Tennessee Football: Why Tight End Could Be a Major Concern for Vols

The news that A.J. Branisel is leaving the Tennessee football program was announced this week and met with little fanfare, but the fallout from his departure may cause ripple effects throughout the season.

"A.J. Branisel has decided to leave the football program. We thank A.J. for his two years and wish him the best. We are in the process of assisting him to find another opportunity," Vols coach Butch Jones said in a statement on Monday morning, per the Knoxville News-Sentinel's Dustin Dopirak.

On the surface, the exit of a third-string tight end may be met with a universal "meh" from a fanbase with high aspirations.

But when you couple Branisel leaving with the recent dismissal of freshman Kyle Oliver and the decision by Daniel Helm—who started a couple of games as a freshman last year—to leave UT for Duke after last season, the tight end position just became a major worry for 2015.

On the current roster, the Vols have four scholarship tight ends: sophomore starter Ethan Wolf, senior former walk-on and second-teamer Alex Ellis, redshirt freshman Neiko Creamer and converted linebacker Jakob Johnson.

Wolf's younger brother, walk-on Eli, may be able to provide depth down the road, but at 205 pounds, that time won't come this year.

Name	Class	Career Games	Career Catches	Career Yards
Ethan Wolf	Sophomore	11	23	212
Alex Ellis	RS Senior	13	6	115
Neiko Creamer	RS Freshman	0	0	0
Jakob Johnson	Sophomore	12 (all special teams/linebacker)	0	0

Though saying any of those guys are "injury-prone" would be harsh, the elder Wolf suffered a high ankle sprain against Arkansas State last year that hobbled him for much of the season and caused him to miss most of a couple of games.

Ellis must manage his diabetes very closely to ensure there isn't an abundance of health issues throughout the rigors of the SEC season. He has battled other nagging injuries during his time in Knoxville as well.

Considering this is college football, UT is one injury away from being dangerously thin at a position that has proven vastly important to Jones' offenses throughout his coaching career.

It's even more of a concern for the Vols that they're so shallow at the position considering the lingering offensive line issues.

Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

A season ago, Tennessee's offensive front was the team's weakest link, and it only improved once mobile quarterback Joshua Dobbs was inserted and flashed the wheels to move the pocket away from pursuing defenders.

Even then, the Vols gave up six sacks in a late-season loss to Missouri.

So far in camp, UT has lost starting left guard Marcus Jackson to an arm injury. He won't be back until at least "the tail end of the season," Jones told GoVols247's Wes Rucker on Tuesday morning.

On top of that, the Vols have been experimenting with players shuffling around everywhere in an effort to put the best five on the field. A mixture of experienced players who aren't as talented as the freshmen and freshmen who aren't as experienced as the veterans isn't always a good formula for success.

It was encouraging when Jones told GoVols247's Ryan Callahan on Tuesday that the emergence of Coleman Thomas and freshman Jack Jones starting on the right side of the line helped UT take "a big step" forward, but that doesn't quite alleviate the concerns just yet.

While the Vols search for the right combination of linemen during a rigorous early-season schedule, the onus will fall on tight ends to help block for Dobbs, Jalen Hurd, Alvin Kamara and company.

That makes the lack of depth at the position even more vital.

The Vols already have addressed the major need at tight end in a big way for the 2016 recruiting class. They've got commitments from 3-star Devante Brooks from the Washington D.C. area and local product Austin Pope of the Christian Academy of Knoxville.

Credit: 247Sports

Brooks will be coming off two anterior cruciate ligament injuries suffered in the past two years, so his short-term impact may be minimal. However, he was a player with a strong offer sheet prior to his UT commitment.

Regardless of those future fixes, the Vols are playing with a thin slate in 2015.

Branisel's production maybe won't be missed so much, but the repetitions he likely would have provided must be replaced with an unproven commodity.

Though Branisel redshirted last year after tearing knee ligaments, he caught three passes for 28 yards and a touchdown in limited action as an undersized freshman in 2013. He was expected to provide depth this year, but instead, he wanted to seek more playing time elsewhere.

That's a bit surprising since he was once committed to Jones at Cincinnati and flipped to the Vols once Jones took over in Knoxville. But maybe he thought backup was always going to be his ceiling at UT.

When you sign two massive, talent-laden classes like Jones has over the past two seasons, you're going to experience some attrition, and the Vols certainly have had their share.

It's just an unfortunate coincidence that a great portion of it has occurred at the tight end position, where you don't traditionally stockpile a lot of bodies.

That may not make much of a difference if Wolf and Ellis—two very talented and capable players—stay healthy. They were always going to get the vast majority of the reps anyway and are both physical enough to be forces in the run game and athletic enough to catch passes.

But if one of them goes down, the Vols will be facing a question mark that could ultimately hinder the production of what many anticipate being a potent offense.

It's a tightrope UT now has to walk thanks to the defections of three players in the past eight months.

All recruiting information obtained from 247Sports unless otherwise noted. All stats gathered from UTSports.com unless otherwise noted. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.