Why Josh Heupel sounds open to Tennessee football adding receiver from transfer portal (2025)

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Minor injuries in spring hint at attrition in 2025 season Josh Heupel: 'It's hard to keep everybody happy' Transfer or not, freshmen will factor into rotation Boo Carter could be X-factor if he can juggle dual role References

The transfer portal opens April 16, and Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel sounds at least mildly interested in adding a wide receiver.

Heupel likes his talent at receiver, but depth could be a concern.

UT has only six receivers on scholarship in spring practice, and some of them are injured. A seventh receiver, freshman Joakim Dodson, will join the group this summer. And defensive back/punt returner Boo Carter is getting reps as a situational receiver.

Heupel didn’t fully endorse the idea of adding more receivers. But he certainly didn’t dismiss it either.

“We had some guys that departed through the transfer portal. It’s hard to keep everybody happy at that position,” Heupel said on Monday. “I love the group that we’ve got. As a staff, you always evaluate where you’re at. On the back end of spring ball, we’ll certainly do that.”

UT will finish spring practice with its Orange and White Spring Game at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Minor injuries in spring hint at attrition in 2025 season

Heupel’s perspective is timely.

Josh Heupel: 'It's hard to keep everybody happy'

UT’s numbers are down because four scholarship receivers transferred during the winter portal window: Squirrel White (Florida State), Nathan Leacock (Purdue), Chas Nimrod (South Florida) and Kaleb Webb (Maryland). Walk-on Nate Spillman also transferred to Charlotte, further thinning the group.

White was a starter, but the others were reserves being passed on the depth chart by younger players.

As Heupel acknowledged, “It’s hard to keep everybody happy at that position.”

UT was in the market for receivers during the winter portal window, but it never added any. The spring portal will be open April 16-25, but there could be few impact players available as teams finish up spring practice.

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Transfer or not, freshmen will factor into rotation

Regardless of whether UT adds a transfer receiver, at least one freshman should factor in the rotation. And injuries during the season could increase contributions from freshmen.

Smith, a former four-star recruit, appeared to take a slight lead after his impressive performance in the first intrasquad scrimmage. But that competition could extend through preseason practice in August and perhaps the early part of the season.

Recent history suggests the Vols need at least a half-dozen receivers to catch passes from quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Right now, that’s all they have.

“Ultimately, it’s always about the guys in the room,” Heupel said. “I do really like the guys that we’ve got in there – how they work, how they compete, how they’re trying to grow. That’s on the practice field and outside of it. I like what they’ve done through the course of spring ball too.”

Why Josh Heupel sounds open to Tennessee football adding receiver from transfer portal (1)

Boo Carter could be X-factor if he can juggle dual role

Brazzell, a 2024 Tulane transfer, is the most experienced of the group, catching 29 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns last season. Matthews, a former five-star recruit, had seven catches for 90 yards and two TDs. Staley had three catches for 21 yards.

No other scholarship receiver on UT’s roster has a reception in their college career.

However, Carter could provide a spark to the unit as he tries to divide his time between starting nickelback, punt returner and receiver.

“We’re intentional in what positions we’re putting him in during the course of practice and today in the scrimmage,” Heupel said. “He’s worked hard. And you can look at him as a punt returner to see his skillset. When he has the ball in his hands, he’s got the chance of being a dynamic playmaker.”

The combination of Matthews, Carter and others could solve UT’s talent gap, which hindered the receiving corps last season. But the potential depth problem must be addressed either by every freshman playing immediately or adding a transfer from the portal.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Tennessee football could get wide receiver from transfer portal