Tennessee football: Ranking every player who transferred from Vols by 2021 performance
Pick Analysis. 10. 815. Scouting Report. Running back. Oklahoma Sooners. Eric Gray. player
78 carries, 412 yards; 23 catches, 229 yards; 4 total TDs
- Junior
- 5’9″ 206 pounds
- Entered portal Jan. 20, 2021
One of the biggest gut punches to Tennessee football in the transfer portal was Eric Gray leaving. He left after Jeremy Pruitt was fired but before Josh Heupel was hired, and Pruitt’s firing was directly tied to Gray, as Gray was the most prominent name that popped up in the reports on the NCAA investigation into the program for improper benefits.
After breaking out down the stretch of 2019, Gray was the Vols’ top offensive producer in 2020. Once a four-star out of Memphis he was a speedy running back and averaged 114 yards from scrimmage per game in the dismal 2020 season.
Joining a cast of players transferring to the Oklahoma Sooners, though, Gray saw his production decrease this past year. He had just two touchdowns rushing after scoring three in one game as a freshman at UT, and he had more rushing yards each of his two years with the Vols than he did this year with OU.
Of course, Gray still has two years’ eligibility left, and with Brent Venables coming in, things could change for him going forward. However, the success of Jabari Small and the reduction in productivity by Gray made his loss not as severe as it seemed it would be initially.