Tennessee football survived a scare in the transfer portal earlier this week when Boo Carter decided to return to Knoxville for his sophomore season instead of pursuing other options in the portal.
Carter started four games and played a high number of snaps in nearly every game in 2024 with his role increasing throughout the course of his freshman season. The former blue-chip recruit spent his freshman season at the STAR spot in the secondary but that could be changing.
According to multiple reports, one of the things that Carter wanted entering his second season was to be able to play on both sides of the ball.
Carter was a star receiver and safety coming out of Bradley Central High School. He ranked as a four-star recruit, the No. 129 player and No. 4 athlete in the 2024 recruiting class according to the 247sports composite rankings.
While Tennessee recruited him to play defensive back, other schools —including Michigan— recruited Carter to play on the offensive side of the ball.
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The need for Carter to play on the offensive side of the ball has increased over the course of the last month. Six of Tennessee’s eight returning scholarship receivers have entered the transfer portal over the last month, leaving just Chris Brazzell and Braylon Staley as returning receivers.
With those types of numbers, Tennessee needs Carter at receiver more than they need him in the defensive backfield. The tricky part is that Carter is naturally a slot receiver and Staley is a slot receiver. That doesn’t mean Tennessee couldn’t use Carter on offense but it doesn’t make the fit quite as clear.
Carter is dynamic with the ball in his hands which was clear during his high school career and again during his freshman season when he was returning punts.
How Tennessee divides up Carter’s practice time and game snaps between the offensive and defensive side of the ball is fascinating. Carter is capable of playing snaps on both sides of the ball but expecting anyone to do what Travis Hunter did by playing nearly every snap in a given game is unrealistic.
Where Carter is spending his time will be worth watching when spring practice and then fall practice rolls around. We’ll see what Tennessee does in the transfer portal over the next month but the Vols need is now greater at receiver than it is in the defensive backfield.
