When Tennessee opens fall camp this week, the quarterback race between Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre will grab the biggest spotlight. But the battle that could end up shaping the offense just as much is happening outside, where one starting receiver job is wide open.
Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews are back after productive seasons, but the other spot on the perimeter is up for grabs. Tennessee will sort through sophomore Radarious Jackson, sophomore Travis Smith Jr. and five-star freshman TK Keys to fill it.
The early part of the season should give all three a chance to get involved, especially in the opener against Furman. Still, if one of them can separate from the pack and handle the bulk of the snaps, that would give a young quarterback another dependable target in the passing game.
Jackson and Smith arrive at this camp after their first college seasons were limited by small roles and injuries. Jackson finished with nine catches for 90 yards across nine appearances, while Smith had three receptions for 29 yards in seven games. Both were four-star recruits coming out of high school, and Tennessee appears confident they can grow into bigger pieces of the offense.
Keys brings a different kind of buzz. He has no college experience yet, but he enters as a five-star freshman and was ranked the No. 1 receiver in the class by 247. That kind of ceiling, along with the recent impact of freshman receivers across college football, makes him impossible to overlook.
This won’t carry the same weight as the quarterback competition, especially with some rotation expected at receiver anyway. But it remains one of the more important camp battles to watch as Tennessee moves toward SEC play.
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The biggest question, though, sits in the quarterback room, where Faizon Brandon and George MacIntyre are competing for the job that will steer this offense. The receiver group is also in flux after losing Chris Brazzell, opening the door for players such as Radarious Jackson and Travis Smith Jr. while five-star recruit Tristan Keys gets his first real chance to push for a spot in the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
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The biggest storyline around that group is less about talent than availability, because several of the players helping form the new core are working back from injury interruptions that shaped their recent pasts. Smikle, Janneh and Eads all bring different kinds of promise, but the question around Tennessee this summer is how quickly that promise can translate into a functioning rotation once everyone is back on the floor and the roster starts to take on a clearer identity. [Read more 🡒]