Six Tennessee football defensive backs have entered the transfer portal since the regular season concluded, leaving the Vols’ secondary extremely thin as they prepare for the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl against Iowa on January 1.
More importantly, with no defensive backs having committed to Tennessee via the portal as of December 11 and a few other key pieces having no eligibility remaining, there isn’t much depth when looking ahead to next year.
Of the six defensive backs to have transferred out, four saw meaningful time in 2022, and two were starters to end the season.
Cornerbacks Warren Burrell and Brandon Turnage were rotational guys in Tennessee’s backend, while STAR Tamarion McDonald started every game he played. Doneiko Slaughter only started in six games due to an early-season injury but was a top two cornerback for Tennessee in five of the final six games due to Kamal Hadden’s season-ending injury against Alabama.
The other two, Jack Luttrell and De’Shawn Rucker, saw little to no time in 2023, but Rucker would’ve likely made more of an impact had he have been healthy all season long.
Outside of Luttrell, who was a freshman in 2023, Tennessee is losing 21 years of college experience among the other five defensive backs. Furthermore, safety Jaylen McCollough and cornerback Kamal Hadden are out of eligibility and won’t be returning in 2024.
Adding their years of experience into the equation, Tennessee is losing 31 years of experience in their DB room.
With that amount of bodies and experience gone from Tennessee’s secondary, let’s see what’s left.
Experienced Players Who Could Return:
CB Gabe Jeudy-Lally:
Jeudy-Lally stepped up when Hadden went down in the second half of the season. The former Vanderbilt Commodore and BYU Cougar started in nine games at cornerback and saw time in every game. Jeudy-Lally is, as of right now, the top cornerback on Tennessee’s roster heading into 2024 should he return for his sixth and final year of eligibility.
*Note: Jeudy-Lally went through senior day festivities
S Wesley Walker
Like Jeudy-Lally, Walker will be a sixth-year senior next year should he return. As a starting safety in 2023, Walker was one of Tennessee’s top defensive backs and would figure to be a top option at safety for the Vols once again in 2024.
*Note: Walker went through senior day festivities
S Andre Turrentine
Turrentine has far less experience than Walker and Jeudy-Lally, but he’ll be entering his fourth season of college ball as a redshirt-junior having spent his last two at Tennessee.
The former Ohio State Buckeye has only started one game for Tennessee (2023 vs. Georgia due to injuries), but he was a solid rotational piece in 2023 and could see an expanded role next year considering Tennessee’s depth.
DB Christian Charles
Charles will be entering his fourth season (true senior season barring medical redshirt) in 2024 coming off an injury-riddled 2023 campaign that saw him play in just two games (Virginia and Austin Peay).
Charles has spent time at both cornerback and safety in his Tennessee career and has never become a consistent starter for the Vols, starting just seven total games.
More From RTI: Lane Kiffin Appears to Pop Through Knoxville, Poses with Heisman Winner
The Young Guys
S Jourdan Thomas
Thomas has the most meaningful experience of this group. Thomas wrapped up a sophomore campaign in 2023 that saw him play all but one game and make one start.
The Montgomery, Alabama, native has played in 24 career games as a rotational safety and could push for more meaningful snaps next season.
As for the short term, Thomas will likely start in Tennessee’s bowl game at STAR.
CB Rickey Gibson III
Gibson II is coming off a promising true freshman season in which he saw action in nearly all of Tennessee’s games in 2023. Rated a four-star prospect, Gibson should enter spring camp in prime position to compete for a starting cornerback spot.
As for the short term, Gibson III looks poised to start at cornerback in Tennessee’s bowl game vs. Iowa given the transfer portal departures and Hadden’s injury.
CB Jordan Matthews
Along with Gibson, Matthews was the other freshman defensive back many were excited about entering this past season. However, he didn’t see near as much time as his freshman counterpart, playing in only four games and recording just one tackle.
Still, Matthews was a consensus four-star recruit and is plenty talented enough to compete for significant playing time in 2024.
CB Cristian Conyer
The third and final 2023 freshman cornerback is Cristian Conyer, who started out at cornerback last spring. Conyer mostly saw special teams action in his first season and, like Matthews, tallied only one tackle. A three-star recruit by most recruiting services, Conyer joins Matthews as corners entering year two that can compete for significant playing time in 2024 but are clearly behind Gibson III at the moment.
S John Slaughter
The fourth and final freshman defensive back is John Slaughter, who worked as safety last spring. Slaughter joins Matthews and Conyer as freshmen who saw very little time in year one. Slaughter’s lone tackle on the season came in Tennessee’s win over Texas A&M.
Given the fact Tennessee has more returning depth at safety than cornerback, Slaughter’s path to playing time in 2024 is more challenging than his freshman counterparts Gibson III, Matthews and Conyer.
Slaughter was a consensus three-star recruit in the 2023 class.
CB Christian Harrison
Harrison is one of two returning scholarship defensive backs entering his third season. Harrison, son of NFL legend Rodney Harrison, played in eight games as a freshman in 2022 but failed to follow it up with a more productive sophomore season.
Harrison barely played in 2023 and doesn’t figure to be an option for significant playing time heading into 2024.
Notable Walk-Ons
DBs Will Brooks and William Wright:
Wright and Brooks have each seen time at some point in the past two seasons, usually when the injury bug really hits. Both have shown they can play meaningful snaps if called upon but are still lower-tier depth pieces.
Both will be redshirt seniors in 2024.
What This Means for Bowl Game, 2024:
In the short-term, Tennessee will likely rely on Jourdan Thomas and Rickey Gibson III to start in the bowl game vs. Iowa, with Jaylen McCollough, Gabe Jeudy-Lally and Wesley Walker filling the other three spots.
As for 2024, there’s hardly any experience returning, especially if Walker and Jeudy-Lally don’t come back. If they don’t, Tennessee will have to replace nearly its entire two-deep roster with either juniors/sophomores or newcomers via the freshman class or the portal.
At the moment, there are only two definitive defensive backs in Tennessee’s 2024 recruiting class: Safety Edrees Farooq and Cornerback Kaleb Beasley. However, Marcus Goree Jr. and Boo Carter could join the DB room, as well.
Secondary is the most important position of need for the Vols out of the portal along with offensive line, and it’d be surprising if there aren’t at least a couple of defensive backs to commit to Tennessee out of the portal in the coming months.
2 Responses
What is causing so many players from one room jumping ship?
Our secondary has been consistent, consistently terrible since current staff got here. It’s as if teams purposely got into third down long or short because it has been obviously unable to stop the pass and not by much help on the run making us close to the bottom of the country in third down defense. This is always been the case with our secondary coach, regardless of where he was coaching. Always one of the first coaches to be replaced. Come on Josh get us someone that help develop secondary players!