First impressions are long gone for Tennessee receiver Ramel Keyton.
The fifth-year senior will be playing in his 55th game for the Volunteers next Monday afternoon when they face Iowa in the Citrus Bowl. Helping Tennessee attain a ninth win this season and a 20th victory over a two-year stretch will be obvious motivational factors come New Year’s Day, but so will having this final showcase with the Vols to enhance his future fortunes.
“I feel like it’s important for me in my situation to go out and have a good game,” the 6-foot-3, 197-pounder from Marietta said last week in a news conference. “I’m doing special teams and things like that, and I want to make sure my performance is up to par. I want to perform at a high level and go out there and win.”
Tennessee last season produced a pair of receivers — Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman — who wound up third-round selections in April’s NFL draft. Hyatt became the program’s first Biletnikoff Award winner, but this year’s Vols receivers experienced more setbacks than success, with Bru McCoy suffering a season-ending injury against South Carolina and Dont’e Thornton against Missouri.
Keyton has been a 12-game starter who has set career-bests with 32 catches for 591 yards and a team-high six touchdowns, with his average of 18.5 yards a reception ranking third in the Southeastern Conference behind Alabama’s Jermaine Burton (22.2) and LSU’s Kyren Lacy (19.3). Yet it’s a season that has also contained drops, with the most notable occurring on Joe Milton’s first deep attempt of the season midway through the first quarter of the opener against Virginia in Nashville.