A former Tennessee Vols starter was named this week by The Athletic as one of the top transfers in college football this offseason.

Former Vols offensive lineman Lance Heard, who started his career with the LSU Tigers, left Tennessee for the Kentucky Wildcats in January. He was ranked by The Athletic as the No. 22 transfer in college football.

Heard was Tennessee’s starting left tackle for the last two seasons.

“Heard brings plenty of SEC experience — nearly 2,000 career snaps in 36 games (24 starts) — to Lexington, including two years as Tennessee’s starting left tackle, the latter of which he earned third-team All-SEC honors,” wrote The Athletic’s Sam Khan Jr. “He plays with a power that defenders can feel upon contact, which should set the tone for Kentucky’s revamped O-line.”

The former Tennessee offensive lineman was named by USA Today as a player who could significantly boost his draft stock this fall.

“In Texas’ Trevor Goosby and LSU’s Jordan Seaton, the 2027 class has two legitimate potential top-10 picks at offensive tackle,” noted USA Today’s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz. “Heard seems like a long shot to surpass either one, but he could make up a good deal of ground and join the unsettled second tier behind them. Kentucky will be the 6-6, 330-pounder’s third stop within the SEC after stints at LSU and Tennessee.

“He grew into a third-team All-Conference selection at the latter spot after a rocky start to his career, and his ascent could continue this season. If it does, there should be no shortage of teams drawn to a left tackle with an upper-echelon combination of frame and footwork.”

Tennessee’s highest ranked portal addition in The Athletic’s rankings is Penn State transfer linebacker Amare Campbell at No. 40.

Why did Lance Heard leave Tennessee for Kentucky?

The Vols would obviously be a more talented team with Heard on the roster, but he was going to be asked to move to right tackle this fall so sophomore David Sanders Jr could move to left tackle.

Heard, however, prefers to play left tackle. And that preference combined with his agent’s pricey demands led to his exit from Rocky Top.

“Lance Heard had a really good solid year,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price in January. “His agent asked for a gargantuan amount of money, and Tennessee was not willing to do that. They liked the growth that David Sanders had over the last month and a half of the season, and how he played in the bowl game. And they liked what Jesse Perry brought them at right tackle early in the year. And so Tennessee felt good enough to where they were like, ‘Okay, Lance, we like you at this [price], but we don’t like you at this amount of money.’ And so they decided to part ways. That’s part of the new business model that is college athletics.”

Welcome to college football in 2026.