Tennessee’s roster keeps climbing the talent charts, and the 2026 247Sports Team Talent Composite says the Vols are in familiar territory: better than they were a year ago and still sitting inside the national top 15.
For the second straight season, Tennessee is projected to have its most talented team of the Josh Heupel era. In the 2026 rankings released Thursday, the Vols jumped five places to No. 11 nationally and landed sixth among SEC programs. Their overall score rose to 867.68, a slight uptick from 866.57 last year and another sign that Heupel’s staff has kept adding quality to the roster year after year.
The climb has been steady. Tennessee’s score was 821.07 in 2023, then 858.67 in 2024, then 866.57 in 2025 before this latest bump. Since Heupel arrived, the Vols have improved their Team Talent Composite every season while winning 45 games over the past five years.
The roster makeup tells part of the story. Tennessee’s 2025 group includes four former five-stars, 32 former four-stars and 56 former three-stars.
Its blue-chip total - 36 former four- and five-stars - is down from 47 on last year’s roster, and the average player rating dipped a bit to 89.38. That average is 13th nationally and seventh in the SEC, matching last year’s spot.
Two things are driving that shift. First, 247Sports is now using its own rankings in the composite, though the industry-based 247Sports Composite remains available.
Second, the SEC’s move from 85 scholarship players to 105, which took effect in December, has changed the math. More roster spots at the back end are being filled by players who were less heralded as recruits, and Tennessee still has several players who began as preferred walk-ons.
Even with those changes, the Vols have kept adding high-end talent. Tennessee lost two former five-stars this offseason when offensive tackle Lance Heard and edge rusher Jordan Ross entered the transfer portal in January.
Heard landed at Kentucky, and Ross ended up at LSU. But Tennessee still finished with four former five-stars on the roster for the second year in a row, thanks in part to three five-star signees in the 2026 class: quarterback Faizon Brandon, wide receiver TK Keys and offensive tackle Gabriel Osenda.
Sophomore offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. is the lone returning five-star, according to 247Sports.
The broader trend under Heupel is hard to miss. Tennessee was No. 19 in 2021 with 780.20 points during his 7-6 debut season, then again No. 19 in 2022 with a score of 766.29.
Since then, the Vols have kept rising, backed by recruiting classes that have stacked up as top-10 in 2023, top-15 in 2024, No. 11 in 2025 and their highest-ranked group under Heupel in 2026. That latest class finished No. 8 in the 247Sports Composite and No. 4 in 247Sports’ rankings.
Tennessee has also added 13 four-star transfers across the past five cycles, though their high school ratings are the ones counted in the Team Talent Composite.
The national picture helps explain why the composite matters. Since 2015, every national champion except two has been ranked in the top 10.
Michigan in 2023 was one exception, and Indiana last year was the other. The Wolverines’ title came amid cheating accusations tied to the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal, while Indiana entered last year’s rankings at No. 72 before winning it all in Curt Cignetti’s second season.
Ohio State, last year’s champion, was No. 3 in the 2024 composite, and Tennessee’s 140-point talent gap with the Buckeyes showed up in Ohio State’s 42-17 win over the Vols in the College Football Playoff first round.
In the first year of the 12-team Playoff, the Power 4 CFP teams were ranked No. 2 Georgia, No.
3 Ohio State, No. 4 Texas, No.
5 Clemson, No. 6 Oregon, No.
9 Notre Dame, No. 11 Penn State, No.
17 Tennessee, No. 25 SMU, No.
30 Arizona State and No. 57 Indiana.
For Tennessee this season, the SEC schedule is loaded with talent. The Vols will face No.
3 Alabama, No. 4 Texas, No.
7 Texas A&M, No. 8 LSU, No.
15 South Carolina, No. 19 Auburn, No.
26 Kentucky, No. 29 Arkansas and No.
43 Vanderbilt. Georgia Tech, Tennessee’s opponent when the Vols play their first road game on Sept. 12, is ranked No.
There’s also a clear gap between Tennessee and some of the teams around it nationally. Florida sits at No. 12 with 859.91 points, and Miami is right behind at No. 13 with 859.73.
Tennessee trails No. 10 Michigan by 6.57 points, while No.
9 USC is more than 14 points ahead at 881.89.
All 16 SEC teams are now in the top 50 of the Team Talent Composite. Vanderbilt made the biggest jump from the bottom of the league, rising from No. 55 last year to No. 43 this year.
Here is where every SEC program ranked in the updated 247Sports Team Talent Composite for the 2026 season:
- Georgia: 978.37 points (12 five-stars, 57 four-stars)
- Alabama: 941.30 points (10 five-stars, 36 four-stars)
- Texas: 935.15 points (10 five-stars, 37 four-stars)
- Texas A&M: 916.78 points (six five-stars, 50 four-stars)
- LSU: 907.25 points (seven five-stars, 44 four-stars)
- Tennessee: 867.68 points (four five-stars, 32 four-stars)
- Florida: 859.91 points (two five-stars, 38 four-stars)
- Ole Miss: 857.57 points (two five-stars, 36 four-stars)
- South Carolina: 846.99 points (four five-stars, 29 four-stars)
- Oklahoma: 827.83 points (three five-stars, 29 four-stars)
- Missouri: 808.17 points (no five-stars, 33 four-stars)
- Auburn: 805.15 points (two five-stars, 24 four-stars)
- Mississippi State: 798.60 points (no five-star, 26 four-stars)
- Kentucky: 768.59 points (two five-stars, 19 four-stars)
- Arkansas: 762.35 points (no five-stars, 20 four-stars)
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Kedric Golston II has spent the spring trying to carve out his own place in Tennessees defense, and the early signs have been encouraging. The freshman edge rusher arrives with a familiar football name, but he has been making his case on the field rather than leaning on the resume of his father, former NFL defensive tackle Kedric Golston. His work in practice has been noticeable enough to draw attention from the Vols staff as he adjusts to the speed and detail of college football.
At Tennessees Orange & White Game, Golston picked up first-team reps at the LEO spot, a meaningful step for a player still settling into the program. Defensive line coach Rodney Garner and LEOs coach Andrew Jackson have both praised his skills and development, which puts him squarely in the conversation as Tennessee looks ahead to the 2026 season. The question now is how quickly that spring momentum turns into a real role once the Vols get deeper into the year. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Football Fans Will Want To See This TSSAA Recruiting Ruling
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The ruling brings no postseason ban and no practice restrictions for Clarksville Academy in the 2026 season, but the program will lose six of its 12 offseason practices in 2027. Because the school self-reported the violation, the case ended without the harsher penalties that can follow these kinds of findings, though any transfer into Clarksville Academy by the athlete involved would still trigger a 12-month ineligibility period. [Read more 🡒]
Faizon Brandons First Tennessee Start Comes With One Big Concern
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Phillip Fulmers recent reminder about the importance of defense frames the challenge ahead for Tennessee just as much as the quarterback decision does. Brandons talent got him the job, but the opener will be about how much support he gets around him as a first-time starter, and whether the Vols can keep the pressure off him long enough for his debut to feel manageable. [Read more 🡒]