Josh Heupel expects Tennessee wide receivers to be 'electric'

Tennessee officially lost two top-notch wide receivers this week when New York selected Jalin Hyatt and Cleveland selected Cedric Tillman in the NFL Draft. However, as productive as they were, Josh Heupel sees a path to little to no drop off when it comes to the Volunteer’s receiving corps.

Heupel spoke highly of Tennessee’s receivers following their spring game last month. He said they’ve done a fantastic job of progressing this spring even while dealing with injuries. By the end, though, they showed off a ton to the point where he expects ‘electric’ excellence out of them next season.

“Four of (our) top receivers weren’t playing today. Three of them would certainly be able to play if it was a normal game week,” Heupel said. “We’ve been banged up a little bit throughout the course of it…(And) there has been extra pressure applied to those guys because of the reps.”

“That group as a whole has been really good in what they’ve done over the course of spring ball…(I) anticipate that being an electric group when we get to the fall,” said Heupel. “They’re long, they’re competitive, they have speed. They have a pretty good understanding of what we’re doing right now offensively. We’re going to need them to play at a really high level as we get into the fall. The guys that have been playing have absolutely competed extremely hard throughout the course of spring ball….I can’t say enough about what that group has done under Coach Pope’s direction.”

Hyatt and Tillman took a combined 1,684 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns with them to the pros. That accounts for nearly 40% of the team’s receiving yards and almost half of their touchdowns.

While that’s quite the chunk, several top options still remain on Rocky Top. Bru McCoy finished second in catches (52) and yards (667) as well as third in touchdowns. Ramel Keyton (31 catches, 562 yards, four touchdowns) is returning for a fifth season after a breakout campaign. Squirrel White (30 catches, 481 yards, two touchdowns) will also be back in orange next year.

Heupel has all the options he’ll need for the Volunteer offense to be just as prolific in the pass game in his third season. He sounds quite excited about the unit as a whole too based on what they showed over the course of the spring.