Tennessee football: Ranking Vols 10 early enrollees for 2019 spring practice

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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A four-star wide receiver on Rivals, Ramel Keyton actually has a lot of things going for him. He’s the only elite wide receiver commitment in the class, he clearly has talent, and he is an early enrollee. So why is he at the bottom of the list? Well, it’s not about talent at all.

Tennessee football is stacked at wide receiver this year. The Vols have four seniors in the rotation, including three senior wideouts in Marquez Callaway, Brandon Johnson and Jauan Jennings. Tyler Byrd is the other senior, provided he stays at receiver.

Josh Palmer is a junior wideout who is also in the rotation. All four of those wideouts are already firmly supplanted in the depth chart ahead of Keyton, so even though he arrived early, it’s not likely he’ll have any chance to move up.

Now, there is one thing that could help him this spring. With so many seniors, the position is going to be wide open heading into 2020. As a result, Keyton could immediately step in and become a starter that year. This spring provides him a great chance to built that profile. But it doesn’t give him anything to gain for 2019. That’s why we have him last among the early enrollees.