Tennessee football had a young and talented roster this past season, but the Vols finished 8-4 (4-4 SEC) before falling to Illinois in the Music City Bowl. While the outlook is still strong for Tennessee, Josh Heupel and company are going to need to hammer the transfer portal to round things out before 2026.
One of these spots is on the offensive line. With left tackle Lance Heard off to the portal, one spot is opening up. That could be at his tackle spot, or UT could slide out Jesse Perry, leaving an opening on the interior of the offensive line. If that’s the case, Tennessee has identified a transfer target that could fill in and compete for a role.
According to a report from Chris Hummer, Dylan Sikorski from Oregon State will be visiting the Vols. He’ll also get a look at SEC foes Arkansas and Missouri.
Oregon State redshirt freshman o-lineman Dylan Sikorski has set a trio of visits, a source tells @247Sports:
Arkansas
Missouri
Tennessee https://t.co/BG9RAgwTky https://t.co/uM13LWlAuw pic.twitter.com/WkBzQetqog— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) January 4, 2026
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Sikorski just finished his redshirt freshman season, where he broke out as a strong starter for the Beavers. He played in nine games this past season, starting in six of them. His season PFF grade sat at 61.4. However, he had grades of 77.4 and 68.9 during the first two games of the year against Cal and Fresno State.
Even if Sikorski committed to Tennessee and didn’t earn a starting role in year one, he still has three years of eligibility remaining. This means that no matter what, he’d be a young piece that seemingly has a bright future.
Tennessee is set to return a good bit of its offensive line next season, as well. With Heard leaving, the thought is that five-star freshman standout David Sanders Jr. will flip back to the left side of the line. Perry, who performed well at both right guard and tackle, could slide out, or a transfer could take over that job. At guard, Perry, Wendell Moe Jr. and Sham Umarov all had solid years. Sam Pendelton held things down at center.
