The early assumption is that Tennessee football is going to stick with Dominick Wood-Anderson as its starting tight end. He’s their best receiving tight end, and Jim Chaney loves to incorporate that position into the passing game.
As a result, Wood-Anderson isn’t just a favorite to start. He’s an early candidate to have a breakout year, provided he can pick up just a few more blocking techniques to stay in games longer than he did last year.
His presence is why we have Jackson Lowe, a three-star early enrollee at tight end, so far down on this list. However, he is a bit higher than the other guys because that second tight end spot is also valuable, and he’s got a huge opportunity there by being an early enrollee, certainly more than Sean Brown, the other three-star tight end commitment who won’t arrive until the summer.
That position is now a bit thinner after the transfer of Eli Wolf, and nobody else is proven there outside of maybe Austin Pope, who lines up more in fullback situations anyway. As a result, the Vols may look for some help there in the spring, and that’s where Lowe comes in. But he almost certainly won’t win a starting job.