Former Tennessee Vols defender named one of the most underrated transfer players of the offseason

A former Tennessee Vols defender was named this week by 247Sports as one of the most overlooked/underrated transfer players of the offseason. 

247Sports included former Vols linebacker Elijah Herring among their most overlooked transfer players of the 2024 offseason. 

Herring transferred to Memphis earlier this month after entering the NCAA transfer portal during the spring window. 

From 247Sports: Since Tennessee has a returning starter at his position who missed most of the 2023 season with an injury, former Vols linebacker Elijah Herring elected to portal and made the short trek to Memphis, where he's a guaranteed immediate impact addition. Herring was Tennessee's leading tackler last fall after being thrust into a first-team role in September. Per GoVols247, Herring had several Power 4 programs interested in him, but chose the Tigers of the American Athletic Conference. He reportedly took a visit to Colorado, and among the other teams to offer or express interest in him were Kansas State, Virginia Tech, Miami, NC State and Illinois. Herring has two seasons of eligibility left.

I'm not sure "underrated" is the word I'd use to describe Herring. 

The former three-star recruit stepped up for the Vols last season after starting linebacker Keenan Pili suffered a season-ending injury in Tennessee's season-opening win against the Virginia Cavaliers. 

Herring led the Volunteers in tackles last season, totaling 80 while filling in for Pili, but he also had some obvious deficiencies in his game that Tennessee had to overcome at times. 

The Georgia native struggled in pass coverage last season and his lack of sideline to sideline speed was obvious during SEC matchups. 

Tennessee is losing quality depth with Herring transferring to Memphis, but they're not losing a player that was expected to be a revelation coming off the bench. 

The Vols have built enough depth at linebacker that the loss of Herring shouldn't have much of an impact (if any) on Tennessee in 2024.