1. Both go-to receivers are gone.
While Tennessee football lost its three leaders on defense, the Vols also lost the two most important members of the passing game: Marquez Callaway and Jauan Jennings. That makes things very challenging.
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Callaway and Jennings were the top two playmakers all year. For the season, Jennings was the star and the best player on the team. He was amazing with the ball in his hands, and he was always winning one-on-one battles.
Leading the nation in yards after a broken tackle, Jennings had 59 receptions for 969 yards and eight touchdowns, and he added 13 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown. Callaway came in second on the team in receiving with 30 receptions for 635 yards and six touchdowns, but he also had 191 return yards and a touchdown.
These two were the stars. By the way, Dominick Wood-Anderson was the leading receiver at tight end, and he’s also gone. The Vols do have bodies at tight end, and at receiver they are expecting Josh Palmer, Brandon Johnson and Ramel Keyton to fill those big shoes. A solid recruiting class at wideout helps significantly. But proven talent is hard to replace.
Again, on paper, Tennessee football has the bodies to offset what it lost in Jennings and Callaway. But we don’t know if those players are good enough to match that production, and it’s a tall order to ask them to do so. As a result, this is the top concern for Vol fans.