Four players that Tennessee football needs to focus on during the spring transfer window
In just two weeks, college football will experience chaos anew as the spring transfer portal opens and team rosters undergo significant reorganization. Tennessee football is one team that might be using the transfer portal quite a bit again.
At the beginning of the 2024 season, the Tennessee Volunteers will enter Year 4 of the Josh Heupel era. With Tennessee football placing in the final top 25 College Football Playoff rankings for the past two seasons, Heupel’s hiring has proven successful thus far. The Vols, on the other hand, are aiming to return to their best season from 2022, when they were ranked No. 1 in the nation and went 11-2 overall.
Tennessee football was listed as one of the top five teams Oregon State running back Damien Martinez intended to visit when it was initially announced that he was going to use the transfer portal. However, Martinez canceled his visit with the Vols less than a day after the announcement, according to Hayes Fawcett at On3.
The Vols could use some assistance with this spring transfer portal window as running back is undoubtedly a need. Tennessee has a number of inexperienced players at the position behind Dylan Sampson, the starter. Freshman Peyton Lewis won’t be prepared, and sophomore Cameron Seldon might miss the first few games of the season recovering from shoulder surgery.
Tennessee football could target one of their former backs who entered the portal, as Martinez is probably leaning toward Miami.
Citizen was one of Miami’s top additions in the class of 2022 and a former highly regarded four-star prospect. But up until the Hurricanes’ most recent spring game, Citizen had not seen much playing time due to a lower extremity injury sustained during that season’s fall camp. He’s a player with a lot of risk and reward.
That increases the likelihood of the seasoned Parrish running. He transferred from Ole Miss and has SEC experience, which is advantageous for him. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry while rushing for 1,242 yards and 10 touchdowns while at Miami.
In the winter transfer portal window, Tennessee football lost players in its defensive backfield. Fortunately, they still have starting safeties Andre Turrentine and Jakobe Thomas, as well as sophomore cornerbacks Rickey Gibson II and Jermod McCoy. But after that, depth becomes an issue.
Heupel and defensive coordinator Tim Banks seem to be making the right decision by adding depth to the defensive backfield, and Lejond Cavazos of North Carolina might be able to assist. Cavazos, who recently joined the portal, will be making his second career entry after initially transferring from Ohio State.
Given that Cavazos has experience playing safety and cornerback, he could be useful if healthy. Due to injuries, he only had one season of note (2022), during which he participated in 11 games and recorded 18 total tackles, one for a loss, and two pass deflections. Cavazos might be worth a look because depth is more of a need than a starting position.
Florida A&M interior offensive lineman Kardell Thomas
Is there ever a point at which an offensive line has enough depth? No, is the response. There are four interior linemen on the Vols roster at the moment who can rotate, but some of the team’s veteran players, like Cooper Mays and Andrej Karic, are questionable due to injuries. This justifies putting one or two more pieces on the line.
Kardell Thomas, an interior offensive lineman for Florida A&M, may be a viable option for the Vols. He may need some work in pass blocking, but at 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds, he is very strong and excels at run blocking, according to 247sports. However, Thomas might be a good option if you need more depth because there aren’t many offensive lineman options in the portal.
