The Tennessee Volunteers appear to have a problem that any coach would want to have: a lot of good players and not enough places to play them.
That appears to be the case with the Vols' deep and talented receiving corps, and that was on display on Saturday afternoon inside Neyland Stadium during Tennessee's annual Orange and White game.
With 2023 starters Bru McCoy and Squirrel White both out, the opportunity was even greater for other players to step up and prove they belong in the wide receiver rotation, and several players answered the bell.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was Dayton Sneed. The redshirt freshman out of Hermitage, Tennessee was quick, ran solid routes, and looked like a guy who could handle the slot position role well. He took a screen pass, made a man miss, and ran for a 13-yard touchdown to open the scoring for the game.
Mike Matthews, the top 30 2024 recruit, also made his mark. He threw a strong block to spring Sneed for his touchdown in the second quarter. He also took a deep pass from Gaston Moore 62 yards to the house right before the end of the first half, beating cornerback Jordan Matthews to the corner of the end zone.
The big plays weren't over though, as Chris Brazzell II got in on the fun in the second half. The transfer from Tulane blew past Temple transfer cornerback Jalen McMurray and took a ball in stride from Jake Merklinger for an easy 71-yard touchdown.
Dont'e Thornton, Chas Nimrod, and Kaleb Webb also pulled in catches for Tennessee on Saturday. According to Josh Heupel, this group of wide receivers is the deepest group he's had since he arrived in Knoxville over three years ago.
"This is the deepest wide receiver pool that we've had," Heupel said after the game. "Now, there's a lot of young guys in our system that have a lot of growth that they've got to make before we get to the opener, but really before we get to training camp, too. That's freshman, transfers, young guys inside of our system. But I love the competitiveness of that group. They made plays. Fundamentally, they're getting so much better. Releases, ball not in their hands, how they're blocking. Understanding how to stem and work second and third-level defenders.
"It's been really good to see how they've grown, and a lot [is] left out there for them."
Competition makes players better. Iron sharpens iron, as they say. It appears that the battle for spots on the depth chart this fall among the wideouts will be one of the fiercest, and perhaps the toughest for the coaches to evaluate.
That should only make Tennessee's offense that much better once the season begins.
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