'25 Portal Thread

[VolByLaw]

They let the guys who left go because they know healthy guys like MM with almost 2 years on campus are better.

VQ hasn't said much about Webb, but they have implied that we wanted to keep Nimrod and Squirrel.

Don’t think the staff believed squirrel white was going to leave…

-AP

Is there a Vol WR that entered the portal that the staff wishes they would have kept?

Uhhh they really liked Nimrod.

-AP

 

[Ttucke11]

VQ hasn't said much about Webb, but they have implied that we wanted to keep Nimrod and Squirrel.

-AP

Is there a Vol WR that entered the portal that the staff wishes they would have kept?

-AP

Love the staff and thanks for the contributions from those guys. But if we don't have more talented players than Squirrel and Nimrod we have issues. Like 15-20 drops between the 2 this season.

 

[Legion of Doom]

Everyone panicking when portal opens up again in spring. We are fine. I think people are forgetting we oversigned and spent a good chunk of budget on our high school class.

 

[allvolrecruiting]

Because those players were older and more experienced vs young and inexperienced. Again, that’s how college football works. Young players come in, gain knowledge and experience, learn the system, get stronger, and replace the veterans who are moving on. I don’t know where this notion comes from that all freshmen should be starting year one or they are a bust.

Peyton Manning ran the offense in 97 and when he graduated it was automatically gonna be a step back the next year, until it wasn’t. You have to replace good/great players every year.

I don’t want my team relying on a bunch of freshman and sophomores. We saw it at LB this year. Carter is very talented, but he was out of position a lot because of inexperience. That isn’t ideal to me. Sprinkle in the young guys who are ready (they all develop differently) but rely on the upperclassmen.

You also have to remember, this roster is still transitioning from 3 star dominated to blue chippers. It’s a process no matter how badly we want it to be instant. Even with that we have been a to 10 team 2 of the last 3 years.

We’re getting there

- Chris Brazzell: redshirt junior
- Mike Matthews: sophomore
- Braylon Staley: redshirt freshman
- Amari Jefferson: redshirt freshman (missed freshman year to injury)
- Travis Smith Jr: freshman
- Radarious Jackson: freshman
- Joakim Dodson: freshman

 

[LaagerVol]

You are clueless!

yes, I’m the one that’s clueless lol

 

[LaagerVol]

Agree with your post and gave you a like. I enjoy discussing TN sports- love my Vols and contribute financially and attend holler games and some away, including Ohio state.

Maybe it’s not a fact but most agree we need more talent.



Also, your opinion, not mine, is better or worse than others.

I apologize if I came across as being too much of a smart Alec. I think we need more talent too, and I think we are getting there. I just think we were in a huge hole, were at a massive disadvantage in recruiting, and i didn’t expect the turn around to happen overnight. In fact I’m very impressed that we have improved as much as we have in such a short period of time.

So what I don’t understand is why some people think it’s as easy as throwing unlimited amounts of money at the problem and that we should already have the same talent level as osu and uga

 

[LaagerVol]

To highlight your point, and staying with the now defending National Champions, this is what they are returning next year with career production:
QB-Julian Sayin(SO)-5 of 12 for 84 yards and 1TD
RB-James Peoples(SO)-49 carries for 197 yards and 2 TDs
RB-CJ Donaldson(SR) 3* WV transfer-421 carries for 2,058 yards and 30 TDs
TE-Bennett Christian(SR)-2 catches for 61 yards and a TD
TE-Max Klare(JR) 4* Purdue transfer-73 catches for 881 yards and 4 TDs
WR-Jeremiah Smith(SO)-76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 TDs
WR-Carnell Tate(JR)-70 catches for 997 yards and 5 TDs
WR-Brandon Inniss(JR)-15 catches for 234 yards and 2 TDs
WR-Bryson Rodgers(JR)-5 catches for 46 yards and 0 TDs

All their other skill position players either have barely seen the field or have 0 career college snaps.

Yep, it’s the nature of college athletics

 

[EJVOL4LIFE]

I was told this AM we were fighting hard.

Report out we fell short. Let’s hang on and see if this ends up going through.

Well even though it wasn't the news I was hoping for, thank you. Always appreciate the updates and news you break to us on here at Volnation. Still believe we have the talent at WR to be good next year. Maybe we get someone in the spring, maybe not. But either way I believe we are gonna be fine.

 

[Enki_Amenra]

I get the need to add a “proven” WR to the mix but I honestly don’t get the gloom and doom surrounding the WR room as a whole. We have historically spread the ball around in this offense so having a target heavy #1 WR hardly makes sense. Outside of 2022 with Hyatt you typically will see our top 5 receivers between 200 and 900 yards. Granted those numbers can and should be better. I’d like to see our top 5 in the 400-1100 range.

However, our WR room is already really nice. Lots of young dudes with high ceilings and massive upside in speed and athleticism which is something we haven’t had since 2022. Matthews in limited action looked like an absolute freak. Staley will stretch the field. Brazzell is experienced and will be better with flyers around him. Then the haul of freshmen we have is excellent. Now add in Kitselman, Davis and the two freshmen tight end.

Our skill players are just young and inexperienced but there is nothing to doom post about. We’re flush with talent. Everyone needs to stop comparing young guys to generational talent like Williams and Smith. It’s exceedingly rare to have a freshman come in and look NFL ready out of the gate.

Edit: forgot about Boo. Electric athlete who can be a dynamic change of pace on offense.

Our top5 with 1,100 each? Yes sir! That would be awesome

 

[LaagerVol]

- Chris Brazzell: redshirt junior
- Mike Matthews: sophomore
- Braylon Staley: redshirt freshman
- Amari Jefferson: redshirt freshman (missed freshman year to injury)
- Travis Smith Jr: freshman
- Radarious Jackson: freshman
- Joakim Dodson: freshman

Very fair point. Roster building is a process.

 

[Dadof2Vols]

Love the staff and thanks for the contributions from those guys. But if we don't have more talented players than Squirrel and Nimrod we have issues. Like 15-20 drops between the 2 this season.

I believe Hyatt was a drop machine before he dedicated his self over the summer…

 

[marcusluvsvols]

I think we are good for next season. Honestly rather see us save the money and go all out a year from now...because Nico will be back for his 3rd and final season as QB1 and we can make a run at a Title. Oregon should be the Ohios Taint of next year...they have back to back top3 classes loaded with 5* guys and probably the highest payroll in football for 2025. We will be too young to deal with them next season IMO. 2026 we will be the best team in the SEC in my opinion. GBO

 

[VolGee4]

Love the staff and thanks for the contributions from those guys. But if we don't have more talented players than Squirrel and Nimrod we have issues. Like 15-20 drops between the 2 this season.

Squirrel was fine. He was injured this year. He made incredible catches his first 2 years, so we know he can catch.

 

[Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va]

I think we are good for next season. Honestly rather see us save the money and go all out a year from now...because Nico will be back for his 3rd and final season as QB1 and we can make a run at a Title. Oregon should be the Ohios Taint of next year...they have back to back top3 classes loaded with 5* guys and probably the highest payroll in football for 2025. We will be too young to deal with them next season IMO. 2026 we will be the best team in the SEC in my opinion. GBO

I think it is optimistic to think Nico sticks around after next year. Either he heads to the NFL, or he transfers. The reasoning is if he isn’t good enough to get into the NFL next year, then he will probably want to go to a different staff and conference to build tape elsewhere. Or he never realized his potential and runs out of his ramp here and isn’t worth it.

The days of good players sticking at one school for their whole career are nearly over. Think about Will Howard (KSU), Cam Ward (Incarnate and WSU) and other top QBs this year. I think Cade Klubnik is one of the few multi year starters who is sticking with his original school. There are probably more examples but he came to mind.

 

[orangemadam]

- Chris Brazzell: redshirt junior
- Mike Matthews: sophomore
- Braylon Staley: redshirt freshman
- Amari Jefferson: redshirt freshman (missed freshman year to injury)
- Travis Smith Jr: freshman
- Radarious Jackson: freshman
- Joakim Dodson: freshman

surprising list

only 2 players that aren't freshman?

 

[Weezer]

One takeaway from the Tate pursuit…and this was according to our insiders…they went after Tate because he was the only one in the portal who fit the description of “immediate star.”

IOW, the staff didn’t want another body. They went after Tate because he was the only one who would’ve really made the room better. THAT IS A GOOD THING. No, we didn’t get him. But we weren't looking for a depth piece or a “pretty good” WR because the guys we have are seen by this staff as better than that.

Not sure if entirely accurate. At one point, I believe AP said something to suggest that we would have gone after some of the WRs who were in the portal early if we had known so many of our own were going to hit the portal. Now, after those WRs were gone, I do believe it became Tate or bust. In the end, we have who we have. We'll see how the Spring portal and next season play out. That will tell us if our strategy was good or not.

 

[Volnukem]

Good post. Agree with all. Except Bru can’t come back. There is no slim chance, he’s done.

Naw he could. He falls under the Cam Rising ruling. The coaches didn’t want him back.

 

[EJVOL4LIFE]

Just thought about this, especially for all the Nega Vols out there, we just ended the season ranked in the Top 25 for the 3rd straight year!!! Believe it or not, the last time we finished ranked in the Top 25 three years in a row was 97', 98', and 99'. Fulmer was still our coach back then. So that just shows what Heupel has truly done in just the 4 years that he has been at the helm. So besides his first year as Tennessee's Head Coach, Josh Heupel has done something at Tennessee that hasn't been done in 25 years and not been done by a head coach since National Championship Head Coach Phillip Fulmer. We have been through several coaches during that span and only Coach Heupel has achieved this feat. So I believe we will be just fine here on Rocky Top.

 

[Volfan_1999]

Squirrel was fine. He was injured this year. He made incredible catches his first 2 years, so we know he can catch

That wasn't the big issue, it's what came after the catch and his inability to run straight with the ball in his hands

 

[Enki_Amenra]

I think it is optimistic to think Nico sticks around after next year. Either he heads to the NFL, or he transfers. The reasoning is if he isn’t good enough to get into the NFL next year, then he will probably want to go to a different staff and conference to build tape elsewhere. Or he never realized his potential and runs out of his ramp here and isn’t worth it.

The days of good players sticking at one school for their whole career are nearly over. Think about Will Howard (KSU), Cam Ward (Incarnate and WSU) and other top QBs this year. I think Cade Klubnik is one of the few multi year starters who is sticking with his original school. There are probably more examples but he came to mind.

If Nico has a bad year, he isn't transferring. He will earn quite a bit if he stays. If he has a bad year, who is gonna pay him more to transfer? . . unless one of our new QB's gets the nod over him.

 

[Weezer]

Also, the "competing for championships" phrase that many tout seems to be misspoken. Apparently, they mean "winning national championships", since we were in the playoffs this year. Acting like UT is mud puddle water compared to everyone else is disingenuous. Acting like win-it-all-or-it's-a-failure is a recipe for misery.

We are four years out from everyone--fans and national perspective alike--figuring the program was on its last breath, teetering over its own grave. So soon after, with a remarkably successful rebuild, we have a Band of Entitled Misery acting like we're still swirling the drain.

We need to be competing for the SEC championship. If you can win that, you'll have a shot at the big one. But winning the conference should a goal every year. Not saying it should happen every year, but it should be a goal.

 

[Weezer]

This is the guard I referred to who would be here after CFP. If everyone can hold hands and look away from the worry circle, I think you’ll be happy with how this shakes out. It’s going to come in waves based on timing for various players. We are in great shape for getting an impressive WR, G/C, and hopefully a Safety. Depending on whether evaluations lead to others leaving after Spring, there are others we’re talking to.

Still hoping on a Safety?

 

[GVol1966]

How did we miss on Tate? He never entered the portal

According to “insiders” we were trying to get him to , so I would say we missed because he didn’t.

 

[Checker_the_Shire]

According to “insiders” we were trying to get him to , so I would say we missed because he didn’t.

What insiders? Just curious because I never saw someone point directly to Tate. I saw people who said we’d try for a strong WR or we have a “splash” coming, but no one directly said nor hinted it was Tate.

 

[VolByLaw]

What insiders? Just curious because I never saw someone point directly to Tate. I saw people who said we’d try for a strong WR or we have a “splash” coming, but no one directly said nor hinted it was Tate.

AP referred to Carnell Tate by name in multiple posts that didn't make it over here.