Joe Rexrode

USA TODAY NETWORK -- Tennessee

INDIANAPOLIS — Derek Barnett, of course. Alvin Kamara, yep.

But Josh Malone? That’s the Tennessee early-entry decision that raised eyebrows this offseason. It also defied what the junior receiver was told by the NFL draft advisory board, which consults underclassmen on their decisions.

“They said come back to school,” Malone said Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine.

“I just took the chance. I felt like this was probably the best opportunity that I had.”

And that had the most to do with a UT teammate who is here at the combine as well.

“I had a good year and my quarterback was leaving,” Malone said of outgoing UT senior and four-year starter Joshua Dobbs. “That was the biggest thing. Playing with freshman quarterbacks that really don’t have much playing experience is hard, and going through the freshman growing pains. That’s just, that’s a lot of risk.”

To be accurate, the two quarterbacks expected to battle this spring to replace Dobbs are junior Quinten Dormady and redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano. But that does mean a first-year starter.

And that was enough for Malone to jump after catching 50 passes for 972 yards and 11 touchdowns, a robust average of 19.4 yards per catch. He said he was “pretty sure” UT coach Butch Jones “had a feeling” he was going to make the jump.

“He accepted and embraced and supported my decision,” Malone said of Jones, and this week is about Malone validating it.

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Like Dobbs, Malone is not projected as a high pick, but if he runs under 4.5 in the 40 as he hopes Saturday, that should raise his profile.

“I really feel like the biggest question all the teams have on me is just my speed,” said Malone, who has good size at 6-foot-3, 208 pounds.

“They’re going to find out, one, that he’s fast,” Dobbs said Friday of Malone. “Extremely fast. And he’s a great route runner. Throughout college, he definitely grew from his freshman year when he came in, same as me, against Alabama and caught a touchdown in that game. To his junior year having almost a thousand yards and double-digit touchdowns. He’s a great receiver, I’ve been thankful to have him and he definitely has a great future at the next level.”

Malone has not met with the Tennessee Titans and said there was no meeting scheduled, though he said he talked to the team previously on the phone and said he has met with “basically everybody else.”

He is overshadowed here by projected first-rounders Mike Williams of Clemson, Corey Davis of Western Michigan and John Ross of Washington, but he said of his game compared with theirs: “I feel like I’m right in the mix, to be honest.”

“There’s not much off. Personally, I just feel like they had more opportunities to have the ball in their hands and being able to showcase their ability more than I had in my career. So I’m just coming out here to show what I got and show I’m basically in the same mix as them.”

And once combine week is over and the draft draws closer, both Malone and Dobbs will be keeping an eye on UT spring ball and the start of the competition to replace Dobbs.

“I’m kind of looking forward to seeing who actually wins that battle, just because they’re both solid quarterbacks and they each have their own playing style,” Malone said. “Each different personalities.”

Said Dobbs, who included sophomore Sheriron Jones in the mix: “Those three guys, Sheriron, Quinten and Jarrett, I’ve known them since they stepped on campus. And all three of them have grown and have matured a lot, on and off the field.”

Contact Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @joerexrode.