“I’ve kind of had a relationship with Cedric ever since the South Carolina game,” Webb told GoVols247 last week. “He’s kind of, I would say, took me under his wing and showed me what to do and what not to do. Him being that type of guy, he’s kind of like a leader in the receiver room as well, especially with
JaVonta (Payton) and
Velus (Jones Jr.) leaving. I’m excited to play alongside him and hopefully make some plays together.”
Like everybody at Tennessee, Webb was relieved when Tillman opted to return for the 2022 season instead of entering the NFL Draft, and now the two will be playing together for (at least) one season and Webb will be playing the same outside receiver position.
“I’ve been building a bond with him since midway through the season, so I’m excited to play alongside him,” Webb said. “He’s a great leader as well as a great talent, and kind of hearing his story on how he just exploded this year after not very much production, it’s kind of intriguing to me, so I’m just excited, that’s all I can say.”
When he participated at a camp at Tennessee in June, Webb's lone FBS offers were from East Carolina, Liberty and Western Kentucky, and he committed to the Pirates a few days later. He left the camp, where he impressed wide receivers coach
Kodi Burns, in Knoxville hoping for an offer from the Vols, but it didn't come for a couple of months until late August. Webb admitted it was hard to be patient waiting for the offer from Tennessee.
“I thought it was a possibility, but not even going to lie, I think after the camp it was kind of like a month went by and I didn’t really think I was going to get an offer from Tennessee, to be honest,” Webb recalled. “Me and Burns kept in touch throughout that time, and after my first game, I had, I would say, an explosive game, and then Coach Burns just told me to be patient, that he wanted me and I was his guy and that he was going to get me there. … I feel like they did a good job recruiting me and that also led me to signing there.”
Webb visited Tennessee for the home games against South Carolina and Ole Miss in October and took his official visits to Louisville, Michigan and Tennessee in the following weeks. The Vols sealed the deal with their official visit in the first weekend of December, and he committed a week later. Now Webb is planning to make an immediate impact at Tennessee and he wants to make the most of his early start with the Vols.
“I’m really excited to just start this new journey of my life,” he said. “I plan to come in and try to make an immediate impact. I’m just going to be in my books, study the playbook, try to get bigger and faster before the season comes and hopefully get some playing time my freshman year.”
Webb added: “You get to go through spring ball. You get to hit weights, get in the playbook, so with that and the spring, that transitioning to the season, you kind of have a heads up fitness-wise and stamina-wise, also your mental part of the game as well. So I feel like all that just plays a little part of you having an advantage which could possibly lead to early playing time.”
In Tillman, Webb will have a veteran teammate whose lead he can follow as he looks to continue his ascent as a freshman for the Vols.
“You’ve got to work on the little details, trying to get out of your breaks faster and learning how to play the ball in the air, stuff like that,” he said.
“You want to learn how to do that to be effective at a high level, and then also just getting in the playbook. When it comes to the end of the day, you’ve just got to make plays, so that’s what I want to do.”
