Tennessee freshman wide receiver Marquez North has impressed coaches and teammates with his maturity and ability to pick up the Vols’ offensive scheme since joining the team.KNOXVILLE — Just two games into his college career, Marquez North already made a catch that earned him a spot in SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays on ESPN.
The Tennessee freshman receiver caught five passes for 60 yards against Austin Peay and Western Kentucky, but the 6-foot-4, 215-pound former four-star recruit has yet to show what he can do after the catch.
The Volunteers certainly hope to see that side of North’s game on Saturday at second-ranked Oregon, but there’s two things that need to be done for that to happen: the freshman has to fine-tune the details of his routes, and quarterback Justin Worley has to make an accurate enough throw that North can do what perhaps he does best.
“Part of that is him not running the right depths, maybe the breaking points are poor — that’s why Justin can’t turn him into a ballcarrier yet because he’s not allowing himself to be a ballcarrier,” Tennessee receivers coach Zach Azzanni said following Wednesday afternoon’s practice.
“He’s not exactly where he’s supposed to be and he’s not there how he’s supposed to get there, and that comes with experience and more technique and just getting better. He was a running back most of his career. People forget that. That’s what he really was his senior year as well.”