The Tennessee Vols don't have a lot of concerns entering Josh Heupel's fourth season leading the program. 

Tennessee's roster has elite athleticism at several key positions. And the program has numerous playmakers at various positions. If everyone stays healthy and plays to their potential, the Vols have a College Football Playoff-caliber roster. 

The staying healthy part will be key. 

Can the Tennessee Vols build some offensive line depth?

One legitimate concern when it comes to Tennessee's roster is offensive line depth. 

The Vols have four solidified starters along the offensive line in center Cooper Mays, guard Javontez Spraggins, and offensive tackles John Campbell and Lance Heard (The left guard spot is still up for grabs).

Tennessee's offensive line depth, though, is questionable at best. There's talent there, but it's mostly unproven talent. That unproven talent, however, is going to have to prove itself quickly — UT will need more than five offensive linemen to make it through the 2024 season. 

Heupel was asked about the Vols' young offensive linemen on Thursday night after Tennessee's scrimmage at Neyland Stadium. And Heupel sounded optimistic about the potential he's seen so far this spring from that group. 

"They’re a lot better today than they were when we started spring ball," said Heupel. "It won’t just be on the back end of it. It’s a group that I like their athleticism. They've got to continue to mature physically. Those guys, a lot of them are doubling up their reps right now with a lot of our vets, just from the end of the season, being banged up and not repping here in spring ball. With everything that we see on the other side of the line of scrimmage, the communication understanding of what we’re doing, fundamentally getting better. They’re playing so much harder than they were at the beginning of spring ball, too. So that group’s got to continue to grow. But I really do like the group as a whole.”

Heupel pointed out redshirt freshman Vysen Lang and true freshmen William Satterwhite and Max Anderson as three young offensive linemen who are having a good spring (Lang is competing for the starting left guard spot). 

"Lang is continuing to grow," said Heupel. "Strong kid [who is] continuing to grow in the communication side of it with his hand on the ball. Satterwhite [and] Max Anderson’s taking some snaps. All those guys, they’re thrusted into it and they’ve handled it really well. And when I say that, they handle coming back from a bad play, a bad series, and reset into the next one, too. So a lot of growth left for that group. But they pushed extremely hard and they did that before we got the spring ball. But they’ve certainly done it here in the middle of it, too."

Offensive line depth isn't a phrase that gets most fans excited, but it can be one of the most important elements of a successful program/season. 

Tennessee's had some trouble developing offensive line depth during Heupel's first few season in Knoxville, but it sounds like the program now has a young group of offensive linemen that are ready to step up if needed. And it's almost a certainty that some of those young players will be needed at some point during the 2024 season. 

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