Tennessee receiver Braylon Staley named top SEC freshman

Tennessee wide receiver Braylon Staley has been named the SEC Freshman of the Year. 

The award includes both freshman and redshirt freshman. 

The South Carolina native leads the Vols with 64 receptions for 806 yards and 6 touchdown. Staley is averaging 12.6 yards a reception. 

In his first year as a Vol, Staley played in 4 games recording 3 catches for 21 yards as he battled a hamstring injury. For Staley year one to year two success has obviously come because of more opportunities but also growth in the offense. 

“I think route running for one, he is much better. He understands angles,” receivers coach Kelsey Pope said. “He does a great job of sitting in windows over the middle of the field. He does a great job of fluctuating speed, knowing when to play at top speeds and being able to manipulate defenders that way. I say the biggest leap that he’s taken is just physicality. When he got here, he was obviously a football player in high school. But he ran track and physicality didn’t come natural. And you guys know, just like I know in this league, man, you got to be physical at every position. And you see him on some of the stuff where he’s blocking. And against Oklahoma, he’s pinning a guy on the sideline on the ground, and Mike’s sprinting for 20, 30 yards because of it. And I think that physicality helps him also in routes when you get man coverage and things like that. But he’s taking the leap there, and I think it’s helped his confident a lot. He’s playing at a high level right now.”

Staley was one of three Tennessee receivers to have over 700 yards receiving. Chris Brazzell had 1017 yards and Mike Matthews had 770 yards in the regular season. It’s the first Vol trio to record 700+ yards in the same year.