A position group that has some real star power for Tennessee football in 2026 is its group of wide receivers. The Vols return two starters from last year’s vaunted pass attack and have multiple options to fill in for the departure of breakout star Chris Brazzell.
The top returner is redshirt-sophomore slot receiver Braylon Staley. He is coming off a terrific year in which he was named SEC Freshman of the Year while reeling in 68 receptions for 837 yards and six touchdowns.
The other returning starter is Mike Matthews. The outside receiver enters his junior year with the expectation of taking another jump. The former five-star recorded 53 catches for 813 yards and four scores last year.
“It’s weird, it feels like just yesterday they were coming in here and they were the young guys that everyone was wanting to know about,” Tennessee receivers coach and passing game coordinator Kelsey Pope said about Staley and Matthews. “But it’s gratifying to see those kids come in with big eyes and curiosity and not really knowing what’s to come – really a lot of them of unknowns.
“They buy into a program. They buy-in to a coach. They see success, and now they’re preaching the same things that I’m preaching. Sometimes I’ve got to stop them, because they sound like me from saying the same things because they’ve heard it for two years now. I’m super proud of the way that they’ve taken on that role off the field. They took guys to spring break. They went somewhere in Florida or something like that. They’re actually doing a good job of keeping the camaraderie together in that room.”
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It’s the other starting job that opened in the wake of Brazzell’s departure that is up for grabs. An outside role, there are three main options, all of which will likely get some run throughout the year even if they don’t start. This features second-year receivers Travis Smith Jr. and Radarious Jackson and five-star freshman TK Keys. Both Smith and Jackson got occasional play throughout their freshmen years as four-star prospects, but battled injury.
That quartet of Matthews, Smith, Jackson and Keys makes up the majority of the outside receiver room for UT. In the slot behind Staley, the backups are second-year Joakim Dodson, four-star freshman Tyreek King and Idaho State transfer Ian Duarte.
Other receivers on the roster that fill out the room feature Carson Whitehead, Jack-Henry Jakobik, Nathan Roberts, Ben Petermann, Deon Hardin and JaColby Cooper.
