A new receiver name has emerged for Tennessee football as they look to add bodies from the transfer portal into a depleted receiver room.
Alabama receiver Amari Jefferson entered the transfer portal on Thursday evening after not playing a snap in his initial college season.
A Chattanooga native who Tennessee recruited hard out of high school, Jefferson is an obvious candidate for the Vols to pursue in the portal. That became even more apparent shortly after he entered the portal when On3’s Pete Nakos and Steve Wiltfong both placed predictions for Jefferson to commit to Tennessee.
NEW: On3’s @SWiltfong_ and @PeteNakos_ have logged expert predictions for Tennessee to land Alabama transfer WR Amari Jefferson🍊
Read: https://t.co/RTwCla2gsX pic.twitter.com/zbzIC4TqMs
— On3 (@On3sports) January 2, 2025
Jefferson ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 212 player in the country in the 2025 recruiting cycle according to the 247sports composite rankings. A standout at Chattanooga’s Baylor School, Jefferson ranked as the No. 5 player in the state of Tennessee and the No. 35 receiver in the country.
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Josh Heupel and Tennessee recruited Jefferson hard out of high school before the 6-foot, 200-pound receiver committed to Nick Saban and Alabama over Georgia and Tennessee. Jefferson was previously committed to play baseball at Tennessee for Tony Vitello.
Tennessee is looking to reload at receiver after a mass exodus to the portal last month. As the Vols work to get Mike Matthews back in the fold, Tennessee has just two returning scholarship receivers from last season— rising senior Chris Brazzell and rising redshirt freshman Braylon Staley.
The Vols have been linked to Southern California transfer slot receiver Zachariah Branch as well as Florida State transfer Malik Benson as they look to add more capable bodies ahead of the 2025 season. Neither Branch nor Benson have visited Tennessee yet as the Vols try to get the pair on campus.
