The Tennessee Vols could have some new faces along their starting offensive line in 2026.

Tennessee lost starting offensive tackle Lance Heard, along with several backup offensive linemen, to the transfer portal this offseason.

The Vols landed LSU transfer offensive lineman Ory Williams and West Virginia transfer offensive lineman Donovan Haslam as portal additions to make up for some of the losses.

Vols insider shares thoughts on what Tennessee’s starting offensive line could look like in 2026

It’s impossible, at this point in the year, to accurately predict what Tennessee’s starting offensive line will look like in the fall — those decisions will be made based on how spring and fall practice goes.

VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs, however, shared some pre-spring practice thoughts Tuesday on WMNL’s SportsTalk on how the offensive line rotation could shake out this fall.

“The question, to me, is how far does a guy like Ory Williams come [along],” said Hubbs. “Is he this coming year’s Jesse Perry? I mean, this time last year, none of us were talking about Jesse Perry as a guy who was going to start. It was going to be all the transfers and David Sanders. And Perry wasn’t really thought of by a lot of people as a potential starter — certainly not at right tackle. And he was forced out there because of the injury situation with David Sanders. But he seemed very comfortable out at tackle, to be honest with you. I think his transition back inside when Sanders got healthy was a bit of a challenge for him.

“So I can certainly see Jesse Perry being [Tennessee’s] right tackle. He’s done it. He’s done it in this offense. You know exactly what you have in him. And then the question with Ory Williams, is how far does he come in the next six or seven months? Does he go on the track of Jesse Perry or David Sanders as a guy who fixes some fundamental things, gets stronger, and puts himself in a position that he can go win that job? And he’s one of your best five, and Perry stays inside. Or does Perry go outside? And then the guy from West Virginia (Haslam)– who played over 400 snaps this year — he’s much more experienced than Williams is, does he slide in and play a guard spot? Or does Sham Umarov hold him off? Wendell Moe is going to be a starter. There’s some competition there on the inside. But right now, I would say that Jesse Perry and David Sanders would be your two tackles with Williams as your swing guy. And a lot of that depends on how far Williams comes over the course of the next six months.”

With Sanders set to hold down the left tackle spot and Moe returning to play left guard, and Sam Pendleton locked in at center, it sounds like most of the competition will be on the right side of the offensive line for the Vols this spring and fall.

Tennessee essentially has four options — Williams, Haslam, Perry, and Umarov — for the right guard and right tackle spots (unless others emerge, which is certainly possible). That’s a good problem to have as it means the Vols should create some much-needed offensive line depth this spring and fall.

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