Tennessee football 2018 preview by position: Vols WRs

Tennessee football is loaded at wide receiver for 2018. Here is a preview of the Volunteers for the season at that position.

There was a time when Tennessee football was considered Wide Receiver U. That title, however, has faded in recent years due to a combination of the Clemson Tigers emerging and the Vols misusing their talent.

Through five years of Butch Jones, the Vols began a process of limiting their elite playmakers in the passing game as much as possible. Jones had an obsession with running a five to six-man rotation, even if one receiver was the dominant mismatch.

This year, with Tennessee football transitioning back to a pro-style offense under Tyson Helton and Jeremy Pruitt, Vols fans are hoping to see a few receivers with their talents maximized. That was the tradition that built guys like Robert Meachem, Donte Stallworth, Cedric Wilson, Peerless Price, Marcus Nash and Joey Kent.

Even back to the Johnny Majors days, it created guys like Corey Fleming, Alvin Harper, Carl Pickens, and Willie Gault. Simply put, the Vols always maximized their top guys. And with Helton, it looks like they should get back to that.

One unique thing about Helton’s system, if you look at what he did with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, is that he likes to move around his go-to receivers. It’s something that allows for slot guys to thrive. But wideouts can do so as well. It all depends on the personnel.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at that personnel as we preview this position. We’ll give our projected starters at wideout, our projected slot receivers and our projected backups. As always with our previews, we’ll then give our final take on the position heading into this year. So with the offense in question, here is our analysis on the state of Tennessee football at the wide receiver spot.