Len'Neth Whitehead and Justin Williams-Thomas portal bound

[West Vol]

There used to be an old adage at Tennessee…”If you stay, you’ll play”…many running backs waited their turn. This sucks

JWT was only here a year. Hard to cry too hard for him. Whitehead probably should have given linebacker a go.

 

[posivol]

holliday hitting the potal as well.

 

[VolMarine1371]

SIAP.

Figured this was coming with Small, Wright and Sampson returning.

 

[allvol123]

Making room I assume.

 

[Tenacjim]

Whitehead is injured. Remember he got hurt in the Spring I believe.

He’s always been hurt. He’ll trip and get hurt entering the portal….

 

[VOLfrombama]

If they don’t want to be here and earn their keep, then good luck and godspeed.

 

[a vol n tears]

Just got a commitment a couple of days ago from a bigger back. Was actually one of Ky’s biggest gets but decided to come to Tenn.

 

[first time caller]

I heard on a radio show their could be close to 1200 players to enter the portal. Seems like a lot of impatience.

 

[PowerT4me]

There used to be an old adage at Tennessee…”If you stay, you’ll play”…many running backs waited their turn. This sucks

Travis Stephens immediately comes to mind. What a year he had after sitting out the year before.

 

[bigorangepoppa]

He’s always been hurt. He’ll trip and get hurt entering the portal….

COLD! But funny.

 

[OrangeTsar]

An experienced big back would fill a need right away, as none of our returning three fit that mold, and we need a big power back. The kid who committed will be a freshman. We don't want to depend on a freshman.

Yup, we will not have Fant to line up for power runs on short yardage anymore. Those were some of my favorite highlights this season. The man was a beast

 

[OrangeTsar]

Why not depend on a Freshman RB? There has been many times in the Vols history that they depended on a Freshman RB

Sampson sure came through every time we needed him to this season

 

[625 Gibbs Hall]

Why not depend on a Freshman RB? There has been many times in the Vols history that they depended on a Freshman RB

Not until we had already lost a huge SEC rival game (florida). -- Jamal Lewis and Chuck Webb

 

[RDU VOL#14]

There used to be an old adage at Tennessee…”If you stay, you’ll play”…many running backs waited their turn. This sucks

We once had a running back room of Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and Travis Stephens. Seems like that would never happen now.

 

[DaddyChad]

Whitehead should have considered shifting to LB - we were very thin over there.

It’s odd that he never wanted to play there. He was a four star LBer coming out of high school.

 

[DaddyChad]

If they don’t want to be here and earn their keep, then good luck and godspeed.

Idk that earning their keep was an issue. They were never going to play here significant time. Whitehead has a history of being nicked up.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

There used to be an old adage at Tennessee…”If you stay, you’ll play”…many running backs waited their turn. This sucks

He was probably 4th string and all the guys ahead of him have at least 2-3 years of eligibility left, so I don't know if that's true.

Whitehead really ought to shift to LB. He'd have a much better shot.

 

[VOLfrombama]

Idk that earning their keep was an issue. They were never going to play here significant time. Whitehead has a history of being nicked up.

I get that with Whitehead. But JWT was here less than a year, so he really didn't try imo.

 

[Fullfillmer]

It’s odd that he never wanted to play there. He was a four star LBer coming out of high school.

I find it strange as well - I liked him, he had good size but seemed to lack shiftiness and the great cutting ability that you often find in rb's. He just looked and played more like a lb playing rb.
Personal preference I understand, but there are guys playing in the NFL that happily changed positions. Oh well.

 

[rdk4121]

Add miles Campbell to the list as well of portal bound players.

 

[WilcoVolsFan]

Add miles Campbell to the list as well of portal bound players.

This quote, Holy Shnike!!

“Miles was physically as ready a freshman as I’ve ever had the pleasure to coach” Vols offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Alex Golesh said in August. “He’s had to continue to grow up and figure out what it is to play hard every snap, what it is to prepare for a game week. That’s the challenge to him, and when he’s ready to do so, he’ll have a chance to be a really, really good player in this offense, because he can do every single part of what we want.”

I guess he didn't want to go the Jalin Hyatt route of preparing in the off-season so he'd be in a position to be called on when the games were played. Too bad, going to be a real need and minutes to be had in the position, playing for an OC that has historically loved throwing the ball to TEs.

 

[Sarms58]

I thought Whitehead left after last season?

He was hurt (in August I believe) and missed the season. He was our only real big back but I guess he saw greener pastures elsewhere. Can’t fault him for that - these guys have to do what is in their best interests.

 

[Sarms58]

Dylan Sampson is a big back?

Yea, he was 5’9” 180 pounds when we signed him - huge!

 

[GordonC]

I thought Whitehead left after last season?

You're probably thinking of Dee Beckwith, who wound up at Kentucky.

 

[a vol n tears]

We once had a running back room of Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and Travis Stephens. Seems like that would never happen now.

How about James Stewart, Aaron Hayden, and Charlie Garner all on the same team.
All excellent NFL guys.