Don’t forget about him: Forgotten Tennessee Vols player is making a push in key position battle
A player that wasn’t talked about this summer is quietly having a great fall camp for the Tennessee Vols.
The battle for wide receiver snaps behind Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley is one of the biggest topics of Tennessee Vols fall camp.
Most of the talk centers around sophomores Radarious Jackson and Travis Smith and true freshmen Tristen “TK” Keys and Tyreek King.
And for good reason — those four players have elite traits that suggest they could all be star wide receivers in the SEC.
Sophomore wide receiver Joakim Dodson, on the other hand, hasn’t been mentioned nearly as much in the conversation.
That’s probably because Dodson, a former three-star recruit, didn’t arrive in Knoxville with nearly as much hype as the others.
But Dodson is quietly having a consistent fall camp, to the point where he’s emerging as a reliable target in the passing game.
“Multiple sources told On3 that receiver Joakim Dodson had a strong scrimmage and is emerging as a reliable target to whoever ends up winning the starting job,” reported On3’s Pete Nakos on Saturday after Tennessee’s first fall scrimmage.
Vols wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope added this week that Dodson’s had a solid fall camp.
Dodson turned some heads in the Music City Bowl last December with a 95-yard kick return for a touchdown, but he had an otherwise quiet true freshman season with just two receptions for 38 yards.
I don’t know how Dodson will factor into the passing game — the Vols have an embarrassment of riches at wide receiver — but it certainly sounds like he’s going to earn a role in Tennessee’s offense this fall.
