Tennessee football: Baylen Buchanan enters transfer portal
Another Tennessee football Volunteers player has entered the portal.
For the second straight day and the fifth time in just over a week, Tennessee football lost a player into the transfer portal. However, this one isn’t as unexpected or alarming as previous transfers given the overall situation.
Senior defensive back Baylen Buchanan announced Wednesday evening that he had decided to enter the transfer portal. Buchanan, is the fourth player from the Vols’ 2016 recruiting class to announce he’s entering the portal since Monday, Dec. 21.
Due to a spinal injury Buchanan hasn’t played for Tennessee football since 2018. However, the 5’11” 196-pound son of veteran NFL defensive back Ray Buchanan appeared in 32 games over his three years on Rocky Top. He announced his decision on Twitter.
Luv!! #Volnation 🧡🖤 pic.twitter.com/gLjjrhRNrf
— Baylen Buchanan (@TrueBuchanan) December 23, 2020
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Once a three-star recruit in Butch Jones’ 2016 recruiting class, Buchanan arrived with Nigel Warrior and was the first incoming freshman to have his helmet sticker removed that fall camp, a sign of picking up the schemes early. He then saw surprise action in the middle of the season after an injury to then veteran-cornerback Cam Sutton and helped UT to a 5-0 start.
In his only season as a full-time starter, 2018, Buchanan played cornerback, safety and nickel. He finished that year with four pass breakups, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, three tackles for a loss and 49 tackles overall, 31 of which were solo.
Just before the start of the 2019 season, it was revealed that Buchanan had spinal stenosis, a condition that involves the narrowing of the spine. He had to have surgery and miss all of that season due to the injury, and he then had to sit out this past season as well.
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Given everything that’s transpired, Buchanan’s decision to enter the portal is not as alarming as other players’ decisions. However, Tennessee football appears to have been losing players left and right, and it will be interesting to see how this develops going forward.