KNOXVILLE -- A second Tennessee junior football player is turning pro.
Wide receiver Josh Malone on Tuesday told multiple media outlets he will forego his senior season with the Volunteers and enter the NFL draft.
Program sources indicated to the Times Free Press throughout December that Malone was leaning toward leaving early and would play his final game for Tennessee in the Music City Bowl in his hometown of Nashville.
Malone caught five passes for 120 yards and a key fourth-quarter 59-yard touchdown against Nebraska to complete a breakout junior season in which he caught 50 passes for 972 yards and 11 touchdowns.
His 11 touchdown catches were the most in a single season by a Tennessee receiver since Robert Meachem also caught in 11 in 2006 prior to becoming a first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints.
"It was a real special thing for me to hit double digits," Malone said after a mid-December practice, "because I know how hard that is, especially in college football and especially at Tennessee, when you look at the names of the wide receivers that hit double digits at Tennessee. Just to be up there with those names is an honor.
"It's just real special for me, and it was a lot of hard work to get there."
Tennessee wide receiver Josh Malone catches a touchdown pass ahead of Missouri defensive back Dawson Downing during the Vols' home football game against the Missouri Tigers at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Tennessee won their final home game of the season 63-37.Malone was a five-star prospect out of Station Camp High School in Gallatin and chose Tennessee over Georgia and Florida State, among others.
He battled injuries as a freshman in 2014, when he caught 23 passes for 231 yards and one touchdown, and his production increased in 2015 with 31 receptions for 405 yards -- the second-most on the team, only 4 yards behind Von Pearson -- and two touchdowns.
After recording just one game of 80-plus receiving yards -- a 103-yard performance at Kentucky in 2015 -- as a freshman and sophomore, Malone had six games of at least 81 yards this season, including each of the final four games of the season.
Among SEC wide receivers, Malone ranked 10th in receptions, third in yards and touchdown catches and second in yards per catch with a 19.4-yard average.
"My main focus going on to this year was making sure I finished the play, and I felt like I did a great job of doing that this year," he said last month. "I had a strong emphasis on my releases and being a lot more physical out there, and I felt like I accomplished that this year in my play.
"I just made a lot of progress throughout my career, too, to the point where I'm at now."
With Neyland Stadium adorned in a checkerboard pattern, Josh Malone (3) races to a fourth-quarter touchdown for Tennessee on Saturday. The Volunteers won 38-28 after trailing 21-0 to Florida, which had won the last 11 games in the series.Malone is projected as mid- or late-round pick, but his stock after next season likely won't be as high as it is now with Tennessee breaking in a new quarterback and operating under a new offensive coordinator.
The Vols will have a much bigger presence in the draft after two straight shutout years with projected first-rounder Derek Barnett, who's yet to officially announce his decision, and projected third- or mid-rounders in cornerback Cameron Sutton, linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and running back Alvin Kamara, who announced hours after the bowl win he was leaving after his junior season.
Malone's departure means Jauan Jennings is Tennessee's leading returning receiver, and the Vols will hope the likes of Tyler Byrd (should he remain on offense), Brandon Johnson and Marquez Callaway develop considerably after their freshman seasons.
"I think it's in great hands, too," Malone said after the Music City Bowl, "especially with the underclassmen. I know like in the wide receiver squad, I just tell them take advantage of every opportunity and just to work on their technique every time they step on the field, because you're just one play away, every time you step on the field."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.