While they might be inexperienced on the field, Tennessee receivers Travis Smith Jr. and Radarious Jackson don’t look like your typical freshman players.
Smith, who will be wearing No. 1 in his first season on Rocky Top, towers at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds. He was a four-star prospect from Atlanta in the class of 2025 who was referred to as a “matchup nightmare” on the recruiting trail.
Jackson, on the other hand, is a monster four-star in-state prospect. The Memphis native stands at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, and will be wearing No. 5 on the field for the Volunteers this season. Jackson was noted for having “outstanding leaping ability and strong hands” that led to some serious vertical playmaking ability in his recruiting profile on the trail.
Despite being younger guys, though, both might be called upon to see some early playing time this season, depending on the health and need of the wide receiver room.
Sophomore wide receiver Mike Matthews loves the size that they bring to the room.
“They’re almost like manchilds, you know? They’re not your typical freshmen,” Matthews said on Thursday. “(Radarious), 6-4, Travis, 6-5. They’re both, like, 210, 215 (pounds). So I feel like they’ve got a high room as long as they keep working, keep growing.”
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Tennessee wide receiver coach Kelsey Pope has seen great growth from his two young freshmen Jackson and Smith as the offseason has progressed, especially compared to where they were in the spring.
“Absolutely,” Pope said on the noticeable difference. “I think it’s important that when you see it, you tell them, like verbally, and I think also showing them the difference on film is extremely important. I think when they can see those visuals, it add confidence into them and you’ll continue to get some of those results. But both of those guys are light years ahead in terms of how we operate. Also, just being familiar with what we’re doing on offense. They look like different people than they did in spring and April.”
Tennessee projects to have senior Chris Brazzell, sophomore Mike Matthews, and redshirt-freshman Braylon Staley as its starting trio of receivers when the Vols open up against Syracuse on August 30. Behind that, though? There’s an opportunity for a young guy to step up. Whether that be Smith or Jackson, or potentially both to some extent, it’s not out of the question that Tennessee could call up one of its young guys to play a role with the offense this season.
“Man, young guys, I said it yesterday, our players have heard it a bunch. Young guys don’t have time to be young,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said at the beginning of fall camp. “We just started that in January. So they’ve got to continue to grow. I mentioned it earlier. Don’t make the same mistake twice. Learn from your other buddies that made a mistake and constantly grow. We get to the fall, nobody cares what age young guys are when they’re playing. It’s the end result.”
Here’s a look at some of the playmaking ability that both Radarious Jackson and Travis Smith Jr. had on the high school scene before arriving on Rocky Top:
Tennessee Fr. WR Radarious Jackson
Tennessee Fr. WR Travis Smith Jr.
