Braylon Staley has gone from a question mark to a central piece of Tennessee’s offense, and Josh Heupel thinks the sophomore wideout is only getting better.
That’s a big shift from where things stood a year ago. Tennessee entered last season with plenty of uncertainty at receiver, leaning on second-year players Mike Matthews and Staley after both had limited roles as freshmen.
The bet paid off. Staley broke out in a major way, won SEC Freshman of the Year, and finished with 837 yards and six touchdowns on 68 catches.
Now, Heupel says Staley is moving into a different tier.
“A year ago, there were a lot of questions about our wide receiver core, inexperience coming back,” Heupel said. “You look at what Braylon did, Mike did, Chris went on to the NFL. I think we had three out of the top five receivers in yards inside of the league.
“Braylon has continued to take his game to another level. Hyper-focused on how he wants to compete every day, how he takes care of his body, growing an understanding of offensive football, but defensive coverages.
He’s a guy that has the ability to play in the slot, on the outside. I think that versatility in our wide receiver room, both him and Mike, some of the young guys that we have, afford us the luxury of doing some unique things within the scope of what we do offensively.”
That versatility matters because Tennessee still has work to do in sorting out the rest of its receiver rotation. One outside starting spot is open, and the competition appears to be between second-year players Radarious Jackson and Travis Smith Jr. and five-star freshman TK Keys.
Heupel also singled out Keys, and the early returns have clearly impressed him.
“I think he came in and went to work immediately,” Heupel said. “High-level recruit with high-level athletic traits.
I think the way he’s gone about his work has garnered trust and respect from his teammates. A guy that’s continually growing.
Physically, his size, his speed, change of direction, acceleration, the fundamental and technical traits we’re asking of that position and his overall football understanding, specifically inside of the scope of what we’re doing offensively. Tremendous athlete that competes at a really high level.
Really excited that we get an opportunity to compete and get better during the course of training camp.”
Tennessee opens fall camp on August 5 as it works through those battles, and the Vols will kick off the season at home against Furman on September 5 in Neyland Stadium.
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