Tennessee football: Five reasons to not panic over three elite QBs going elsewhere

1. There are other quarterbacks on the Vols’ roster.

Sure, J.T. Shrout and Jarrett Guarantano transferred out of the program, although Guarantano wouldn’t have been on Rocky Top past 2021 anyway. Tennessee football still has a solid collection of quarterbacks in the room.

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There’s a chance that Virginia Tech Hokies graduate transfer quarterback Hendon Hooker will be available in 2022 despite being a senior this year. It’s not totally clear what the NCAA ruling would be on that, but if he didn’t use up a year of eligibility by playing this past year, he should be in the clear. Hooker is one experienced prospect who could be on there.

However, Harrison Bailey, Brian Maurer and Kaidon Salter will all certainly be available in 2022. Maurer has starting experience for UT as a true freshman in 2019. He didn’t play as much this past year, but everybody saw he has plenty of moxie.

Bailey started down the stretch of last season as a freshman, and don’t forget that he was a five-start drop-back passer in the Vols’ 2020 recruiting class. Salter, meanwhile, is a four-star dual-threat signee in UT’s 2021 recruiting class and an early enrollee out of Texas. All signs point to an epic future battle between him and Bailey.

Simply put, Tennessee football has some talent at quarterback for the future regardless of what Josh Heupel and Joey Halzle do on the recruiting trail. If they are as good at securing talent as their hype indicates, there’s no reason the Vols shouldn’t be fine at the position for years to come with the players they already have.