Vols' best pass protector will be lost for season.
As injuries go, the two Tennessee suffered last weekend in the loss to Texas are going to hurt for a while.
Dylan Lewis’ absence in the secondary will be felt as the depth factor got quite a bit thinner. It’s nowhere near the impact that was felt when safety Edges Farooq was ruled out for the season before it ever started with a knee injury.
But … the offensive line could be having a massive makeover heading into the Auburn game Saturday.
Wendell Moe, Jr., generally regarded as the team’s best pass blocker from his left guard position, has been lost for the season with an injury.
Filling that gaping hole will be a game of musical chairs.
Left tackle won’t change. David Sanders started there and Sanders will stay there.
What happens at left guard is up in the air. Shamurad Umarov might be the most logical replacement. He has taken a lot of snaps at a variety of positions. However, he was listed as questionable on the Southeastern Conference’s availability report.
If not Umarov, it could be Donovan Haslam. Or, it could be Sam Pendleton moving over from center. Moving Jesse Perry over from right guard, or backup center Nic Moore.
The options abound.
Pendleton will likely stay at center, since Moore struggled with line calls in the opener against Furman when Pendleton was suspended.
Filling the right guard position depends on what happens at left guard. Right tackle will likely be Ory Williams, a transfer from LSU who has struggled early in the season.
How this all shakes out will come down to a simple premise for Heupel and his staff: Get the five best offensive linemen on the field somehow.
A healthy offensive line — for the most part — allowed Texas to have 10 sacks. No telling how this hodge-podge of fat guys will react to the shuffling.
It’s hard, but I just can’t shake the feeling of how important Lance Heard would be if he was still at Tennessee. He started at left tackle for a couple seasons, but when David Sanders arrived as a 5-star recruit, Sanders was given left tackle money. Sanders played most of his freshman season at right tackle, but was destined for the left side.
That meant if Heard was planning on continuing to be a left tackle — where the big money in the NFL is — he was going to have to do it elsewhere.
Heard is having a pretty good season at Kentucky.
But, he’d look good in orange right now.
