Published Dec 26, 2023
Tennessee and Iowa's transfers, opt-outs and injuries for the Citrus Bowl
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Ryan Sylvia  •  VolReport
Assistant Managing Editor
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@RyanTSylvia

The Citrus Bowl is set to take place in less than a week.

Now, Tennessee and Iowa are finalizing their rosters ahead of the showdown while dealing with opt-outs, transfers and injuries.

Here's where both teams stand at this point.

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TENNESSEE

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Who is projected to not play in the Citrus Bowl for Tennessee
As of Dec. 27, 2023, at 11 a.m. ET
PlayerPositionReason

Tyler Baron

DL

Transfer to Ole Miss

Addison Nichols

OL

Transfer to Arkansas

Jack Luttrell

DB

Transfer to Arizona

Tamarion McDonald

DB

Transfer to Ole Miss

Brandon Turnage

DB

Transfer

Warren Burrell

DB

Transfer to Georgia Tech

Doneiko Slaughter

DB

Transfer to Arkansas

Mo Clipper Jr.

OL

Transfer

Connor Meadows

OL

Transfer

De'Shawn Rucker

DB

Transfer to USF

Jaylen Wright

RB

Opt-out to NFL

Jabari Small

RB

Opt-out

Javontez Spraggins

OL

Injury

Bru McCoy

WR

Injury

Kamal Hadden

DB

Injury

Keenan Pili

LB

Injury

Arion Carter

LB

Injury

Joe Milton III

QB

Opt-out to NFL

Wesley Walker

DB

Transfer

The Vols have a laundry list of transfers that won't be with the team with most coming in the secondary. However, this just gives Tennessee a chance to get young players experience against a weak Iowa offense.

Otherwise, the main contributors are Tyler Baron on the defensive line and the running back room. Jaylen Wright has announced his intentions to enter the NFL draft and Jabari Small won't play in the game either as he weighs his options. This should give Dylan Sampson and Cameron Seldon room to showcase their talents.

Injuries will also play a factor with Bru McCoy, Javontez Spraggins, Kamal Hadden, Keenan Pili and Arion Carter suffering season-ending blows and Dont'e Thornton questionable.

IOWA

Who is projected to not play in the Citrus Bowl for Iowa
As of Dec. 26, 2023 at 5 p.m. ET
PlayerPositionReason

Spencer Petras

QB

Transfer to Utah State

Diante Vines

WR

Transfer

Anterio Thompson

DL

Transfer

Joe Labas

QB

Transfer

Jackson Flier

DL

Transfer

Brenden Deasfernandes

DB

Transfer

Cade McNamara

QB

Injury

Erick All

TE

Injury

Luke Lachey

TE

Injury

Cooper DeJean

DB

Injury

Iowa's list of nonparticipants isn't overwhelming. Most players who are leaving were either already hurt or weren't projected to play.

However, notable players quarterback Cade McNamara and tight ends Erick All and Luke Lachey are still out. This leaves Deacon Hill as the starting signal caller. All is the team's leading receiver at 299 yards despite not having played since mid-October, as well.

On defense, Iowa is in a pretty good spot. An injury that will benefit the Vols is defensive back Cooper DeJean, but the majority of contributors are set to play.

Here's what GoIowaAwesome's Adam Jacobi had to say on The VolReport Show:

"Iowa is a little bit of a dinosaur of the college football world in a lot of ways. Playbook being one of them, but another type is that the team is pretty much intact at this point. The biggest source of losses for this game personnel wise isn't transfer portal, or opt-outs, or the NFL draft, it's injuries. It's injuries to guys like Cade McNamara. Erick All, Luke Lachey the two All-American caliber tight ends. They want to be out there. Cooper DeJean is out with a broken foot. Those guys want to be out there, they can't be out there. That is unusual among teams and even for Iowa its a little unusual. They had more people opting out of the Music City bowl last year than they do for the Citrus Bowl this year. They've done a great job somehow of keeping the wagons circled and keeping everybody intact. So, Iowa should be pretty close personnel wise to 100% of the guys that are physically capable of being out there. But, DeJean is a perfect example of how Iowa won't be at 100% and he's a guy that opens up a lot of doors for the Hawkeyes and their defense. So, Tennessee will have a personnel gap to exploit there."

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