Expected to lead
Vols look to Callaway after breakout season
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee receiver Marquez Callaway entered Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta last September with one catch in his college career, and that 13-yarder had come in mop-up action as a freshman in 2016.
By the time he left the building after Tennessee’s 42-41 season-opening win over Georgia Tech, he was — fair or not — a key part of the Volunteers’ offense as an inexperienced sophomore.
An injury to star receiver Jauan Jennings forced Callaway into the spotlight in the first substantive action with the Vols, and he responded with four catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns.
The expectations were set. The learning curve remained steep.
“We had to grow a lot,” Callaway said last week at SEC Media Days, just a few blocks away from the venue that housed his breakout performance a year ago.
Callaway, Brandon Johnson and Josh Palmer had a combined eight catches entering last season but were thrust into key roles at receiver during the Vols’ 4-8 campaign. Now they return with Jennings to form the core of a position group good enough to be the best on Tennessee’s roster, according to at least one pundit.
Phil Steele’s 2018 College Football Preview ranked Tennessee’s receivers the sixth-best in the Southeastern Conference, a higher ranking than any of the Vols’ other position groups.
“This unit is vastly more experienced and stronger,” read the magazine’s evaluation.
Much of that optimism centers on the progression of Callaway, who caught four passes in a game only once after the season opener.
“Trying to become more dependable and reliable for the quarterbacks,” Callaway said last week. “Trying to become a better leader for the younger guys, and probably still working on a lot of stuff — route running, and you can always catch more balls.”
Being asked to represent the team at SEC Media Days is a sign of that leadership blossoming in Callaway, who comes from a military family and is part of the athletic department’s VOLeaders program.
His emergence in the locker room comes as he will be asked to master a new offensive system. First-year coordinator Tyson Helton wants Tennessee’s receivers to learn each position within their group, Callaway said.
“He comes from the West Coast,” Callaway said of Helton, who spent the past two years as passing game coordinator at the University of Southern California. “Different style offense. We’ve got to learn more, so we started from scratch. That was one of the challenges, but I feel like the time they spent with us trying to learn it (has been focused on) not moving too fast but making sure we understand it. I think that’s one thing that is going to help us, too.”
With freshmen Alontae Taylor and Bryce Thompson expected to spend time working in the secondary when preseason practice begins Aug. 3, Tennessee is only guaranteed to have one scholarship newcomer among its receivers. Cedric Tillman is a freshman who at 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds has demonstrated impressive physicality, Callaway said.
Enigmatic junior Tyler Byrd is also returning after a move to the secondary during spring practices did not last. Roles will be hashed out during preseason practices, but when the season opener against West Virginia arrives Sept. 1, it won’t take a surprise injury to put Callaway in the spotlight, as it did a year ago.
“I think Marquez gives that element of a guy that can play with speed or he can play with power,” first-year Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt said. “We’re excited about seeing what he can do this fall.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.
“Trying to become more dependable and reliable for the quarterbacks. Trying to become a better leader for the younger guys, and probably still working on a lot of stuff — route running, and you can always catch more balls.” – MARQUEZ CALLAWAY