Being a slot receiver in Josh Heupel’s offense seems to be a very fun position. Tennessee football has made a tradition of elite players there under him.
Jalin Hyatt lit up the stats sheet in 2022 and raised his draft stock. Thanks to his great season, he took home the Fred Biletnikoff Award for being the nation’s top receiver.
With Hyatt opting out of the Orange Bowl in order to prepare for the NFL Draft, Squirrel White lined up in the slot for the Vols against Clemson. White gave us a sneak peek to what the 2023 season may hold.
On the field in the Orange Bowl, White hauled in nine catches for 108 and a touchdown. Off the field, White is the locker room comedian.
“I really love Squirrel,” center Cooper Mays told Off The Hook Sports. “He’s a funny, he’s just a really funny guy. It’s really hard to explain… He’s Squirrel. And he just plays into that role of being small and he runs with it. And he runs pretty fast, too.”
As a true freshman on the team and one of the smaller players at 5-foot-10, Mays describes White as a “little brother” on the team.
“He plays into his smallness,” Mays said. “He’s like the little brother on the team that is just a demon. And then the older brother is there, just kind of dealing with it, if that makes sense. It’s so hard to explain, but he just plays into his personality and everything so well.”
White is probably one of the quickest players on the team, and he has showcased that quickness on the field this season. He finished the year with 30 catches for 481 yards and two touchdowns.
White’s quickness and skill set in the slot position have likely earned him the starting spot for the 2023 season. Could he become the next great receiver product from Heupel’s offense? Mays says we can expect great things from him.
“The sky’s the limit for him,” Mays said. “I’m not going to sit here and act like I know a lot about receivers and the slot position, but he’s a guy that’s really fast, and can catch the ball really well, and makes people miss. So those three things put together makes a really good slot in my opinion. I’m excited to see. I’ll never put limits on Squirrel because he kind of proves them wrong every time.”
One Response
Joe milton had a good game in the ORANGE bowl game. Perhaps better than some may have expected. Still concerns about his movement in the pocket allow receivers yo get open down field.