Just In: Tennessee Lands Mississippi State WR Transfer Javonta Payton

Javonta Payton and Tennessee have been linked dating back to his high school day's at Hillsboro (Tenn.) in 2016. Butch Jones's staff offered Payton at the time. Payton would sign with Ole Miss coming out of high school, but he ended up at Northwest Mississippi Community College. During that time, he was offered and recruited by Jeremy Pruitt's staff before signing with Mississippi State in 2019. 

Now, Payton's career will continue at Tennessee, as he has announced his commitment to the Volunteers as a graduate transfer, following his entry into the transfer portal last month.  

His father, Mckinley Young Jr. discussed the decision with VR2 on SI. 

"It was extremely important from the standpoint of finding the opportunity to go to a place and showcase his skills and an offensive system that fits his skill set," he said of how they worked to this final decision. "That was one of the most important things. Understanding this is his last go-around and understanding a situation that he feels comfortable and that he is at home and with coaches that understand and know how to utilize his skillset. As far as us, his family, we were excited because it gives us a chance to see him to play more because he is closer to home. We have five other kids, so it gives us a chance to let his little brothers play their games on Saturday morning and still get down to Knoxville."

The 6'2, 185-pound Payton will add to a receiver room that is full of young talent, however, his presence on the edge will help the Volunteers and Josh Heupel get more creative with formations, while bringing experienced depth to the receiver room. 

His previous stops are something that should make his transition to Knoxville seamless. 

"I think it helped him a lot," Young said of Payton's route to get to Tennessee. "Just seeing every area of college. He had to go through Junior college, which helped him grow and learn as a receiver. Going to junior college and the whole Mississippi State process helped him as well, as he went against some of the great talent he went against. It helped him to become a stronger overall player. He became one of the best special teams players in the SEC. It helped him just become a better overall receiver." 

Payton played in Mike Leach's pass happy offense last fall, and he hauled in 19 receptions for 225 yards and a touchdown. Over the course of his college career, he has caught 28 passes for 347 yards and a touchdown. 

However, he will transition to Josh Heupel's scheme now and how they bbought into his skillset is something that stood out from this recruitment compared to the previous two staffs. 

"They were just 100 from the start," Young Jr. said of the approach from Heupel and company. "They came in and basically laid out their plan on the table. How they want to use Javonta and how they saw the things in Javonta's skillset that we always saw. They were just so personable. It was like we knew them for years when we sat down and talked to them."