What’s next for Tennessee football’s depleting offensive line depth
One of Tennessee football’s biggest concerns in 2025 is its offensive line. The Vols lost several offensive linemen to graduation and the NFL Draft, and finding replacements has become increasingly difficult.
Andrej Karic was hoping to gain another year of eligibility, although he appeared in five games in 2024. While he only played a few snaps in one of those games, his appeal was denied, and he will not return to Tennessee next season.
If Karic could have returned in 2025, he could have provided Tennessee with at least some much-needed depth, but that will no longer be an option for Josh Heupel and the Vols. With Karic now gone, what’s next for Tennessee’s offensive line?
Tennessee added two interior offensive linemen through the transfer portal to help alleviate some of the depth issues they might see in 2025. The Vols signed Arizona transfer guard Wendell Moe and Notre Dame transfer guard Sam Pendleton.
The Vols also signed five-star freshman offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. to man one of the tackle spots. Beyond that, Tennessee is looking at incorporating one or two offensive linemen that have very little playing experience.
William Satterwhite, Sham Umarov, Ayden Bussell, and Max Anderson are all options the Vols could turn to for one of the interior offensive line spots this year. Tennessee may also dip into the spring transfer portal to find more depth.
While Tennessee has a few options, it is unclear how any of them will pan out when the ball is put down and they line up to play. The longshot that Karic would return is no longer an option, and Tennessee’s offensive line depth just gets a little smaller.
We should learn more as Spring practice begins on March 7 and the Vols begin to sort out its offensive line depth and what the starting five could look like this fall.
