Two Vols Leaving Program

Butch Jones confirmed on Monday, during his first media appearance of Tennessee’s bowl week, that sophomore defensive end Jaylen Miller and true freshman defensive back D’Andre Payne will both be transferring.

Miller was part of Jones’ first signing class in 2013. The Gaffney, SC native was rated as a three-star defensive end coming out of high school. Miller appeared in 12 career games for the Volunteers (9 in 2014 and 3 in 2013), accumulating five total tackles during that span.

Payne was rated as a four-star recruit coming out of Woodson High School in Washington D.C. He appeared in eight games this past season and finished his Vol career with four total tackles.

In Miller’s case it is most likely lack of playing time and opportunity that is leading to his departure. With the emergence of Derek Barnett, combined with Curt Maggitt’s move to defensive end, there weren’t going to be a lot of opportunities for Miller to make an impact.

Payne’s departure is a bit more perplexing, at least on the surface. He obviously wasn’t at the top of the depth chart, but there’s no doubt that he would’ve received an opportunity to make an impact, especially with Michael Williams unlikely to return to the program.

At the end of the day, these two losses aren’t major issues for the Vols. You never like to lose depth, but it’s not something that should affect the team in 2015.