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Tennessee football: Ranking position groups for 2020

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 31: Jarrett Guarantano #2, J.T. Shrout #12 and Brian Maurer #18 of the Tennessee Volunteers warm up before facing the Georgia State Panthers during the season opener at Neyland Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 31: Jarrett Guarantano #2, J.T. Shrout #12 and Brian Maurer #18 of the Tennessee Volunteers warm up before facing the Georgia State Panthers during the season opener at Neyland Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images
Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images /

9. Wide receiver

No position is seeing a bigger loss in production from last year for Tennessee football than wide receiver. The Vols’ best player was Jauan Jennings, and Jennings and Marquez Callaway were the top two producers offensively. Both are gone. Tyler Byrd, who also provided some value in the slot, is gone as well. That leaves tons of openings at the position this year.

This group should be below the tight ends. However, the injury to Austin Pope mitigated that somewhat. The other mitigation is the fact that, despite such key losses, the Vols have a ton of returning talent that has seen lots of action at this level to work with. As a result, the only question is just how elite that talent can be now that it has larger roles.

Josh Palmer has been the proven No. 3 wideout for the Vols over the past two years. He nearly crossed the 1,000-yard mark for the past two year. Brandon Johnson actually led the team in receiving in 2017 and has had his redshirt lifted. USC Trojans graduate transfer Velus Jones Jr. already has starting experience. Cedric Tillman and Ramel Keyton saw action as backups last year.

All of these guys together give Tee Martin plenty of options to work with when it comes to finding a rotation. Add in new recruits Jimmy Calloway, Jalin Hyatt, Malachi Wideman, Dee Beckwith and Jimmy Holiday, all of whom came with a ton of hype, and this unit should be ok. Losing Jennings and Callaway, though, still can’t be denied and keeps this unit down here.

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