Arizona State should strongly consider changing their approach to playing true freshmen after comments from elite 5-star recruit……

The Tennessee Vols nearly lost wide receiver Mike Matthews, one of the most talented players on their roster, this offseason in part because he didn’t see much action as a true freshman in 2024.

Matthews, a former five-star recruit, considered entering the NCAA transfer portal after the Volunteers’ loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the College Football Playoff. But Tennessee, after a saga that lasted nearly a week, was able to convince the talented wide receiver to return to Rocky Top for the 2025 season

VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs suggested in early January that Matthews’ flirtation with the portal had more to do with how he was being used at Tennessee as opposed to NIL money.

“I think the conversations (between Matthews and Tennessee) have been much more about the offense and much more about his comfortableness with everything at Tennessee,” said Hubbs. “How he’s going to be used, playing time, and those types of things [more than] it has been about demands for more money.”

Matthews, who was rated as the No. 6 wide receiver in the 2024 recruiting class, had just seven receptions (for 90 yards) for the Vols this past season.

Another talented true freshman wide receiver, Braylon Staley (the No. 15 wide receiver in the 2024 class), caught just three passes for 21 yards for Tennessee in 2024.

Tennessee’s wide receivers weren’t exactly a strength for the program in 2024, which is why it was surprising that Matthews and Staley didn’t see more action as true freshmen. Especially considering that other true freshmen wide receivers around the country thrived in 2024 (Alabama’s Ryan Williams, Texas’ Ryan Wingo, Auburn’s Cam Coleman, Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, etc).

Not only would it have been wise for the Vols to get their more talented wide receivers on the field in 2024, but it would’ve helped with recruiting, too.

The Vols are currently one of the favorites for 2026 five-star wide receiver Tristen Keys.

Keys recently visited Alabama and he made a comment to On3 about his visit that should resonate with Tennessee’s coaching staff.

“Coach (Kalen) DeBoer, he was a receiver coach before,” said Keys. “He understands what we go through, things of that nature. You see they play freshmen. They had a big one this year Ryan Williams.”

Playing as a true freshman is clearly something that’s important to young elite wide receivers in the current era of college football.

And we saw this past season with Ohio State’s success in the College Football Playoff that having elite wide receivers is a must to truly compete for a national championship.

If the Vols are going to compete in the future with teams like Ohio State, they’re going to need to play their young elite wide receivers as true freshmen. Otherwise, they’re going to start losing the recruiting battles for those players to teams who have shown that they’re willing to play highly-rated wide receivers as true freshmen (while still having success as a team).

It may not be the ideal approach, but it’s the approach the Vols are going to have to take if they want to play deep into January in the future.