Vols had 35 guys transfer out since September of 2020. And replaced them with 10 inbound transfers. If it wasn’t for the Covid year super SRs the Vols wouldn’t be able to fill out a team. As it is we are still down an entire recruiting class (25) guys and have 21 SRs in the 2 deep.
UT is down 14 scholarship players and again... all from the development years.
And so what if they were "saved" by the Covid Super Srs... that doesn't change the talent LEFT ON THE ROSTER. You don't play with or worry about the guys who are gone. You coach and field the team you have. According to 247's composite... UT is 7th in the SEC... not last... not close to last. UT has 29 total 4/5* players. USCe has 23. Ole Miss has 20. UK has 21. MU has 9. Vandy has 5.
You can argue ifs, buts, and caveats but UT is not currently a depleted roster with no one to enable good coaching to field a competitive team.
Even if half the SRs are able to come back (10) and no one leaves early we are still barely breaking even on the roster.
Unless my math failed me, if all the guys listed here recently as Srs leave UT will have 81 scholarship players if they use all 25 scholarships available. I don't know all the rules but UT may be able to back count some guys after taking only 17 last class.
The key is the portal. Heupel has to win there. The more he wins THIS YEAR WITH THIS ROSTER the better his case is to portal players.
So instead of being down “3” contributors we are really closer to 10 minimum despite the incoming transfers.
You haven't shown that. You didn't even deal with the point that 8 of the missing players would have been true Fr unlikely to contribute at all.
Another way to look at it is that a "normal" program would lose 20-25 players per year to graduation and transfer even under the old rules. That would make UT's 35 ten more than "normal"... again 8 are missing Fr... leaving you two guys who might contribute.
These guys go 3 deep at DL. They go 3 deep at rush end. They go 2.5 deep at DB. They go 2 deep plus guys developing at RB. They have 6 guys who can play at WR and 2 at TE. They have 3 guys they're willing to play at QB... and according to Heupel "feel good about". The OL has 14 or 15 scholarship "bodies". That's about what a team will normally carry. They're developing more depth as the season goes on.
So 10 out of a 44 2 deep is almost a quarter of your contributors.
Except that's simply not true. Not counting guys who left football, were disciplined, went pro, or ran out of eligibility... who left who is clearly better than the person who fills that spot now?
RB? Neither Gray nor Chandler is better than Evans. They might compete with Small but Small was passing Chandler last year.
QB? Nope.
OL? Jahmir Johnson would be nice to have. Morris never played like a 5* for UT... now he's a back up for OU. Wright who the last staff kind of wrote off as a LT... is playing better each week. Probably should have been there from the start.
TE?
WR?
DL?
DE?
Secondary?
At LB you have Henry T but what did Crouch ever do at UT that was better than Banks is playing right now?
And it really shows up with the Oline
Yet they "patched together" an OL that just set a UT rushing record... right? And no, MU isn't a great D... but they aren't close to the worst D UT has played even in this very season.
Who? Who was lost through the portal who would be helping the secondary right now? It could get pretty scary next year... but I've seen UT secondaries that were both less talented AND thinner. And looking around at the teams UT is expected to compete with this year... I don't see better two deeps.
Granted Heupel and his staff have worked a miracle transformation with this program, and they deserve all the respect in the world for pulling it off so far but realize that depth this year and likely for the next 3 years moving forward is and will be an issue.
Talent is an issue in spots now. They've managed around it often. They're developing guys. But that pretty much is what it is. If they get the most they can out of the roster then that's a big win.
Moving forward, they have to be great in the portal for the next two years. Winning and generating buzz in the media and confidence around the program will help that a lot.
HS recruiting is a different animal for a lot of reasons. They need the NCAA stuff resolved. That will help. They need to convince better players to come to UT in a highly competitive environment.
I think Heupel realized from the start that there are no excuses or "Year Zero" passes. He has to put a product on the field that sells what he's doing.[/quote]
