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Evaluating Tennessee football’s 2021 WR class at dead period

By Caleb Calhoun

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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Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images /

Here is where the Tennessee football Volunteers stand with wide receivers.

Does Jeremy Pruitt have Tennessee football back on track to become Wide Receiver U once again? The play of Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway in 2019 appeared to suggest that, as both players found their ways to NFL rosters back in April.

However, with them gone and two seniors, Josh Palmer and Brandon Johnson, likely to be the go-to wideouts this year, the future of the position is wide open. That’s where recruiting comes into play, and on paper, Pruitt seems to have excelled there.

Ramel Keyton is already one of the guys set to be a future go-to receiver for Tennessee football, and Pruitt added three four-stars in the Vols’ 2020 recruiting class: Jimmy Calloway, Malachi Wideman and Jalin Hyatt. Three-star athlete Dee Beckwith is also likely to be a primary receiver.

Still, after this year, the Vols will have lost five go-to receivers in two years when you account for Tyler Byrd leaving. Add in the fact that Velus Jones Jr. is a graduate transfer who will only be here for a year, and they will have lost six receivers in two years.

As a result, they need more than what they already have to keep the deep rotation going, and that’s where recruiting for the future comes into play. So where do they stand on that front? Well, in this post, we’re going to continue our evaluations of UT’s 2021 class at the dead period by now looking at those receivers.

Since receiver is a common target, we’ve separated our analysis by listing commitments and a variety of different prospects who fit into numerous categories. We’ll explain each category, and the 10th page of this slideshow will close things out with a final take and prediction.

Obviously, the dead period is different this year from where it has been in years past given the coronavirus pandemic, and UT has been picking up lots of talent during this extended period. However, it’s still the perfect time to look at how the class is doing. So let’s continue with that analysis by looking at the wide receivers committed to Tennessee football’s 2021 class.

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