Who is the best WR of all time at UT?

#27
#27
Well, let's start at the beginning. Just to illustrate how much the game has changed, "Kyle 'Buddy' Cruze re-established the wide receiver at Tennessee as coach Bowden Wyatt reconstructed the Vols' program with a 10-1 season - undefeated in the regular season - and an SEC title.

Cruze was just the second receiver to reach double figures in receptions in Tennessee history when he caught 12 balls his junior year (1955) for 232 yards and a 19.3-yard average.

In 1956, he became the first Tennessee receiver to catch 20 passes and the first to top 300 yards, finishing with 357 to receive All-America status. He had 16- and 35-yard receptions to help beat Georgia Tech his senior season" (
UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics - Football).
 
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#28
#28
Ive seen most of these guys from the mid 70s and later.I dont know if he is the best receiver or not but Ive never seen any one as electric with the ball in their hands as CP. i couldnt have imagined him getting to play on some of our better teams .
 
#30
#30
Hancock was always my personal favorite...The dude could leap up between 2 or 3 defenders and somehow come down with the ball...And super fast!
 
#33
#33
Subsequent wide receivers who became All-Americans at Tennessee include the following:

Robert Meachem (2006) "Robert Meachem made the most of his one season as a Tennessee starter, setting a school record for receiving yards in a season and earning All-America honors from three different publications. He caught 71 passes for 1,298 yards in 2006 and finished the season leading the SEC in receiving yards per game with 99.8" (UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics - Football).

Carl Pickens (1991) UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics - Football

Tim McGee (1985) Tim always struck me as the Tennessee equivalent of Lynn Swann, a precise routerunner who moved with great fluidity and grace. "McGee caught 50 passes for 947 yards and seven touchdowns while leading the Vols to the 1985 SEC title. His 18.9-yard average that year stands as the peak and wasn't touched in more than 20 years" (UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics - Football)

Willie Gault (1982) "Willie Gault was in a class of his own, and his performances spoke for themselves. The speedy receiver earned All-America honors his senior season after hauling in 50 receptions for 668 yards. . . . Half of his football records were SEC records as well. He had more total yards in kickoff returns (1,854) than in receiving (1,482) and returned five kickoffs for touchdowns in his career. Gault averaged 16.4 yards each time he touched the football. He covered 2,513 total yards in returns" (UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics - Football).

Larry Sievers (1975, 1976) A tremendous leaper, one who possessed phenomenal hands, "Seivers totaled 347 yards as a sophomore, but exploded in 1975 for 840 yards on 41 receptions. It was the first time any Tennessee receiver topped the 800-yard mark in a season, earning him All-America honors. The following year, Seivers caught 51 passes for 737 yards and was again named All-America. He left Tennessee with more catches than anyone (117) and most yards gained in his career (1,976)" ( UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics - Football).

Richmond Flowers (1967) Richmond garnered "All-America honors his junior season of 1967 as wingback for the Vols. He only carried the ball 10 times for 24 yards, but led Tennessee with 41 receptions for 585 yards and four touchdowns" (UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics - Football).

This doesn't even take into consideration such luminaries as Joey Kent, Marcus Nash, Alvin Harper, Anthony Morgan, Stanley Morgan, Donte Stallworth, Kelly Washington, and Peerless Price.
 
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#34
#34
Not old enough to watch in the 70s, but didn't Morgan play TB before playing WR for the Patriots?
1980s - Carl Pickens (but Gault is VERY close - the best returner)
1990s - Joey Kent
2000s - Robert Meachem
 
#36
#36
"Stanley Morgan, who played from 1973 through 1976 and came from Easley, S.C., [was, as of 2003] the career all-purpose yardage leader at Tennessee with 4642 yards. A talented all-round athlete, who played both tailback and wide receiver during his time at Tennessee, he led the 1973 in pass receiving, averaging a school-record 23.2 yards per catch, and led the team in rushing from his tailback position in 1974 and 1975. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry over the course of his career.

He had a school-record 201 yards rushing in the 1975 Hawaii game and caught an 80-yard TD pass on the second play of the 1974 UCLA game" (Morgan, Kent to be UT Legends of the Game Saturday - UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics).
 
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#38
#38
Guys, Gault wasn't a great receiver. He was a /world-class/ sprinter--catching the deep ball was his forte, though didn't have great hands. I think he may have won a Super Bowl with Dallas. How many catches did he have at UT? Or in the NFL. I know he ran back a few ko's for TDs as a Vol.

Stanley Morgan was great--played RB as a senior, I believe. Kent had a outstanding career.
 
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#40
#40
armchair said:
Guys, Gault wasn't a great receiver. He was a /world-class/ sprinter--catching the deep ball was his forte, though didn't have great hands. I think he may have won a Super Bowl with Dallas. How many catches did he have at UT? Or in the NFL. I know he ran back a few ko's for TDs as a Vol.

Stanley Morgan was great--played RB as a senior, I believe. Kent had a outstanding career.
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Gault won a SB with the 85 Bears. Carl Pickens is gets my vote.
 
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#41
#41
Stanley Morgan, Wiilie Gault Alvin Harper, Tim McGee, Carl Pickens, TD Woods, Joey Kent, Marcus Nash, Nylo Sylvan(sad what happened to him. wrongfully accused of a major crime), Peerless Price, Donte Stallworth, Robert Meachem, Cordarrelle Patterson, Justin Hunter, (TE) Jason Witten, Eric Parker, Mark Jones, Cedric Wilson, Denarius Moore,
 
#42
#42
OrangeByBirth said:
50's Lauricella
60's Flowers
70's Morgan
80's Gault
90's Stallworth
00's Meachem (with honorable mention to Witten)
10's TBD
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Lauricella was a single wing tailback, not a receiver. Johnny Mills was a FAR better receiver than Richmond Flowers in the 60's. Flowers was fast. Mills was a receiver.
 
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#44
#44
Johnny Mills' career was concurrent with that of Dewey Warren's and it paralleled Tennessee's transition to a more modern passing offense from the old single-wing. Johnny was the first receiver to produce stats remotely comparable to those which we associate with the wide receiver position. He established school records for receptions in 1965 (23) and again in 1966 (48), a season in which he compiled 725 yds. receiving, a total which would not be surpassed until 1975, when Larry Sievers amassed 840 yds. To this day, Mills' 225-yd. effort against Kentucky in 1966 remains the third most ever recorded in a single game by a Tennessee receiver. See 2012 Tennessee Football Record Book: Records.
 
#45
#45
skasper06 said:
Peerless Price, Carl Pickens, Donte Stallworth, Justin Hunter, Robert Meachem
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Hunter? Really? A very good freshman year, a torn ACL his sophmore year (early) and a good Jr year makes him one of the best with the athletes that have passed thru this school in the past? I disagree.

I don't see it. If he had come back and had a good/very good Sr season, then I think he is the running but outside his freshman year, he was not a "best ever" WR. We have all had the discussion over this last year's results. Certainly the torn ACL was a factor and he played soft at times and dropped a lot of key passes.
 
#46
#46
Coastypop said:
Larry Sievers - may have had the best hands....his catch against Clemson still in my mind
Willie Gualt - may have had the best speed, no one could catch him
Perless Price - had the best skill sets imho
and Richmond Flowers, along with Johnny Mills -seemed to be the birth of WRU

many others deserve mention as well

All IMHO of course
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I was a freshman at UT in 1974 and the Sievers catch to which you alluded remains one of the most incredibly athletic plays that I have ever witnessed, one made by Condredge Holloway and Larry Sievers. Condredge retreated and reversed field back to the 19 yard line before heaving the ball deep into the back of the endzone, just as he was going down. Larry made a tremendous leaping catch to give us the 29-28 victory.
 
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#47
#47
As much as I like Gault there's a lot of fond memories crossing over from his return game vs his receiving game. He was more than just a track guy that tried to make a go of it on the football field but he was more dangerous settling under a KO than on the line of scrimmage. The fact he actually had more return yards than receiving yards rather stands out.

As far as just no BS line up and play the position I'd have to go with Pickens/Seivers.
 
#48
#48
Coastypop said:
Larry Sievers - may have had the best hands....his catch against Clemson still in my mind
Willie Gualt - may have had the best speed, no one could catch him
Perless Price - had the best skill sets imho
and Richmond Flowers, along with Johnny Mills -seemed to be the birth of WRU

many others deserve mention as well

All IMHO of course
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I was at that Clemson game. That game and 82 bama best games ever.
 
#49
#49
Volosaurus rex said:
I was a freshman at UT in 1974 and the Sievers catch to which you alluded remains one of the most incredibly athletic plays that I have ever witnessed, one made by Condredge Holloway and Larry Sievers. Condredge retreated and reversed field back to the 19 yard line before heaving the ball deep into the back of the endzone, just as he was going down. Larry made a tremendous leaping catch to give us the 29-28 victory.
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I was 10, you described it exactly.
 
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