With the start of the 2025 season looming, Tennessee football still has questions about the health of its wide receiver room. The Vols were already thin at the spot on paper, but have suffered numerous setbacks to the position before the season has even begun.
However, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel gave a bit of encouraging news on the status of the room. He noted that the projected starting trio of receivers, Mike Matthews, Chris Brazzell II and Braylon Staley, are all with the team during practices.
“Mike has been with us for a long time,” Heupel said. “There were a couple days where we limited him. Chris has been with us here the last few days, and Braylon was with us this last day, as well.”
Matthews missed a small portion of full practice activities due to injury, but was quick to return to full health. He donned a red non-contact jersey for a bit before graduating to a yellow jersey. Now, he’s the healthiest of the three and is going to be asked to play a significant role as a sophomore.
He is coming off his true freshman year, which saw him battle through injury. Matthews still appeared in 11 games, recording seven receptions for 90 yards and two touchdowns. His best game against SEC competition was against Vanderbilt when he recorded three catches for 30 yards and a touchdown. During the second scrimmage of this fall camp, he’s already shown flashes.
“Mike made some big plays down the football field,” Heupel said. “Tight ends were a part of it as well. I thought early in the scrimmage in particular operated well offensively and moved the football.”
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Brazzell missed a good chunk of the start to fall camp due to a lower-body injury. As he recovered, he was forced to watch practices from the sideline. However, recently, Brazzell has worked his way back to being a limited participant. He was only running abbreviated routes on air when the media was able to watch a week ago, but it is unclear how much he has progressed since then.
Brazzell transferred to Tennessee from Tulane ahead of the 2024 season and started at receiver on the Vols’ 2024 College Football Playoff team. The 6-foot-5 receiver managed to reel in 29 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns.
Staley, the projected starter in the slot, was with the team to start camp, but was sidelined early. After missing a good string of practices, Heupel now says he was able to rejoin the team in their most recent practice to some extent.
Staley earned a redshirt during his true freshman season in 2024 as a limited contributor. He played in four games while totalling three catches for 21 yards.
Behind the projected three starters is inexperienced talent. On the outside, four-star freshmen Travis Smith Jr. and Radarious Jackson have emerged in fall camp. On the inside, redshirt freshman and Alabama transfer Amari Jefferson and true freshman and standard enrollee Joakim Dodson have gotten in the mix.
