The biggest news yet for Tennessee football in the transfer portal came on Thursday evening. Starting left tackle and former five-star recruit Lance Heard decided to enter the portal for his final season of eligibility. He was the team’s starter at the position for each of the past two seasons.
With Heard projected to command a massive payday in the portal, it makes sense for the Vols to let him get paid elsewhere. He took a dramatic step in the right direction this year, but Pete Nakos claims Heard could make $1-3 million, which is money that could be spent elsewhere.
Having a competent offensive line is extremely important, though. So, with Josh Heupel and Tennessee now forced to shake things up up front next season, what will the line look like? There are a few options that make sense.
More From RTI: Starting Tennessee Offensive Lineman Entering The Transfer Portal
What would make the most sense is sliding former five-star David Sanders Jr. back over to left tackle. After starting the year on the bench due to injury, he came on as an extremely effective right tackle as a true freshman. He’s played on the left side his entire life until this year, though, making the switch back is not something that should be too much of a hurdle.
That would open up the right tackle spot, which would then make sense to slide Jesse Perry back out to. He began the year at right tackle with Sanders out, but moved back in to guard later in the year. At both spots, he did more than hold his own as just a redshirt freshman.
Other tackles that should be on the roster next year would be five-star freshman Gabe Osenda and redshirt sophomore Jeremias Heard, but Perry feels like the most sure-fire option for next season of that group.
On the interior, Tennessee is projected to return both Sam Pendleton and Wendell Moe Jr. Both are versatile, but Moe seemed most comfortable at left guard and Pendleton worked his way into becoming an effective center.
This would leave the guard spot open opposite of Moe. That could either go to Pendleton, who is naturally a guard, and the Vols could find a new center, such as William Satterwhite or Sham Umarov, who played a whole lot for Tennessee at guard this year.
The other option is going into the transfer portal to land either a tackle for a one-for-one replacement of Heard, or a guard if Perry or another option takes over that role. That would be the priciest option, though, and Tennessee has plenty of defensive holes it will need to fill, as well.
