Can anyone separate from the pack?
It’s mid-March, which means spring football is almost here. Tennessee will hit the field next week, set to take on 15 practice sessions ahead of the summer months. It’s a chance for younger players to develop and carve out roles, and there’s not a position with more intrigue for the Volunteers than the receiver spot.
The entire passing attack as a whole was a disappointment in 2023, but a quarterback change and a handful of new additions could spark things going into the 2024 season. As we enter the spring, let’s take a look around the depth chart a bit.
The Veterans
We do know two things about this group — Bru McCoy and Squirrel White will be atop the depth chart once again. McCoy won’t be available during the spring as he continues to work back from that gruesome leg injury suffered last fall. However, he should be ready for the fall, returning to his starting role on the outside.
Squirrel will also be back, likely looking to do a little more damage down the field this year. The junior receiver was used primarily in a screen-pass role last season, as Joe Milton really never was able to get the vertical passing attack established.
We didn’t see much down the field action from Nico Iamaleava in the bowl game, so it’s going to be interesting to see if those two can get going this spring.
The Wildcards
And now for the unknown — what does Tennessee have in Dont’e Thornton, Chas Nimrod, Kaleb Webb and Nathan Leacock? We’ve seen a flash or two from each of these guys (minus Leacock, who redshirted in 2023), but none have been able to put up any consistent production. Was that a quarterback issue last year? Perhaps. We’re going to find out pretty quickly this spring.
Thornton remains the most intriguing of this group, coming off of a year where he was plagued with injuries. The former Oregon Duck has the length and speed to make big plays down the field, which again, we saw a couple of flashes of last year (Florida, Missouri). Just as quickly has he was seemingly getting going, Thornton’s season ended due to an ankle injury suffered against Missouri.
Thornton played both in the slot and on the outside last year, so will the staff focus him more on one spot this year? Given his size, he certainly would seem to fit on the outside.
Nimrod and Webb were both forced into action last year due to injury, and neither one really ever got going. Both found the endzone once, but neither one broke the 200 yard mark for the season. Again, there was a quarterback issue there as Tennessee ran a much quicker passing attack. Let’s see if that looks any different over the next few weeks.
Either way, Heupel and receivers coach Kelsey Pope need one guy from this group to emerge before the fall.
The Newcomers
Tennessee made a few big splashes at receiver this offseason, giving this room a lot more depth than last year. Heupel hit the transfer portal and landed another big body that can make plays down the field, grabbing Chris Brazzell from Tulane. The redshirt sophomore is coming off a breakout season where he caught 44 passes for 711 yards and five touchdowns.
How quickly can Brazzell get up to speed in this new offense? That’s what we’ll be watching for during the spring. He should have a pretty quick path to playing time, considering what he was able to do last season as a redshirt freshman.
Two freshmen round out the room, and they enter with plenty of hype. Five-star Mike Matthews was one of Tennessee’s highest rated signings of the class, coming in as the 24th ranked player in the cycle. He joins four-star Braylon Staley, who comes to Knoxville as the 78th ranked player in the class.
It’s been a rare thing to see true freshmen carve out playing time in Heupel’s offense, but Tennessee hasn’t brought in players of this caliber either yet. At the very least, getting these two up to speed and creating instant depth is a must.
Spring practice will open on Monday, March 18th.