Tennessee football will have a new quarterback leading the offense this season. If it’s George MacIntyre or Faizon Brandon winning the job, they’ll enter the year with very little, if any, experience at the college level.
To help with that transition, the Vols boast a strong offensive line. UT lost just one starter from last season, Lance Heard to Kentucky, and seems poised to dominate in the trenches again. This features a likely unit of David Sanders Jr. at left tackle, Ory Williams at right tackle, Sam Pendleton at center, Wendell Moe Jr. at guard and either Jesse Perry or Sham Umarov at the other guard spot.
That group, with some additional depth behind it, is already being looked at as one of the better groups in the SEC. According to Steven Lassan, during an appearance on That SEC Podcast, he thinks it’s the No. 3 offensive line in the conference. That places UT behind just Georgia and Texas.
SEC Offensive Line Rankings by @AthlonSteven
#1 Georgia: “I think Georgia is the clear No. 1 OLine in the SEC”
#2 Texas: “I’m going to bank on this unit being better this year.”
#3 Tennessee: “Love this OLine, think it’s one of the best in the country” pic.twitter.com/iS16fvQpVq
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) June 18, 2026
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With so many returning pieces, Tennessee had a bit of a head start in the spring. Even the newcomer who is projected to start, Williams, is an LSU transfer who has SEC experience under his belt.
“You get to get into a little bit more of some of the details earlier, than we did last year,” Tennessee offenisve line coach Glen Elarbee said. “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.”
Other depth pieces on the line feature West Virginia transfer Donovan Haslam, five-star freshman tackle Gabe Osenda, interior lineman Antoni Ogumoro, center Nic Moore and more.
