3/25/2024 football Edit

Tennessee freshmen receivers 'fighting for a spot' in spring practices

Tennessee freshman wide receiver Braylon Staley dives for a ball during a passing drill at the Vols' third spring practice on Thursday. (University of Tennessee Athletics)

Noah Taylor • VolReport

Managing Editor

Noah is a graduate of the UT College of Journalism & Electronic Media and has covered Tennessee football since 2019. He joined Rivals in 2022.

Braylon Staley clinched the ball with his finger tips as it slightly skimmed across the turf.

Staley got up and pleaded his case of a catch as if it was an SEC game in October instead of a drill in Tennessee's third spring practice, another example of the competition that has wowed second-year offensive coordinator Joey Halzle over the last week.

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"The competition is awesome," Halzle said. "It's one of the best I've seen in spring ball. There's not a lot of solidified guys going in. It's everybody going out there fighting for a spot. So, rep after rep, you're getting everything from somebody."

Staley is one of the newcomers currently balancing competition for early playing time and adjusting to college.

The 6-foot, 180-pound former four-star recruit from Aiken, South Carolina arrived in Knoxville ahead of Tennessee's preparation for the Citrus Bowl back in December.

Those reps nearly three months before spring ball began last week have allowed Staley, who is working out of the slot position, to look the part of a contributor in the Vols' offense where he is working in the slot behind junior Squirrel White.

"The early enrollee part of it was amazing," Staley said. "To get in and learn from the older guys, getting in and learning the playbook early. It was great just to do that and then the couple of days of spring ball have been awesome, competing against the veterans--the ones. I'm looking up to Squirrel White, so it's just amazing playing behind him."

White burst onto the scene as a freshman during the Vols' 11-2 campaign two years ago, in large part because of his speed. His ability to slip past defenders and run down deep balls earned him a bigger role by second half of the season behind Biletnikoff Award winner Jalin Hyatt.

When Hyatt declared for the NFL Draft and skipped Tennessee's Orange Bowl clash with Clemson in late December, White caught nine passes for 108 yards and a touchdown in the Vols' 31-14 win.

Staley has another couple of weeks of spring practices and an offseason of development before he tries to work himself into a similar role.

"I can play with speed," Staley said. "Right now, I'm trying to get used to just the pace of this offense, the tempo. I'm trying to get used to playing with my speed because I know I can run fast. I have great hands and I can run routes, so I'm just working on getting out of my breaks faster."

It helps that Staley is going through the same process as other players in the room, including Mike Matthews, the highly touted five-star freshman from Lilburn, Georgia.

He and Staley have leaned on each other since bowl prep and the two credit each other with their transition.

"Me and Braylon are (close). I pretty much talk to him everyday," Matthews said. "We're always in meetings together and always putting extra work in together. It's really helped me, having somebody else being in my shoes."

At 6-2, Matthews is working to make a name for himself at a position that has a mix of returning experience and untested potential. Like Staley, he has approached it competitively, wanting to stand out while maintaining the understanding that he has room to grow.

That's where the veterans have helped.

Tennessee returns Bru McCoy after he missed much of last season with an injury. White is heading into his third season in the program while Dont'e Thornton Jr., despite a late-season injury, is expected to have more an impact on the outside and at slot. Chris Brazzell II is among the newcomers himself, though he was one of the top receivers as a redshirt freshman at Tulane last season.

"I would say that it's a good mix of both (competitive and uplifting)," Matthews said. "It's definitely very intense, but everybody wants everybody to be good because we want to be good as a receiver group. It's pretty much everybody pushes everybody, but there's also no slacking going on. It's pretty much a good mix of both worlds."

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