While a few million Tennessee football fans wonder and worry about which young quarterback will emerge as the leader, let us be concerned with what really matters.
The offensive line of 2025 was not outstanding. It is now a year older and more experienced. Will it be significantly better?
Line coach Glen Elarbee thinks so. Strength and conditioning coach Derek Owings is risking his reputation that it will. An SEC insider I don’t know says Tennessee’s line will be third best in the league, behind only Georgia and Texas. Those are just words. There is no proof.
Against good opponents, Tennessee last season was most often the second most physical team. That was an overall issue, but certainly included the offensive line.
Some say physicality matters most up front. That’s why, in wishful thinking, offensive linemen are called “Big Uglies.”
Famed sportscaster Keith Jackson did that for them.
That said, it would be erroneous to imply the 2025 Tennessee offensive line was bad. It wasn’t. The Vols led the SEC in scoring (39.8 per game). Joey Aguilar remained upright enough in most games to rack up pretty good statistics. Running back DeSean Bishop gained more than a thousand yards. Credit him with 649 after contact.
(You may have heard that numbers don’t lie. I believe that if you twist numbers hard enough, you can get them to say almost anything.)
In the five Tennessee losses (Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Illinois, lest you forget), the offense certainly did not dominate.
Results said the line did not improve. Aguilar totaled three TD passes in the final four games.
Tennessee finished eighth in the SEC in rushing yardage, under 2,500 for the first time in Josh Heupel‘s five years. The Vols averaged 145 against SEC foes.
Tennessee scored two and a half fewer touchdowns in losses than wins. Tennessee averaged 17 points against ranked teams.
Joey was pressured too often on pass plays. Some of that was because of his hesitations or receivers erring on routes. Some of that was because offensive linemen got tired or simply were beaten one-on-one. Lack of depth may have been relevant.
Aguilar was sacked 21 times. Sack-fumbles cost touchdowns against Oklahoma and Illinois and a safety against Alabama.
The offensive line you’ll see at Neyland Stadium on September 5, 2026, against Furman figures to be David Sanders at left tackle, Ory Williams at right tackle, Wendell Moe at left guard, Jesse Perry at right and Sam Pendleton at center.
In new uniforms, that group should look like a million dollars. It cost more than that.
Main missing man from last season is tackle Lance Heard. He transferred to Kentucky because he didn’t want to switch from left to right side to accommodate Sanders and because he wanted more pay for the inconvenience than coaches thought he was worth.
Too many reserve linemen went away — William Satterwhite to LSU, Bennett Warren to Minnesota, Max Anderson to Kentucky and Brian Grant to Memphis.
Williams came from LSU, in through the portal, to replace Heard. Ory is 6-8 and 333. Potential is ahead of production. He played 150 snaps as a redshirt freshman. His performance against Alabama was encouraging.
Shamurad Umarov started 10 games last season while different people were gimpy. He could take somebody’s job. Donovan Haslam, a former starting left tackle at Austin Peay, started the final five games of 2025 at left guard for West Virginia.
Nic Moore, Jeremias Heard, Gage Ginther, Antoni Ogumoro and freshmen Gabriel Osenda, Kamari Blair and Ed Baker are in the mix. Osenda was a five-star recruit.
Bottom line: For the Vols to exceed expectations, the secondary must make dramatic improvement. Defensive line depth must be developed in a hurry. Somebody must step up at wide receiver.
Jim Knowles will have to work his magic. Of course, Faizon Brandon or George MacIntyre must become an SEC quarterback.
The offensive line needs to be better. And why not?
***
Marvin West welcomes comments and questions from readers at marvinwest75@gmail.com Read more westwords by Marvin West.
Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our free newsletter. Send comments to news@knoxtntoday.com/.
Most “experts” predict Tennessee’s OL will be among the Nation’s best. The starters look the part, I worry about depth. Heuple’s system requires a lot of stamina. The old adage “Games are won on the line of scrimmage” is still true. Let’s hope the Oline and Dline can hold up against the nine game SEC schedule , where you face elite talent every week. Good job Marvin West! VOLNATION; where are you? Post this VFL Iconic Sports Writer!