Tennessee football TE puts name in transfer portal, outlet reports

The Tennessee football Volunteers tight end has entered the portal.

A week and a half ahead of the start of the season, another transfer could be happening. Despite playing a position where Tennessee football could have an opening for a starter, tight end Jackson Lowe may be looking elsewhere to continue his college career.

Patrick Brown of GoVols247 reported sources told the outlet Wednesday afternoon that the 6’4″ 245-pound redshirt freshman out of Georgia put his name in the transfer portal. Lowe, a graduate of Cartersville High School in Cartersville, Ga., is a member of the Vols’ in 2019 recruiting class.

With Lowe in the transfer portal, Austin Pope trying to get back from injury and Dominick Wood-Anderson gone, Tennessee football has more work cut out for it to find a rotation here. Add in the fact that Joe Osovet has replaced Brian Niedermeyr as tight ends coach, and there’s a bit of chaos.

Princeton Fant saw the most action last year, and Jordan Allen, once a four-star junior college transfer as an outside linebacker, converted to the tight end position in the offseason. Allen missed all of 2019 due to injury.

Other four-years guys specifically recruited by Pruitt include redshirt sophomore Jacob Warren and redshirt freshman Sean Brown. Both Warren and Brown saw action last year, despite Brown, another 2019 recruit, still taking a redshirt.

Lowe, a four-star on 247Sports and three-star on Rivals, was a higher-rated recruit than Brown, but he didn’t see any action last year. As a result, even with the new openings, it appeared as if he would be buried in the depth chart.

Jeremy Pruitt said in his opening press conference he wouldn’t shy away from using three tight ends if necessary, and last year he often used two, with Pope often lining up at fullback. We know Jim Chaney likes to incorporate them into the passing game.

As a result, with Lowe in the portal, Tennessee football needs other guys to step up to form the rotation. Pope is more of a blocking tight end anyway, so he’ll still need help when he returns. Before then, a couple guys need to step up among Allen, Fant, Warren and Brown.