Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Nathanael: C+
Marquez Callaway continues to be one of Jarrett Guarantano’s favorite targets, and it showed in a big way on Saturday. He set a career-high with nine catches and totaled 86 yards. Jauan Jennings wasn’t targeted as often as he should’ve been, but he made the most of his opportunities and scored once on three catches. Josh Palmer, however, had an extremely inconsistent day. He had a nice catch-and-run for 20 yards, but he dropped a couple other passes, and he and Guarantano were rarely on the same page. Most of those miscues weren’t on Palmer, but he still had his fair share of mistakes. Eli Wolf caught his first touchdown of his career, but he was the only tight end who was utilized in the passing game. Dominick Wood-Anderson’s health kept him from being a factor once again. I’m not going to hold the two penalties called on Jennings and Callaway against them too much because I thought they were questionable.
Ben: C
By the standards Tennessee receivers have set for themselves, I thought they underperformed against South Carolina and were simply average. Marquez Callaway was the lone bright spot, catching nine passes for 86 yards. Jauan Jennings received just four targets on the evening, and Josh Palmer was ineffective. Palmer’s stats likely would have been much better had Jarrett Guarantano not overthrown him three different times, but he also dropped a crucial deep ball late in the game. The running backs were more productive than the receivers through the air, and that can’t happen.
