Tennessee is showing up all over the Heisman Trophy fan vote, even if the whole exercise is more curiosity than prediction at this point.
The Heisman Trophy Award’s “Heisman Hopefuls” section lets fans pick three players across the sport for the 2026 college football season, with the results sorted into overall leaders and positional leaders. And while most of those names won’t end up in the actual race, the list does give a snapshot of where Tennessee’s key players stand with voters.
The Vols have seven players in the top five at their positions, with DeSean Bishop sitting at the top of the running backs group and Arion Carter leading the defensive front seven.
At running back, Bishop is the top Tennessee name and one of the biggest national draw in the vote, with the third-most votes of any player in the country. Only Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who has 98,030, and Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who has 83,119, are ahead of him.
Tennessee also placed David Sanders Jr. in the top five among offensive linemen, while the defensive groups are especially crowded with Vols. Carter leads the defensive front seven, Xavier Gilliam is right behind him in second, and Amare Campbell also cracks the top five.
In the defensive backs category, Dejuan Lane comes in third. Cooper Ranvier rounds out Tennessee’s top-five presence among specialists.
Here’s how the positional vote breaks down for Tennessee’s top names:
Running Backs
Offensive Line
Kentucky OL Lance Heard (9,209)
Duke OL Nathan Kutufaris (1,094)
Kentucky OL Aba Selm (937)
UTSA OL A’marion Breland (666)
Tennessee OL David Sanders Jr. (381)
Defensive Front Seven
Tennessee LB Arion Carter (15,736)
Tennessee DT Xavier Gilliam (9,062)
Ole Miss DT Will Echoles (3,205)
Tennessee LB Amare Campbell (2,790)
Texas EDGE Colin Simmons (2,446)
Defensive Backs
Kentucky DB Ty Bryant (9,559)
Kentucky DB Aaron Gates (1,817)
Tennessee DB Dejuan Lane (1,573)
Mississippi State DB Kelley Jones (1,217)
Notre Dame CB Leonard Moore (1,115)
Specialists
Iowa State K Kyle Konrardy (4,406)
Ole Miss K Lucas Carneiro (2,259)
Tennessee K Cooper Ranvier (774)
Kentucky K Adam Zouagui (564)
Auburn K Alex McPherson (475)
The fan vote clearly has a heavy Tennessee and Kentucky flavor, with both schools stacking multiple players near the top of different positional groups. That said, the totals are coming from all over, and not every voter is just clicking their school’s best-known name.
As for Bishop, he’s also drawing some attention beyond the fan poll. FanDuel has him tied for 21st in the Heisman odds at +40,000. He’s still on pace for a second straight 1,000-yard rushing season, though he left Tennessee’s loss to South Carolina last weekend banged up.
Josh Heupel offered a more reassuring update on Wednesday during his SEC Teleconference appearance.
“We feel like he will be in a good spot for next week,” Heupel said. “He got some work today.
We limited him some today. Part of that was the ankle, but part of that was just the volume he’s gotten in the early part of conference play, too.”
In Other News...
Tennessee Just Entered A Recruiting Battle Vols Fans Will Notice
Tennessee has jumped into the mix for one of the more closely watched running back prospects in the country, as Jayshawn Mitchell trimmed his list to 15 schools and kept the Vols in the hunt after a recent offer. The William J. Brennan High School standout from San Antonio has already built a national recruitment, and Tennessee now finds itself among a group of programs still chasing a player whose production and visits have kept plenty of coaches interested.
For the Vols, Mitchell is another reminder that the running back board remains active even with other top backs already committed. Tennessee continues to push for multiple high-profile targets, and landing a player with Mitchells profile would only add to a class that has already been gaining traction at the position. The next step will be whether the Vols can turn that late entry into real momentum against a crowded field. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Has One More Recruiting Battle Fans Will Be Watching Closely
Tennessees 2027 recruiting class is already taking shape with 19 commitments, and two of the names that stand out from Grayson High School are running back David Gabriel-Georges and defensive back Preston Glasco. Glasco, in particular, looks like the kind of long-term addition coaches keep circling back to - a tall, developmental cornerback with the size to help in run support and enough tools to suggest a higher ceiling down the road.
There is still at least one more battle worth watching closely, though, and it comes with an in-state wrinkle that makes it even more meaningful for the Vols. Tennessee remains in the mix for defensive lineman Joshua Lane, who is expected to choose between the Vols and Alabama, giving the staff another chance to protect home turf while trying to finish strong with a key target. [Read more 🡒]
Xavier Gilliam Is Becoming Too Important For Tennessee To Ignore
Xavier Gilliams rise has become one of the more important developments on Tennessees defense this fall, the kind of breakout that can quietly change how an opposing offense has to prepare. The defensive lineman has gone from a useful piece to a steady force up front, and his production has started to match the growing recognition around him. He has already picked up midseason All-America honors from multiple organizations, a sign that his impact is being noticed well beyond Knoxville.
For Tennessee, the bigger takeaway is what Gilliam now means to the unit week after week. His ability to disrupt plays in the backfield has made him a central part of what the Volunteers are trying to do defensively, and the attention he is drawing only adds to that burden for opposing quarterbacks and blocking schemes. At this point, the question is less whether he belongs in the conversation and more how high that conversation can go as the season moves forward. [Read more 🡒]