Tennessee football: 5 Vols most likely to benefit from Jim Chaney hire

If you’ve got a very good receiving tight end on your team, Jim Chaney is going to use him a lot. Tennessee football has just that in Dominick Wood-Anderson, and after he was grossly underused by Tyson Helton, Chaney is going to involve him a lot.

Wood-Anderson’s weakness is blocking, which is why Eli Wolf and Austin Pope saw lots of action out there as well. And he does need to improve on that. But Chaney proved with Mychal Rivera, who caught 36 passes for 562 yards and five touchdowns in 2012 with the Vols, that he will maximize receiving tight ends even if they aren’t great blockers.

This year, with the Georgia Bulldogs, Isaac Nauta nearly had 500 yards receiving as well. When he was with the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2013 and 2014, Hunter Henry was the second leading receiver each year and totaled six touchdowns and over 900 yards those two seasons. Even with the Pittsburgh Panthers in 2015, he only got J.P. Holtz 350 receiving yards, but Holtz did score four touchdowns.

Simply put, Chaney loves to use the tight end in the passing game. And as the best receiving tight end, Wood-Anderson stands to gain a lot heading into his senior year. Look for him to have a huge season in 2018.