As Tennessee football begins winter workouts at the start of the spring semester, the Vols have added eight total players out of the transfer portal to date. They could still add a couple more players in the next couple weeks but the Vols are likely done until the spring portal period.
Tennessee’s added two tight ends, two cornerbacks, a safety, receiver, defensive tackle and offensive tackle from the portal. But who are Tennessee’s most important additions?
Ranking the Vols’ most important additions in the transfer portal to date.
*These rankings are a mix of the best players and the biggest positions of need
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1. LSU OT Lance Heard
When Tennessee lost Gerald Mincey to the transfer portal, the Vols badly needed to add an offensive tackle in the portal. They went out and landed the No. 3 offensive tackle and a top 20 player in transfer portal.
A former five-star recruit, Heard landed on the Freshman All-SEC team last season and still has three years of eligibility remaining. Heard checks all the boxes for Tennessee and is a massive win for Josh Heupel and offensive line coach Glen Elarbee.
2. Oregon State CB Jermod McCoy
McCoy spent his first season of college football starting for a solid Oregon State team and facing the sport’s best quarterbacks like Michael Penix, Caleb Williams and Bo Nix. Nearly everyone wanted McCoy when he entered the portal and the Texas native chose the Vols over Texas A&M.
High level talent, three years of eligibility remaining and at a position Tennessee badly needed to land impact players— there’s a lot to like about the Vols landing McCoy.
3. Notre Dame TE Holden Staes
Tennessee badly needed a tight end in the portal after losing starters Jacob Warren and McCallan Castles and returning no experienced players at the spot.
The Vols landed a good one. Staes is the No. 2 tight end in the transfer portal and chose Tennessee over Georgia, Oklahoma and Washington. The Atlanta native didn’t put up massive numbers in his two seasons at Notre Dame but he brings experience and a well rounded game to Knoxville.
4. Tulane WR Chris Brazzell II
Let’s fast forward a year. If you told me Brazzell was Tennessee’s best transfer addition it wouldn’t surprise me. If you told me Brazzell was six or seven on this list it wouldn’t surprise me.
A lot of that comes down to need. Tennessee had plenty of capable receivers on its roster but they needed a true No. 1 receiver. Is Brazzell that? He’s 6-foot-5, fast and caught 44 passes for 711 yards and five touchdowns as a redshirt freshman at Tulane last season. So the potential is there but there’s no guarantee.
5. MTSU S Jakobe Thomas
Tennessee was thin at safety last season and lost starters Jaylen McCollough (graduation) and Wesley Walker (transfer portal). So adding Thomas was important for Tennessee. The Tullahoma native has a lot of experience at MTSU where he totaled 71 tackles and five pass breakups last season.
But Thomas wasn’t elite at MTSU and it was in the Conference USA and not the SEC. That doesn’t mean he can’t be good but it does leave questions.
6. Temple DB Jaylen McMurray
McMurray brings two years of starting experience in the American Athletic Conference to Tennessee. He landed on the Freshman All-AAC team as a redshirt freshman in 2022 before totaling 38 tackles and four pass deflections last season.
The Maryland native is a corner first but has some versatility and is able to play safety as well. That makes the addition intriguing for Tennessee.
7. Stanford DT Jaxson Moi
Moi is probably a better player than the seventh best on this list. But Tennessee returns five of its six top defensive tackles from last season so the need for defensive tackles isn’t extremely high approaching the 2023 season.
But Moi has three years to play two seasons and the Vols will lose at least three of those defensive tackles following the 2024 season.
8. Alabama TE Miles Kitselman
Kitselman played one season at Hutchinson Community College before playing two seasons at Alabama. The tight end didn’t make a large impact on the field in Tuscaloosa, catching just two passes for 18 yards in his two seasons at Alabama.
Tennessee adding Staes makes this addition less important but he’ll compete with rising sophomore Ethan Davis for playing time and will provide depth at the very least.
