The Tennessee Vols‘ struggles over the last decade aren’t because the program didn’t have talent.
Tennessee has struggled because the program hasn’t had coaches that could consistently develop talent.
We’ve seen numerous players over the years that were under-utilized at UT go on to have success in the NFL.
Alvin Kamara, Marquez Callaway, Shy Tuttle, and Emmanuel Moseley are just a few of the players who were drafted way lower than they should’ve been (Callaway, Tuttle, and Moseley were actually undrafted free agents).
You can add former Vols wide receiver Josh Palmer to that list (along with offensive lineman Trey Smith, who we’ve discussed plenty this offseason).
Palmer was selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Canada native played four years at Tennessee, catching 99 passes for 1,514 yards and seven touchdowns. Palmer never had more than 484 receiving yards in a season while at UT.
Those certainly aren’t impressive numbers. But it’s important to remember that Palmer played at Tennessee during a time when the offense struggled mightily.
Palmer’s freshman year (2017), which was Butch Jones’ final season leading the program, was a complete disaster from start to finish.
The Jeremy Pruitt era wasn’t much better. Tennessee’s quarterback situation was constantly unsettled while Pruitt was at the helm, which didn’t do the wide receivers on the roster any favors.
Los Angeles, however, looked past those issues and took a chance on Palmer in the third round.
It looks like that decision is going to pay off for the Chargers. Palmer is having a great training camp. And he’s already impressing teammate Keenan Allen, a four-time Pro-Bowl wide receiver.
“Josh is doing a very good job, with as young as he is and how he’s able to run routes,” said Allen this week (via Chargers.com). “He’s aggressive, he’s friendly with the quarterbacks, and he’s precise.”
“That’s a good thing from a rookie,” added Allen. “He’s polished. You can tell he’s polished and knows what to do. He obviously knows releases, he knows leverage. He just knows how to run routes already.”
Allen also said he thinks Palmer is ahead of where he was as a rookie.
If Palmer is that far advanced, then he could be in for a huge rookie season. Allen caught 71 passes for 1,046 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie.
We’ll see if Palmer can equal those numbers in 2021. So far, it certainly sounds like his NFL career is off to a terrific start.
Featured image via Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports/Brianna Paciorka/Pool via News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services
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Four-time Pro-Bowl WR offers extremely high praise for former Vols WR Josh Palmer - atozsportsnashville.com
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