Not everybody is deciding to stick around and savor Tennessee's first 11-win season in more than two decades.
Three offensive reserves for the Volunteers — sophomore receiver Walker Merrill, redshirt freshman tackle William Parker and redshirt sophomore tackle RJ Perry — have entered the NCAA transfer portal this week, with Merrill and Perry submitting their names Wednesday.
The trio combined for just 135 offensive snaps all season.
Merrill played 55 offensive snaps in seven games and made the most of them, racking up eight receptions for 116 yards and three touchdowns. The former ESPN and Rivals.com four-star signee out of Brentwood High School near Nashville scored against Ball State, Akron and Vanderbilt, but the 6-foot-1, 195-pounder didn't play a single offensive snap in Friday night's 31-14 downing of Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
The Vols defeated the Tigers despite not having receivers Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman due to opt-out decisions.
Merrill's exit leaves Tennessee with only one of its top-10 signees — current sophomore defensive back De'Shawn Rucker — from the 2021 recruiting cycle, which transpired in the final months of Jeremy Pruitt's tenure as coach.
Perry appeared in all 13 contests as a member of Tennessee's field-goal and extra-point teams but had only 65 snaps in seven games offensively. The 6-6, 325-pound former three-star recruit out of Fairfield, Alabama, signed with the Vols in 2020 as a defensive lineman but quickly moved to offense, and he played 10 snaps at tackle in 2021.
Parker wound up playing 25 snaps in four games over two seasons, with those appearances against Tennessee Tech, South Alabama, Ball State and UT Martin. The 6-5, 310-pounder was a consensus three-star signee in 2021 out of Nashville's Pearl-Cohn High School.
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Fifth-year senior tight end Jacob Warren announced Wednesday that he will use the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility due to the coronavirus outbreak and return for a sixth season.
The 6-6, 250-pounder from Knoxville had 12 receptions for 163 yards this season.
“Being a hometown kid, playing at this university has been a dream of mine since I was little, and I am beyond blessed that I have had this opportunity to fulfill that dream,” Warren posted on social media. “However, I believe there is more to prove in this chapter of my life.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.
Updated with more information at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2023.