Tennessee football: Can Texas transfer OL Andrej Karic replace Darnell Wright?

That was fast. Less than a week after Tennessee football offensive lineman Darnell Wright revealed he would play in the Orange Bowl against the Clemson Tigers but enter the 2023 NFL Draft, the Vols seemed to have found his replacement for the future.

Texas Longhorns transfer Andrej Karic committed to the Vols. Karic, who hails from Southlake, Texas, and attended Carroll High School, just outside of Dallas/Fort Worth Tarrant County, was a three-star on Rivals but a four-star everywhere else in the 2020 recruiting class.

Standing at 6’5″ 306 pounds, Karic played in all 12 games this year, including at tight end and right tackle. With two years of eligibility left, he revealed his commitment to Tennessee football by tweeting out that his recruitment was closed and then posting a picture of himself in a UT uniform on Instagram.

Given his size and his experience as a blocker, it would seem obvious that Karic immediately replaces Wright. However, his experience isn’t clear. In his three start, he was actually listed as a tight end on the depth chart, and he couldn’t work his way into the role as the starting right tackle.

If he couldn’t do it at Texas, which went 8-4 in the Big 12, why would he be able to do it for the Vols, who went 10-2 in the SEC and are looking to do bigger and better things in the future? Perhaps he just needed more experience or a better system.

However, these transfers don’t automatically mean starting. Ohio State Buckeyes transfer Andre Turrentine was the most high-profile transfer for UT last year but never was able to work his way into the rotation in a secondary that desperately needed help.

On the other hand, Tennessee football has had some help with transfer offensive linemen. Gerald Mincey was huge this year after transferring from the Florida Gators, helping the Vols offset Wright’s move to right tackle, which was to offset Cade Mays’ departure to the NFL.

Simply put, we don’t know exactly how Karic will play out yet. There are still plenty of linemen on the roster, so with this addition, Josh Heupel and Glen Elarbee have mainly brought in some much-needed competition. Right tackle is a huge question for next year.

With Jerome Carvin on the interior out of eligibility and Wright leaving, it was crucial for Tennessee football to add more talent in the transfer portal on the offensive line. Karic provides just that for them, but it’s not clear just yet if he’ll be able to replace Wright immediately.