Tennessee football: DB who entered transfer portal last summer returns

Shawn Shamburger may have re-entered the transfer portal, but Tennessee football may have somewhat offset his departure. The Vols got a pleasant surprise with the return of another defensive back around the same time that news broke.

Brandon Davis, who entered the transfer portal last July, has returned to Rocky Top. Once a two-star commitment on Rivals to Jeremy Pruitt’s first class out of Louisiana, Davis was with the Vols in 2018 and 2019.

After entering the portal last summer, the 5’10” 160-pound product of John Curtis High School in River Ridge, La., just outside of New Orleans, didn’t play last year. He announced his decision to return to Tennessee football on Twitter.

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The story of Davis is an odd one. His transfer last summer came four months after he was reportedly shot in the leg. Knoxville Police initially thought he shot himself in the leg, which he denied, and it turned out he was telling the truth, according to a report last month.

However, that same report said police believed a teammate accidentally shot him. Regardless, with little to go on, the case was closed in early January of this past year. Davis tweeted out a highlight video last week that begins with addressing the incident, which you can see by clicking here. He then tweeted just yesterday that his recruitment was still open.

Moving past all of that, it’s hard to know what to make of Davis’ return, as we have no way of knowing what value he provides. After not playing in 2018, he only played one game in 2019, against the UAB Blazers, and he didn’t pick up any stats.

Still, given all the questions surrounding UT in the secondary right now, a guy like Davis is definitely a welcome addition. After all, the departures of Shamburger and Bryce Thompson, who left early for the NFL Draft, leave a lot of voids to be filled.

Say what you want about Pruitt, but coaching defensive backs is his speciality, and he saw a lot of value in Davis. This guy appears to be somebody who was overlooked and has a ton of potential, and with Tim Banks’ 4-3 scheme more heavily based in nickel and likely to run more defensive backs, it’s easy to see Davis logging more action this year.

Given the fact that he redshirted in 2018, Davis will have three years of eligibility at least with Tennessee football. Heupel and Banks will likely welcome all the defensive backs they can get on this roster, so Davis’ addition definitely won’t hurt.