KNOXVILLE - For the past three summers, the arrivals of that year's football signing class on campus meant Tennessee was welcoming a handful of immediate contributors.
It's a little different for the crop of newcomers who moved to Knoxville last week. The veteran Volunteers have fewer holes across the depth chart, so for the first time under coach Butch Jones there is no pressing need for certain freshmen to come in and play right away.
If there is one position unit where coaches would welcome an impact from a couple of first-year Vols, though, it's wide receiver, where Tennessee has four new players.
"There's no secret about it," Jones said last month before the Big Orange Caravan stop in Atlanta. "That's one of the position groups we're going to have to rely on true freshmen coming in.
"I thought (junior college transfer) Jeff George, the way he concluded and the way he ended spring will provide confidence and momentum in moving forward this summer but we're going to have to rely on some true freshmen. The older players, the quarterbacks and everyone around have to get them acclimated right away to how we practice, our practice structure and just the habits that it takes to play winning football."
The Vols have just four receivers with multiple career catches, and Josh Malone sat out spring practice following offseason surgery and Jauan Jennings underwent knee surgery in April, leaving his status uncertain for the start of preseason camp.
Limited depth and a two-year trend of injuries at the position mean receivers coach Zach Azzanni will look to groom some Tennessee rookies into reliable options as quickly as possible. George enrolled in January and went through spring practice, but the quartet of Tyler Byrd, Marquez Callaway, Brandon Johnson and Latrell Williams all began their Tennessee careers last week.
The incoming class of receivers is smaller than expected, though, with Corey Henderson having signed last week with Blinn College, a two-year school in Texas, after failing to qualify academically at Tennessee.
Byrd's future appeared to be on defense, but Tennessee's depth in the secondary and need for playmakers at receiver mean he'll start out on offense. He caught 36 passes for 641 yards and nine touchdowns during his senior season at Naples (Fla.) High School.
Ranked the top athlete in his class by ESPN, Byrd was going to be a playmaker wherever he lined up. In a national all-star game in January he blocked an extra point and intercepted a pass. Last month he won the state long jump title for the second year in a row with a leap of 24 feet, 5 inches.
Callaway, like Byrd, has playmaking potential in a wiry frame.
"This young man can track a deep ball as good as anyone we've been around," Zach Azzanni said on signing day. "He's a heck of an athlete. I don't think when I went and watched him play that he ever came off the field. He just jogged into the next huddle on the sideline, then jogged back out."
The speedy Williams, who ran a 10.8-second 100-meter dash at a high school meet in February, could play slot receiver.
"This guy, he can scoot," Azzanni said of Williams. "He's what you're looking for on the perimeter for speed. When Coach (Larry) Scott got the job, immediately he said, 'Hey, what about this kid down here in Florida?' We took a look at him and instantly, as a staff, we jumped on him."
Johnson may be the most unheralded prospect of the group, but his bloodlines suggest he can be successful. His father, Charles, was a Major League Baseball catcher who played in two All-Star games, earned four Gold Gloves and helped the Marlins win the 1997 World Series. The new receiver is also the nephew of former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson.
"Coach Jones and our staff pride ourselves on finding diamonds in the rough," Azzanni said. "This young man has some tremendous potential. His best football is in front of him. I think in about three years we're going to look back at this signee and we're going to be real happy when he gets drafted in the NFL."
Tennessee played more than two dozen freshmen the past two seasons, and though that trend won't completely stop in 2016 even with an older, more experienced team, the greatest opportunity for newcomers to make an impact is at receiver.
"Of course we're going to have to rely on some true freshmen to play," Jones said, "so this summer is big for the evolution of our team."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.