Tennessee football: Which RB entering portal will Vols miss more?

Much more shocking than losing Jimmy Calloway and Jimmy Holiday to the transfer portal, Tennessee football also lost two running backs. One was the only player who fit the profile of a type of running back they need for next year, and the other was among the most high-profile recruits in the Vols’ 2022 class.

Len’Neth Whitehead and Justin Williams-Thomas are both entering the transfer portal, according to Matt Zenitz of On3. Shockingly, there was a clear role for both of them on UT’s roster heading towards the future, even if one of them would have to wait a bit longer.

Williams-Thomas was a four-star back across the board who signed with Tennessee football in 2022. He had 11 carries for 37 yards on the year but was still a work in progress for most of the season. At 6’0″ 210 pounds already, he had the potential to be the main feature back after Jabari Small left.

Meanwhile, Whitehead is a clear-cut power back. At 6’2″ 220 pounds, he had 32 carries for 207 yards, averaging over six yards a carry, and two touchdowns in 2021 as he emerged late. However, he missed all of this year due to injury, and Princeton Fant took over his role.

With Fant gone next year, it was assumed that Whitehead was going to reprise his role as the power back on short-yardage plays. Taking all of this into account, both of these running backs are bigger losses than Calloway or Holiday are. Who is a bigger loss, though?

Well, it depends on what you’re looking at. If the question is just for next year, Whitehead is the bigger loss. Fant’s departure once again leaves no returning power backs with Whitehead in the portal. Now, the Vols do have a power back in Khalifa Keith as a member of their 2022 recruiting class, but they have no depth there.

On the other hand, for the future, Williams-Thomas is a bigger loss. Again, Tennessee football had a chance at a feature back after Small. Sure, Jaylen Wright and Dylan Sampson are still there, but those are big-play all-purpose backs. Another back needs to be among them.

Sampson developed more than Williams-Thomas this year, as both were true freshmen, and he’s got a bright future with Rocky Top, but more help is needed after Small. With Williams-Thomas entering the portal, Josh Heupel will have to look for another feature back.

Now, to be fair, he doesn’t have to do it this year, but if he doesn’t, then he’ll probably need an immediate transfer next year. If Small gets hurt in 2023, though, it’s still a problem, as there’s no true feature back at that point to shoulder the load.

Taking that into account, Williams-Thomas is probably a bigger loss overall, as Tennessee football could have potentially used him for next year and would have needed him years after that. Whitehead is needed for next year, but with Keith coming in, they already have a power back for the future and could add another one.