
We already mentioned Brett Kendrick as a guy who took too much heat because of the way other Tennessee football offensive linemen struggled. But Kendrick’s efforts pale in comparison to Dylan Wiesman’s play.
Wiesman got hurt down the stretch of the season, but he deserves a ton of recognition anyway. Mike DeBord has moved Wiesman all over the field at offensive linemen, even more so than Kendrick.
He started the year at guard. But two games in, Coleman Thomas’s at center forced him to take over that position. Then another slew of injuries forced him to spend time at tackle.
Throughout his shifting around, not one time did anybody notice him making a mistake on the line. In fact, he was constantly over-compensating for mistakes that Drew Richmond, Thomas, or one of the young guys made.
Because of that, Wiesman actually deserves to be an All-SEC player. He did not get that recognition, and he likely won’t get it anywhere else.
But that’s entirely unfair when you consider what he had to deal with all season long.
He was the best Tennessee football offensive lineman, and when you consider the rushing stats the Vols had, even with the mistakes, somebody on the line deserves recognition.