Tennessee football WR group graded No. 2 nationally by PFF

Pro Football Focus is high on the Tennessee football Volunteers wide receivers.

With all the talk surrounding the Tennessee football rushing attack against the Missouri Tigers, people may be forgetting about how dangerous the Vols’ passing game could be. However, advanced metrics suggest that could be their biggest strength.

PFF College graded the UT wide receiving corps. second-highest in the nation over the weekend with a 74.6 score. Now, they are significantly behind the Alabama Crimson Tide, with an 86.8 score, but this is still an impressive feat.

Of course, Tennessee football only has 451 passing yards and two passing touchdowns through two games so far with Jarrett Guarantano at quarterback, and the wide receivers only have 371 yards and one of those touchdowns. However, they have been highly efficient. PFF released the grades on Twitter.

Josh Palmer’s 10 catches for 159 yards and a touchdown lead the way, as he has stepped out of the shadows of Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway and proven he can be a No. 1 receiver. Brandon Johnson, meanwhile, is helping out with six catches for 90 yards.

Beyond those two, who were expected to be the main wideouts as the seniors, true freshman Jalin Hyatt has emerged with two receptions for 54 yards. Graduate transfer Velus Jones Jr. adds lots of speed to the position in the slot and has six catches for 51 yards. Finally, sophomore Ramel Keyton rounds this group out with two catches for 20 yards.

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What stands out for the Vols here are not the raw stats. Instead, the efficiency and key plays matter. For instance, last week, Johnson only had three catches for 17 yards. However, all three passes were on third down. While one was a third down conversion, the other two turned 3rd and 10 into 4th and 1, allowing for the Vols to sneak it and get the first down.

As a result, all three catches were key. In fact, Johnson’s highlight catch of the season was a one-armed grab on 3rd and 2 against the South Carolina Gamecocks that kept the Vols’ first touchdown drive alive.

Anyway, Palmer has been huge too. He’s got the one touchdown reception for this group, and it came in the fourth quarter at South Carolina with the game tied. Simply put, both of these guys make the plays when needed.

Provided Guarantano keeps the accuracy he had last week, Tennessee football is in good shape if it needs to throw going forward. It may struggle against elite secondaries like the Georgia Bulldogs this Saturday, but overall, this leaves a lot to be proud of.