A player who has only played three snaps since the season opener against Furman could be forced to play a major role for Tennessee this weekend against Auburn.

The Vols are dealing with some injuries along their offensive line. Left guard Wendell Moe is expected to miss the rest of the season, and right/left guard Sham Umarov is questionable for the Auburn game due to an ankle injury.

It’s a tough spot for Tennessee — especially after the offensive line’s rough outing against Texas last weekend.

At this point, the only thing we know for sure is that David Sanders Jr. is going to start at left tackle against Auburn. Everything else is up in the air.

If Umarov can’t play, it means that sophomore Nic Moore could start.

Moore started at center in the season opener against Furman (due to Sam Pendleton’s suspension). He’s only played three snaps (all against Kennesaw State in Week 3) since the Furman game.

Vols insider details what Tennessee’s offensive line could look like against Auburn

VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will on Friday and he detailed what Tennessee’s offensive line could look like against Auburn.

Hubbs thinks the rotation hinges on the health of Umarov. If he can play, then he’ll likely start at left guard and West Virginia transfer Donovan Haslam will play at right guard.

If Umarov can’t play, then it could be Moore at left guard and either Haslam at right guard with Jesse Perry at right tackle, or Perry at right guard with LSU transfer Ory Williams at right tackle (and maybe Haslam comes in to play some at right guard and Perry bumps out to tackle at times).

“I think it goes one of two ways,” said Hubbs. “Do you go Nic Moore at left guard and Sam Pendleton at center? Or you could flip those two. But right now, if they went that direction, I would think Nic Moore gets an opportunity at guard and Pendleton would remain at center. Or you could slide Jesse Perry inside (to left guard), and you can play Ory Williams on the right side (at tackle). Now, one of the challenges of doing the latter is that it would put Ory Williams and Donovan Haslam on the same side. Both are guys who have been here less than a year. And both are guys who have not played a bunch of snaps.

“Now, Donovan played last week because he was going to play more, but then he ended up being forced into playing more (after Moe was injured), but that would be two pretty inexperienced guys on the right side with all of your experience on the left side. My initial feeling right now is if Sham can play, he’s going to left guard. That’s a simple deal. You flip him there and you insert Donovan Haslam (at right guard) and you play football the way you did last week against Texas. But if Sham can’t play, then I think you go Nic Moore at (left) guard, and you go Jesse Perry at right tackle.”

Tennessee has to find its best five without Moe on the field. So the combination we see at the beginning of the Auburn game may not be the combination the Vols finish the game with.