Why Tennessee Football NEEDS to Get a Transfer Portal QB

This is why the Tennessee Volunteers need to go after a transfer portal QB.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel after a NCAA football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Oklahoma Sooners at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on November 1, 2025. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Tennessee Volunteers have been one of the many teams that have a bright future, thanks to how their roster has looked. The Vols had a very young roster this season, and they will have one of the younger rosters in the SEC again come next season, as 49.5% of their overall roster were freshmen.

The Tennessee Volunteers have done a solid job when it comes to building their talent up, which is exactly what they hoped for, but many positions were at a standstill during the preseason. One of the positions being the QB position, as they were unsure who their QB would be after Nico Iamaleava entered his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal during the spring.

They then added Joey Aguilar to play QB for them. Aguilar finished his first and final regular season with the Vols (assuming he won't be given the chance to play another season in his court case against the NCAA). This puts Tennessee back into a unique spot, as they will now have to play a new QB as their starter, but they only have two options at this moment after Jake Merklinger announced that he is planning to enter the college football transfer portal.

Why Tennessee Needs to Get a Portal QB

Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyre (15) throws the ball before a NCAA football game between Tennessee and Georgia at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, on September 13, 2025. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Those two QBs are Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre. This puts Tennessee in a tough position, as it seems as if they must land a portal QB because of the numbers they have at the position. The Vols only having two QBs at the position is playing with fire, especially when you have two guys who are younger. The Vols have been known to have at least three QBs on the roster every season just to be safe, and it seems that this is likely the case yet again.

The amount of players at the position is important because these players will be taking more hits than almost anyone on the roster because of the nature of the beast. If they only kept two QBs and one goes down with an injury, then you are in a very vulnerable position if you are the Vols.

While it seems to be a must for the Tennessee program to add another QB from the portal (assuming Aguilar can't return), the real question will be who? This will be something to monitor as the one and only portal will officially begin on January 2nd and go through the 16th.

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