National media outlet offers unfair take on key Tennessee Vols starter
247Sports offered a take this week on Tennessee Vols sophomore offensive tackle Lance Heard that isn't very fair. The national sports media outlet pointed out college football's "most disappointing five-star freshmen from recent recruiting classes" and they included Heard on their list. From 247Sports: Lance Heard ranked as one of the top offensive tackles coming […]
247Sports offered a take this week on Tennessee Vols sophomore offensive tackle Lance Heard that isn't very fair.
The national sports media outlet pointed out college football's "most disappointing five-star freshmen from recent recruiting classes" and they included Heard on their list.
From 247Sports: Lance Heard ranked as one of the top offensive tackles coming out of high school in the 2023 class and projected to be a major contributor for LSU. Although he earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team, he primarily played as a reserve or special teams on field goal and extra point units. The 6-foot-6, 340-pound lineman transferred to Tennessee ahead of the 2024 season, with expectations of bolstering an offensive front in need of reinforcement. However, Heard ranks 13th among SEC linemen in highest pressure rate allowed (5.0%) in five games played this season, per TruMedia.
I don't love the idea of passing that kind of judgement on former five-star recruits while they're still relatively young players.
Sure, Heard, who transferred to Tennessee from LSU ahead of the 2024 season, has plenty of room to improve. But he's still a young player who's continuing to develop while also learning a new offense.
Heard has shown improvement over the last couple of games (after he missed a couple of games earlier in the season). And I'd expect that improvement to continue as he gets more comfortable in Tennessee's offense.
Look, five-star recruits already face ridiculous expectations coming out of high school. At the end of the day, these kids are just out there competing — it's not their fault that they're hit with unrealistic expectations due to a recruiting rating that they have no control over. Labeling any player as disappointing when they're less than two years into their college career isn't fair at all. And just because a player is a five-star recruit doesn't mean they should be expected to be an impact player from day one.
Heard could still end up being a quality NFL player. Who knows, maybe he takes off in 2025 and ends up being a first round pick. It's far too early to make a judgement call on the 20-year-old from Louisiana.
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