Josh Heupel praises wide receivers following spring practices

This is a deep room.

Tennessee wasn’t up to full song at receiver for the Orange and White Game over the weekend, but that gave us a chance to see some new faces that could potentially crack the rotation this fall.

It was a vanilla scheme playing alongside of mainly reserves, but we were still able to see big flashes out of five-star freshman Mike Matthews and transfer portal prize Chris Brazzell. Add those two into the equation alongside of Bru McCoy, Squirrel White and Dont’e Thornton and you’ve got a pretty exciting group to pair with quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

“With everything, when we first got here as a staff and where our program was at, being smart and intentional with the things that we’ve had to deal with to grow our roster, this is the deepest wide receiver pool that we’ve had,” Josh Heupel said after the spring game.

That depth includes a couple of guys who have been here for a while in Kaleb Webb and Chas Nimrod, along with younger players like Nathan Leacock and Braylon Staley. Josh Heupel hasn’t shown a big want to rotate receivers during his time with Tennessee, but with all the depth and athleticism up and down the depth chart, perhaps that changes this year.

“There’s a lot of young guys within our system that still have a lot of growth that they’ve got to make before we get to the opener, but really before we get to training camp, too,” Heupel said. “That’s freshmen, transfers, young guys inside of our system, but I love the competitiveness of that group. They’ve made plays. Fundamentally they’re getting so much better. Releases, the ball not in their hands, how they’re blocking, understanding how to stem and work second and third level defenders. It’s been really good to see how they’ve grown, and a lot left out there for them.”

Matthews, the second highest rated prospect in Tennessee’s 2024 recruiting class, made an instant splash on Saturday. He worked over Jordan Matthews in man coverage and made a really nice adjustment to the ball in the air. The end result was a 63 yard touchdown.

Tulane transfer Chris Brazzell also got loose down the field, hauling in a 71 yard touchdown catch after beating Temple transfer Jalen McMurray.

“Athleticism,” Heupel said when asked what the new additions bring. “The ability to go attack the football at the catch point and competitive situations – that can be over the middle, can be a deep ball that some would call a 50-50 ball. I think those guys have continued to refine their traits at the line of scrimmage in press-man coverage. It’s the transition for every high-level high school wide receiver as they come to college. Typically they’re seeing a bunch of off coverage and making sure the defense they’re seeing isn’t getting run by, so learning how to play at the line of scrimmage. They work, they compete, they’ve got the ability to make plays.”

After struggles at both the quarterback spot and wide receiver position last season, it’s going to be interesting to see how this passing game performs with Iamaleava. Can the vertical game come back to life? Tennessee certainly has the weapons to do so with White, Brazzell and Thornton on the roster.

Once fall camp begins, the pecking order there will be one of the top storylines we’ll be following.