Time will tell just how much Tennessee Football defensive back Boo Carter plays on offense. For now, the sophomore Vol is getting a look at slot receiver during spring practice.
“He’s primarily a defensive back, but I love seeing Boo on offense during the little chances we do get,” UT quarterback Nico Iamaleava said following spring practice on Wednesday. “I love seeing that man go to work.”
Carter is known for his, shall we say, personality. It’s rarely quiet around Carter, whether he’s playing offense or defense.
“Boo talks a lot,” Iamaleava said with a smirk. “That’s since we played tournaments in high school. Boo always is going to talk for sure.”
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Vols could use a little more swagger amongst a largely unproven set of receivers.
“It’s great,” Iamaleava said. “It rubs off on a lot of our guys because I wouldn’t say a lot of our guys are big talkers, so when he comes over, he brings that energy. It’s great having Boo.”
Carter may add some extra juice to the receiver room. However, Iamaleava clearly has to take the lead in that regard. He said he’s been very willing to do so.
“I’ve taken that leadership role in trying to lead the young guys in the receiver room,” Iamaleava said. “Obviously, we have a lot of young guys in there. Chris Brazzell (II) is taking that next step and taking the lead in that receiver room.
“I asked him to watch over those young guys and make sure they’re ready to go when their number gets called. Collectively as a whole, us doing it together has been a big part for us this spring.”
The Vols have a couple of other young receivers that have garnered offseason media coverage – for different reasons. Former Alabama wideout Amari Jefferson was quite the coup for the Vols even if he’s still hampered by a hip injury.
“It’s been great,” Iamaleava said. “He’s only been out with us just catching balls so far. He’s still coming back from a little bit of an injury, but it’s been great to have Amari.”
Then, there’s Travis Smith Jr., who already looks the part of a college receiver at 6-foot-3 and 207 pounds.
“That’s a big dude right there and he can run for sure,” Iamaleava said. “I saw him out there today make a couple of plays. He’s a young guy and when his number gets called, I think he’ll be ready for sure.”
It’s up to Tennessee’s coach to make sure their unproven receivers are ready this fall. There’s certainly a scenario in which the Vols could be strong at receiver and another in which they could seem, well, unproven. It’s all about things falling into place during spring practice, summer workouts and then fall camp. Nevertheless, there will still be an unknown with the Vols’ current crew of receivers.
“No matter what a true freshman looks like going through spring and fall camp, you don’t really know what you have until you get under the lights in front of 100,000 people,” offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said. “It’s our job to make sure that the learning process isn’t what keeps them off the field.
“They have to go show that against elite competition (that) they can go make plays.”
And if they do, Carter will be more than willing to tell defensive players all about it.
