Quite the interesting receiver room Tennessee has.
Last year was Nico Iamaleava’s first season as Tennessee’s starter, this year the staff is hoping it becomes his team. The former five-star prospect has reportedly been a much more vocal leader in team sessions so far this offseason, while pushing others around him to get better even when away from Knoxville.
One of those he’s pushing is Mike Matthews, who might just end up being his top target this fall. Through all the NIL drama and rumors, both Matthews and Iamaleava ended up staying in hopes of taking this offense to the next level in 2025. Spring practice got going last week, but the work began long before that.
“I spent a lot of time with him,” Iamaleava said of Matthews. “He came out to Cali and trained with me a little bit, so got to get some extra reps with him out there. Really just, we got a new scheme in and just him dialing into the new scheme. Yeah, man, just us building that rapport.”
Matthews will be a top option for Tennessee along with Chris Brazzell this season. From there, it’s a bunch of question marks and youth. Matthews himself hasn’t played a ton, thanks to a couple of untimely injuries. But we did see a couple of those flashes late in the year, and Tennessee is set to lean heavily on him going forward.
“I think his ball skills, man,” Iamaleava said of Matthews. “He has great ball skills and just him being out there more. Last year and in spring ball he was still coming back off of hamstring injury and stuff like that, so I didn’t really get to get as many reps as I wanted. This year, Mike has taken that big step as showing up as a pro every day and coming to work.”
Tennessee’s going to need a healthy Matthews as the depth chart currently stands. Braylon Staley is the favorite to handle slot duties, and then you have four guys who haven’t seen a college football field before.
Alabama transfer Amari Jefferson joins the team this season, but didn’t play his first year due to injuries. He’s joined by true freshmen Travis Smith Jr., Radarious Jackson and Joakim Dodson.
Getting those guys up to speed as fast as possible is one of the top priorities of the spring.
“I’ve taken that leadership role and trying to lead the young guys in the receiver room,” Iamaleava said. “We got a lot of young guys in there and. Obviously Chris Brazzell is taking that next step and taking lead to that receiver room. I asked him to watch over those young guys and make sure they’re ready to go when their number gets called. So, I think just, collectively us as a whole, us doing it together has been a big part for us this spring.”
Tennessee’s passing attack was lacking as whole last season, mostly unable to get anything consistent going down the field. You’d expect Iamaleava to make a decent jump in his second season as a starter, but nearly a complete reboot at receiver — not to mention four new starters up front — will provide a challenge.
This receiver room is the ultimate wildcard looking ahead to this fall. It will be interesting to see them get their first action inside of Neyland Stadium during the Orange and White Game.