Tennessee football is going to undergo a significant change to its offense next season. The Vols will have a new starting quarterback, with the job up for grabs between Faizon Brandon, George MacIntyre and Ryan Staub.
However, despite the turnover at signal caller, there are plenty of returning pieces to the effective unit from last year. This includes on the offensive line, which will feature four returning starters. The lone piece that isn’t coming back is left tackle Lance Heard, who departed for Kentucky in the portal after the season.
With so much experience on the line, expectations for the group are high. As a result, ROC BOYS FOOTBALL ranked the Vols’ offensive line as the second-best in college football for next season. The only unit it was behind was Notre Dame.
Best Offensive Lines In College Football
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“You get to get into a little bit more of some of the details earlier than we did last year,” Tennessee offensive line coach Glen Elarbee said about having an experienced room in the spring. “Last year, it was trying to make sure everybody knew where to go and getting as much technique, and then obviously the effort. I feel like we’re able to be a little bit more advanced faster because of those guys. It’s kinda helped accelerate some of the young guys, too, because they can pick up on it faster as they see it happen. Like they know what it should look like.”
The star of the room projects to be David Sanders Jr. Once healthy, Sanders stepped in to start at right tackle as a true freshman and performed well. Now, he’s flipping back to his natural position of left tackle as the starter.
Next to him will be Wendell Moe Jr. at left guard. He dealt with an injury during the spring, but was one of the best interior linemen in the SEC last season after transferring in from Arizona. He also provides position flexibility with the ability to flip to right guard, as well.
The center spot is reprised by Sam Pendleton. The Notre Dame transfer didn’t have much in-game experience at center with the Fighting Irish, but settled in nicely for UT during his first season with Tennessee.
At right guard, it’ll be a bit of a position battle. The favorite to win the job is Jesse Perry, who had a really strong redshirt-freshman year at both right guard and tackle a year ago. He’ll battle with Shamurad Umarov, who also got some starts at guard last year. If Umarov wins, he would likely go to left guard with Moe going to the right side, though.
Then, it’s LSU transfer Ory Williams who will round out the line as the only newcomer. He projects to start at right tackle, but Perry is another option there, as well.
