Tennessee found its answer to a question that everyone was asking before the season, and it’s a big-time offensive difference maker
The Tennessee Volunteers have the answer to one of their biggest offensive question marks, and it could be a huge difference maker.
One of the questions that Tennessee needed to answer early this season revolved around the No. 3 wide receiver role.
Everyone knew that third-year receivers Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley were locked in as the top two options, but the battle behind them was wide open between true freshman TK Keys and sophomores Radarious Jackson and Travis Smith Jr.
Through the first two games of the season, it’s clear that Jackson, a former four-star recruit from Memphis, has emerged as Tennessee’s No. 3 wide receiver.
Jackson is tied with Matthews for the team lead in receptions (six), and he played 35 snaps against Georgia Tech — 21 snaps more than Smith and 31 snaps more than Keys.
“We’re continuing to gain confidence in him,” said Vols head coach Josh Heupel of Jackson during an appearance on The Mike Keith Show. “Although we had great trust and confidence in him to begin with. He’s getting better as a young football player every snap that he gets out there. He’s done a great job here in the early part of the season. He’s a young guy last year who was really coming on and then gets hurt in the Georgia game and misses five or six weeks. He has continued to grow from that point, and he’s somebody that we’ve got a lot of trust in.”
Something that’s important to note with Jackson is that he didn’t focus on playing wide receiver in high school. He was getting reps at running back, quarterback, and even safety in addition to playing wide receiver.
Jackson did whatever his team needed of him — which shows that he’s made of the right stuff. As a result, this is the first time in his career that he’s focused solely on playing wide receiver.
Jackson, 6-foot-2/208 pounds, has all the physical traits to be an elite receiver. At this point, he just needs reps.
Tennessee is still high on Keys and Smith — and both of those players could still play key roles this season — but Jackson has claimed the No. 3 wide receiver job with his strong play in the first two games of the season.
