Tennessee offensive lineman Andrej Karic (70) and Tennessee offensive lineman Lance Heard (53) dance with Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson (6) after Sampson scored a touchdown during Tennessee's game against Chattanooga in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic Have Concerns Over Tennessee's Offensive Line

Originally posted on Tennessee Volunteers on SI
By Jonathan Williams | Last updated Jul 23, 2025 11:59 AM ET

Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic have concerns over Tennessee's offensive line.

The Tennessee Volunteers have their fair share of questions heading into this season, as do most rosters in the preseason, but the offensive line unit certainly falls under that umbrella. The Volunteers do return starting tackle Lance Heard and brought in multiple additions earlier in the offseason, but the unknown factor has people hesitant about Tennessee's protection.

College football analysts Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic voiced their opinions about Tennessee's offensive line this season, and neither one is very high on Tennessee's offensive line.

“I just can’t, at this point, get on board right now knowing for sure that a true freshman, five-stars or not, can step right in to be a complete difference-maker,” McElroy said on the Always College Football podcast. “I don’t know that. They replace some nasty at guard. They replace a game-changer, I think, with what they do offensively at center. So I just can’t at this point include them in my honorable mention.”

Cubelic added that he is unsure if the Volunteers will be able to replicate what they were able to do last season with the players they currently have on the roster.

“I had my top five SEC offensive lines a couple weeks ago,” Cubelic said. “Tennessee fans didn’t like it that they weren’t there. But when I’ve covered Cooper Mays for two, three years and sometimes he was dinged up, banged up, the recurring theme with everybody in the facility is, ‘We don’t have anybody else that can do what he can do.’

Tennessee is replacing a good chunk of their offense from a season ago. Names like Dont'e Thornton, Dylan Sampson, Cooper Mays, Nico Iamaleava and Bru McCoy are no longer on the roster, and that leaves some media pundits questioning Tennessee's offense this season.

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