Tennessee had a monumental year in 2024, finishing close to the top of the SEC and having their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance. However, the Vols will be losing some players that made up this great team.
Tennessee is sending quite a few players to the NFL Draft, including now four offensive linemen. Before Thursday, the Vols were only losing three of their starting lineman, but left guard Andrej Karic has announced he is instead heading to the NFL, as reported by 247Sports. Karic originally sought an extra season of eligibility from the NCAA but is now going in a different direction.
Starting Tennessee offensive lineman Andrej Karic heading to NFL after pursuing extra season of eligibility at Tennessee.https://t.co/RCGJfEPwNz
— GoVols247 (@GoVols247) February 22, 2025
Karic started all 13 games for the Vols in 2024 at left guard, which will be a huge missing piece in what was a solid offensive line for Tennessee. Head coach Josh Heupal is losing six of his top seven offensive lines for the 2025 season with all of them using the last bit of their NCAA eligibility.
Karic's appeal for an extra year of eligibility was for a medical redshirt, but the appeal was unsuccessful. there has been no release as to when the ruling was announced or why it was unsuccessful.
Heupal will certainly have to regroup at the offensive line position now, as almost the entirety of his line will no longer be at Tennessee. The Vols are bringing in two offensive linemen from the transfer portal, Sam Pendleton from Notre Dame and Wendell Moe Jr. from Arizona both coming in with experience.
Pendleton comes in rated as a four-star transfer, while Moe Jr. comes in rated as a three-star transfer. Beyond that, it seems like there will be quite the position battle for the Vols in the offensive line room between those already at Tennessee and incoming recruits.
The offensive line will probably be one of the more crucial positions that Heupal will have to figure out in order to protect quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who needs the protection in order to be the mobile quarterback he is known to be.