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Tennessee football’s top 10 NFL WRs of all time

By Caleb Calhoun

14 Oct 1979: Wide receiver Stanley Morgan of the New England Patriots runs down the field during a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago Illinois. The Patriots won the game 27 - 7.
14 Oct 1979: Wide receiver Stanley Morgan of the New England Patriots runs down the field during a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago Illinois. The Patriots won the game 27 - 7. /
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Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images
Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images /

These are the Tennessee football Volunteers’ 10 best pro wide receivers in history.

Note: This is part of a series of posts looking back on Tennessee football players who had the best NFL careers at each position.

Up until the mid-1960s, Tennessee football stayed in the single-wing formation and barely utilized wide receivers. Then Doug Dickey came along and installed the T-formation, which Bill Battle followed up by adding elements of the veer. That produced some talented guys like Lester McClain and Larry Seivers.

However, when Johnny Majors arrived and added a vertical passing attack in the 1970s, he began a tradition of the Vols producing NFL receiver after NFL receiver, something that carried through the 1990s with Phillip Fulmer, David Cutcliffe and elite quarterbacks, turning the program into Wide Receiver U. From 1977 to 1999, Rocky Top had 25 receivers selected in the draft,

Production has dropped recently, but even into this century, the Vols have still produced top NFL talent at the position. Tennessee football’s run under Majors and Fulmer had a lasting impact. However, among all these receivers who got drafted, finding guys who actually continued that impact at the next level was a bit harder.

In fact, the Vols’ produced a lot of underwhelming NFL talent, as many players appeared to just be beneficiaries of a pass-heavy offense or future superstar quarterbacks throwing them the ball. Despite so many receivers taken, only four actually made Pro Bowls at the next level, and only 10 managed to go over 2,000 yards receiving for a career.

Still, there have been quite a few talented players at this position from UT in the NFL. In this post, we’re going to rank the Vols’ greatest receivers in the pros. Our criteria only focuses on people who actually did play receiver at that level. For instance, some players who played receiver in college became tight ends, running backs or defensive backs at the next level.

We will, however, take into account what receivers did on special teams. After all, the return game is a factor in terms of scoring production, so there’s no reason to leave it alone. So with that criteria, which Vols receivers thrived at the next level? Let’s break that down here. These are Tennessee football’s top 10 NFL wide receivers of all time.

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