It takes more than one person to replace Velus Jones Jr. That’s no surprise. Jones was a certainly a special player.
The former Tennessee receiver did plenty for the Vols when they had had the ball last season. Jones’ 62 receptions last season was 10th best in the SEC. His 807 receiving yards was ninth-best in the SEC. That’s just part of the story.
Jones also was a special teams fiend last season. The transfer from Southern California averaged 15.1-yards per punt return last season. That led the SEC and was second in the nation. Jones also averaged 27.3-yards per kickoff return, which was in the Top 20 nationally.
So who steps in for Jones in special teams?
“We got a bunch of guys and a lot of guys that are capable,” Tennessee special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler said. “We’re really excited about it. Velus Jones Jr. is a hard guy to replace, but we are going to do it by committee.”
Senior defensive back Tre Flowers and junior college defensive back transfer Dee Williams have been working extensively with Tennessee’s punt return unit. Junior receiver Jimmy Holiday, running back Dylan Sampson, freshman running back Dylan Sampson and junior defensive back Nico Slaughter have seen most of the time returning kickoff.
Ekeler admitted that Tennessee’s coaches may expect a bit too much out of Tennessee’s returners. Jones was more than your average return man.
When asked if he’d rather his return men be better at breaking a big play or protecting the ball, Ekeler said, “We’re kind of greedy. We want both. We want a guy who can strike up Rocky Top. That’s the objective.
“We get a pitch to hit, and we want to hear our fight song. We feel like we work so much with these guys in the offseason and during the season with ball security and catching the ball. We feel like we can get the best of both worlds and we are going to.”
