It was a rough day for Tennessee football when it comes to the transfer portal. This is par for the course in the college game now, and it’s nowhere near as bad as it was last year for the Vols, but they did see three players enter the portal Thursday.
Long snapper Will Albright was the first one to get things going. After spending time working with the linebackers this past year, the 2020 commitment entered the portal that morning, according to a report from Patrick Brown of GoVols247.
Two key players later in the afternoon followed Albright’s decision, and there reports were 10 minutes apart. Running back Dee Beckwith first entered the portal. Defensive end Tyler Baron followed. Matt Zenitz of On3 tweeted out the news of both players.
Tennessee running back Dee Beckwith has entered the transfer portal, @on3sports has learnedhttps://t.co/St4ensmRGU
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 6, 2022
Tennessee defensive lineman Tyler Baron has entered the transfer portal, @on3sports has learned.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 6, 2022
Former four-star recruit who had 30 tackles and four sacks this year.https://t.co/St4ensmRGU
None of these losses are too much of a concern for Tennessee football. Baron is easily the most notable loss. An in-state four-star edge in the 2020 class, he was a rising star as a true freshman. After starting the first five games of 2021, all signs pointed to him living up to that star potential.
However, the emergence of junior college transfer Byron Young, who wasn’t eligible early in the season, saw Baron take more of a back seat. By the end of the year, Baron finished with just 30 total tackles, eight of which were solo, seven tackles for a loss and a pass deflection.
Despite playing two fewer games, Young had 46 total tackles, 20 of which were solo, five and a half sacks, 11.5 tackles for a loss, two pass deflections and an interception. Even more importantly, Roman Harrison began to match Baron’s productivity. He finished the year with 33 tackles, 18 of which were solo, three and a half tackles for a loss and a sack.
Harrison and Young are more than enough to offset Baron. Tim Banks has plenty to work with here, and Baron likely wanted to go somewhere he would see a larger role. He did commit to play edge rusher in a 3-4 scheme after all, so nobody can blame him for this move given Young’s emergence. Add in two edge rushers committed for 2022, and UT is fine.
Beyond Baron, Dee Beckwith is another guy Tennessee football can afford to lose. Beckwith was competing with Tee Hodge and Len’Neth Whitehead at the beginning of the year to see who would be the Vols’ power back. White head clearly became the guy to own that role late, as he finished the year with 32 carries for 207 yards and two touchdowns.
Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright are both returning, so Josh Heupel already has his three-back set. With two more running backs committed in 2022, the Vols will be fine. They don’t have to use a power back if they can’t given their situation, but they only truly need one.
Finally, we come to Albright. Now, a long snapper is nothing to overlook. That’s a huge part of the kicking game, which can be a big advantage, and Albright was a highly touted snapper in 2020. However, Matthew Salansky really hasn’t lost that job amidst Albright’s emergence.
Simply put, Tennessee football is going to lose some players in the portal, and they will even lose some productive ones. That has to be expected going forward given the nature of the sport. However, none of these guys are crucial to what the Vols want to do. Baron was obviously the standout of them, but UT will be fine with Young.