The Times Free Press is taking a positional look at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football roster with the Mocs’ season set to kick off in less than two months on Sept. 2 at North Alabama.
Here’s a look at the receivers and tight ends.
Who’s gone: At receiver, Tyron Arnett (298 yards in 2022, graduated); at tight end, Keshawn Toney (63 yards with a touchdown, transferred to South Carolina State).
Who’s back: At receiver, sophomores Sam Phillips (661 yards, 2 TDs) and Javin Whatley (451 yards, 3 TDs) and juniors Jamoi Mayes (570 yards, 4 TDs) and Tyler Smith (185 yards); at tight end, senior Jay Gibson (117 yards, TD) and sophomore Camden Overton (107 yards, 3 TDs).
Who’s in: At receiver, junior Zaire Thornton (652 yards, 2 TDs in two seasons at Tennessee State) and freshman A.J. Little.
Analysis: From top to bottom, this could be the team’s deepest and most talented group. In Mayes, Phillips and Whatley, the Mocs return the trio of starting receivers who blossomed throughout the course of the 2022 season, with Phillips a Freshman All-America third-team selection. Thornton was an All-Ohio Valley Conference selection at Tennessee State in 2021, Smith led the Mocs with 18.5 yards per catch last year, and sophomore Javon Burke was off to a solid start until a knee injury ended his first season at UTC prematurely. At tight end, Gibson and Overton form a solid tandem, with the latter emerging in the second half of last season.
The experience on the perimeter could help make up for the fact that UTC’s only quarterback with any starting experience in college is Tennessee State transfer Tucker Pope, a walk-on who started the 2021 fall season opener against Grambling yet didn’t attempt a pass. That position will have to be sorted out during the preseason, but whoever winds up taking the snaps will have players all around him who can make the job a bit easier.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.