Mike Bajakian Praises Vols WR Marquez North
By Zach Ragan
Oct 26, 2013; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Marquez North (8) carries the ball up the field against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
It’s no secret that Tennessee’s reputation as “Wide Receiver U” is back in full effect.
Of course some would say the reputation never left (just ask Denarius Moore, Da’Rick Rogers, Justin Hunter and Cordarrelle Patterson, to name a few).
With the addition of Von Pearson and Josh Malone, in addition to sophomore Marquez North, there’s no doubt that UT is stacked at receiver once again.
Pearson and Malone will be huge for the Vols this season, but it’s Marquez North that’s expected to star.
North had a pretty solid freshman season, especially when you consider the quarterback situation and the lack of ideal playmakers around him.
The Charlotte, NC native led the Vols in receiving yards with 496 on 38 receptions. He also had one receiving touchdown.
Those number should go up considerably this season, at least offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian seems to think so.
Bajakian praised North on Vol Calls Monday night, saying “North is a very conscientious young man. He is developing as a wide receiver better than we could hope. He’s going to take off.”
An added year in Butch Jones’ offense, combined with (hopefully) more certainty at quarterback and added offensive weapons, should allow North to have a breakout season that puts him on radar nationally.
At 6’4″/221 lbs, North is already a physical freak. He’s big, fast and has incredible hands (as seen against Georgia and South Carolina). The sky really is the limit for the young receiver.
Bajakian offered one other small, but important, nugget during his appearance on Vol Calls on Monday night.
"Bajakian: We just skimmed the surface of the offense wanted to get into play last season."
That has to be extremely encouraging for Vol fans. The offense looked very vanilla at times last season, but Jones and Bajakian didn’t have the personnel to properly install the offense they envision on Rocky Top.
This season the Vols will have the talent to install that offense. It will still be rocky at times. There’s still a lot of youth on the team, but Tennessee should definitely be a more exciting team to watch in 2014.