defensive tackle Omarr-Norman Lott is going to have a big role for Tennessee while BYU cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally will be in the two-deep.
The only outgoing Tennessee transfer that made this list is receiver Jimmy Calloway who landed at Louisville after entering the transfer portal and landed at No. 93 in The Athletic’s list.
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