While the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Neyor isn’t completely closing the door on other schools, he said Monday night that “those are the top three as of right now.” And he doesn’t expect to change his mind about visiting USC, Texas and Tennessee.
“Those are pretty much locked in right now,” he told GoVols247. “I’m locked in with those three schools.”
Neyor, who caught 44 passes for 878 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, said the Vols’ fast-paced, high-scoring offense under coach Josh Heupel is one of the main reasons he’s interested in Tennessee. The Vols ranked No. 9 nationally in total offense this season.
“I like their offense,” Neyor said. “I like the way they’re a fast offense, (that) they get the ball to their playmakers and the head coach’s history with his offense. He’s had a top-five offense in the past couple teams he’s been with, so that alone attracted me to Tennessee. That’s why I like what they’ve got going on.”
A former two-star prospect from Lamar High School in Arlington, Texas, Neyor said he has never been to Tennessee’s campus. He said he’s “just looking forward to meeting with the coaches” during his official visit to Knoxville” and just seeing what it’s like” there.
“It’s all about my gut feeling — just to kind of see what the feeling is over there, kind of explore around, talk to some players and just see what it’s like overall,” he said. “The facilities are nice, but that’s not really my top priority right now.”
For that matter, he’s not focused on where he plays. He was born and raised in Texas, but he said he doesn’t expect the opportunity to return home to be the deciding factor in where he transfers.
“Location’s not really a factor,” Neyor said. “I’m just, like I said, looking for a system that fits me best, where I can reach my full potential as an athlete, whether it’s in Texas or it’s somewhere all across the country. That’s kind of my plan.”
Neyor said he has been in contact with Tennessee’s coaches “pretty frequently” over the past two weeks, led by wide receivers coach Kodi Burns, offensive coordinator Alex Golesh and Heupel himself.
With the Vols looking to replace two of their starting receivers from this season — seniors Velus Jones Jr. and JaVonta Payton — Neyor said they envision him playing opposite redshirt junior wide receiver Cedric Tillman, who was their leading receiver this season. Tillman recently became the first Tennessee player to finish a season with more than 1,000 receiving yards since Justin Hunter in 2012.
“They’re losing one of their receivers. I think he was behind Cedric Tillman in receptions and yards — I forgot his name — but (they want me) just to go over there and just to kind of take his role and just to do what I can do,” said Neyor, who claims to have been timed at 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
“I’m looking forward to that hopefully, potentially, if I do go to Tennessee.”
He said he decided to take an official visit to USC this week because of “just the history with Lincoln Riley,” the Trojans’ new coach, and “what he’s done with previous players and transfers and people like that.”
“Just the opportunity that they present over there, I’m looking forward to seeing what it’s like over there,” Neyor said.
Texas is intriguing to Neyor, he said, because of the opportunity to join quarterback Quinn Ewers — a former five-star prospect who announced last month that he’s transferring from Ohio State to the Longhorns — and wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who caught 62 passes for 981 yards and 12 touchdowns this season as a true freshman.
“I was born and raised in Texas. It would be nice to play at home,” Neyor said. “But, once again, just looking for the right system.
“Texas, them getting a good quarterback and them having a good receiver, just to be able to play alongside him, that’s one of the things I was looking into, if I potentially were to go to Texas.”
Neyor, who plans to decide on a school this month in time to enroll for the start of the spring semester, said he’s simply focused on “catching a lot of footballs and just making more plays” as he continues to weigh his options.
“I feel like I did a lot this year, or last season,” he said. “But I feel like there’s a lot that was left out on the field, that I could’ve done more to help the team out. So just looking for a team where I can get more opportunities and develop more as a receiver, as an athlete overall. Just looking for that in the next school that I decide to go to.”
