Desired SEC offensive tackle pledges to Tennessee through the transfer portal………
By securing one of the best offensive lineman available through the NCAA transfer site, Tennessee has taken care of one of its most urgent needs. Lance Heard, a former five-star prospect at offensive lineman for LSU, revealed on Sunday that he has committed to the Tennessee Vols. He chose Tennessee over Oklahoma after making official visits to both institutions two weeks prior.
As a true freshman this season, the 6-foot-6, 340-pound Heard made one start and participated in 12 games for the Tigers. He has three more seasons of eligibility left to play, which gives him four years.
Heard is rated as a four-star transfer by 247Sports, which has him listed as the No. 3 transfer offensive tackle and No. 18 overall transfer for the 2024 cycle. Last month, he was selected to the Freshman All-SEC team.
Heard, a former standout at Monroe, Louisiana’s Neville High School, was Tennessee’s sixth addition via the transfer portal for the 2024 cycle and the team’s first addition of offensive linemen. After signing up for the transfer portal on January 2, he left for his first official visit to Tennessee on January 6. He spent less than seven hours in Knoxville before leaving for Oklahoma for a largely one-day visit with the Sooners on January 7.
He is anticipated to start at tackle for Tennessee in the upcoming campaign, taking over for the injured Gerald Mincey. After announcing his commitment to Kentucky more than a week ago and starting seven games for the Vols this season, Mincey, a former Florida transfer, went back into the transfer portal on January 4.
After missing LSU’s trip to Tampa, Florida for the ReliaQuest Bowl matchup against Wisconsin on January 1, Heard placed his name to the transfer portal. Throughout the 2023 season, he occasionally played with the Tigers’ starting offence. On October 21, he made his lone start as a right tackle versus Army. However, Emery Jones continued to start at right tackle for the Tigers, replacing Miles Frazier as the starting right guard, and Heard was unable to take
Heard was rated by 247Sports as the No. 16 overall prospect, the third offensive tackle in the 2023 class, and the second-best player from Louisiana when he graduated from high school. In the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, he was rated as a five-star recruit as well, coming in at No. 3 offensive lineman and No. 15 overall in the 2023 class.
As stated by national recruiting analyst Cooper Petagna in 247Sports’ official assessment of him following high school, Heard “showcases the size, athleticism and play temperament to develop into an elite level collegiate prospect at the next level.” Heard “projects as an all-conference prospect at the next level with the ability to outperform his peers,” Petagna continued at the time.
“With a 7-foot-plus wing span and almost 37-inch arms, the Neville standout’s combination of length and natural athleticism make him one of the more intriguing players in this year’s cycle,” Petagna wrote about Heard in September 2022. Even though Heard is still developing as a pass protector, he has the necessary foot and body agility to adjust to college football fast. He can also finish in the run game with good play strength and power flashes, however he does play high at times, which causes some inconsistency in that area.
“We anticipate Heard will continue to rise and develop into one of the class’s top long-term tackle prospects with additional time to adjust to his natural position on the offensive line at the next level. The Monroe native might play either right or left tackle at the next level, but it will mostly depend on how well he develops as a pass blocker.”
With the arrival of a former five-star prospect who is currently ranked among the top players in the transfer portal, Tennessee has strengthened its offensive line. Lance Heard, a true freshman offensive tackle for LSU who started his first game this season, committed to the Vols on Sunday, selecting Tennessee over Oklahoma.
The 340-pound, 6-foot-6 Heard filled the void left by the Vols’ expected starting at offensive tackle. He participated in all 12 of the Tigers’ regular-season games this year, starting one game as a true freshman on October 21 against Army while playing right tackle.
There are many reasons to be optimistic about Heard, who 247Sports ranks as the No. 2 overall transfer and No. 15 overall, according to analyst Clint Brewster of the 247Sports transfer portal.
Tennessee is no longer a part of the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl or National Signing Day, but they are still in roster-management mode as they try to finish building their squad for the 2024 campaign. In December, the programme signed four players through the NCAA transfer site; nevertheless, during the last few days of the open window in January, fresh targets emerged in the portal, indicating that further help is still needed. Since much portal recruitment happens quickly, it might be challenging to keep track of everyone Tennessee might be interested in.
For Tennessee and the majority of clubs, the busiest period for portal recruitment was December. The Vols threw a wide net of interest and offers, and four intriguing acquisitions emerged. Three four-star transfers—Oregon State cornerback Jermod McCoy, Tulane wide receiver Chris Brazzell, Notre Dame tight end Holden Staes, and Middle Tennessee State safety Jakobe Thomas—will bolster the secondary with experience. According to the most recent information, the Vols are in need of additional defensive line support as well as offensive line support.
Here’s a rolling tally of the players the Vols are targeting (that we know about) in January while Tennessee continues its portal efforts. ***This narrative
On December 27, McMurray entered the gateway following his three seasons at Temple. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound player from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, played for the Owls for three seasons. After redshirting in 2021, he started 23 games the following two seasons. In 2022, McMurray earned College Football News’ Freshman All-American second-team honours with 49 tackles, seven pass breakups, one interception, and one fumble recovery. This season, he has 39 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and four pass breakups. After high school, he was considered a two-star prospect, although Boston College and Maryland made Power 5 offers to him. With two seasons of eligibility left, McMurray visited Tennessee on January 6-7 and two days later, he committed to the Vols.
Reed-Adams, who started 12 games for the Jayhawks this season at left guard and right tackle before entering the portal on December 31, is a potential addition to Tennessee’s roster. The Jayhawks selected Reed-Adams as a transfer from Kansas a few years ago. After starting three games as a rookie at right guard in 2020 and playing in only three games in 2021 and 2022, he may still have two seasons of eligibility left. With his starting experience and flexibility, the 6-foot-5, 325-pound player from DeSoto, Texas, who was a three-star prospect out of high school, will be highly sought-after as a transfer. Throughout the season, Reed-Adams started nine games at left guard and the final three at right tackle. For his career,This will be a fiercely competitive portal battle, but Tennessee is probably one of several teams trying to add Heard. The 6-foot-6, 340-pound player from Monroe, Louisiana, was a five-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, ranking as the No. 16 overall player and the No. 3 offensive tackle in the cycle by 247Sports. Now, after entering the database on January 2, Heard is the No. 12 overall transfer and the No. 2 transfer offensive tackle in the portal.
Pounds, the starting left tackle for North Carolina this season, entered the portal on January 4. Given that the former coaching staff offered him a visit on a junior day in February 2020—before the Covid-19 pandemic closed recruiting for more than a year—he is somewhat familiar with Tennessee. Pounds also attended Raleigh’s Millbrook High School, where wide receiver Nathan Leacock was signed by Tennessee in the 2023 class. Pounds, a member of the 2021 class, attended North Carolina for three seasons. He redshirted his first year and saw only sixteen snaps in 2022 before rising to the top of the depth chart in his senior year. The 330-pound, 6-foot-5.5 player started nine of the team’s thirteen games as left tackle.
White, who signed on January 3, is another seasoned cornerback option. He was selected to the All-ACC team twice and finished on the Wolfpack’s first team in 2022 and third team in 2023. He would only be eligible for one season because he started twice as a sophomore in 2021 and once as a freshman in 2020, but his output speaks for itself. According to Pro Football Focus, White had the most coverage snaps (482) without a touchdown allowed in the nation in 2022. In 2023, he had 37 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, 10 pass breakups, and two interceptions. In 2022, he had 46 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack, four interceptions, and nine pass breakups. Over his career, the 189-pound, 6-foot-1 player has 25 passBefore playing the last two seasons for the Bulldogs, the Mississippi native played two seasons in junior college. In 2022, he started one game, and in 2023, he started seven. According to Pro Football Focus, the 6-foot-8, 345-pound left tackle for Mississippi State allowed just one sack in 235 pass-blocking snaps. Lewis, who is ranked the eighth offensive tackle in the country by 247Sports and has two seasons left of eligibility, had originally intended to schedule a visit to Tennessee this weekend before scheduling any additional official visits following travels to Auburn and Arkansas last week. But the night before the trip, Lewis committed to Auburn, so those arrangements were scrapped.
Holden Staes of Notre Dame is the best tight end Tennessee has already acquired, but the Vols could need extra insurance at a thin position, and Kitselman might be the ideal veteran to offer it. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound player attended Hutchinson Community College in Kansas for one season in 2021 before spending the next two seasons at Alabama mainly in a rotational role at tight end and making contributions on special teams. His two 18-yard receptions versus Utah State in 2022 were his sole successful pass-catching performance in Tuscaloosa. Two days after the Crimson Tide’s Rose Bowl loss to Michigan, Kitselman entered the gateway. Having committed to Louisiana as his lone other offer, Kitselman, a late addition to Alabama’s 2022 recruiting class, has one year ofOmarr Norman-Lott of Arizona State, a Pac-12 transfer, strengthened Tennessee’s defensive line a year ago. With Moi in this cycle, the Vols may do the same. The 6-foot-2, 300-pound Californian has been a two-year member of the Cardinal since graduating from San Diego top School as a top three-star prospect, according to 247Sports. In 2022, Moi made one start as a freshman and appeared in all 12 games, recording 22 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, one quarterback pressure, and two pass breakups. In 12 games (seven starts) as a sophomore, he collected 15 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 0.5 sacks. Following visits to Arizona and Tennessee, Moi began an official visit to Tennessee on January 19.
Courtland Guillory, a defensive back from Klein Oak High School in Spring, Texas, was surprised to receive a scholarship offer from Tennessee during his weekend visit. He said he plans to visit the Vols again in the near future, and they made a good impression on him despite the wintry weather that forced them to cancel their first junior day of the season. Tennessee has recently begun to show interest in Guillory, and Mike Ekeler, the Vols’ outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator, stopped at his school on Wednesday to see how he was doing.
Are you looking to talk about the most recent significant addition to the football programme at Tennessee? For that, there is a GoVols247 Podcast.
Are you looking to talk about the most recent significant addition to the football programme at Tennessee?
For that, there is a GoVols247 Podcast.
Wes Rucker of GoVols247, from Fort Rucker Studio, and Ryan Callahan, from the road, got together online to talk about the newest player to join the Tennessee football programme: offensive tackle Lance Heard, a former five-star prospect who recently completed his first year at LSU.
In the 2023 industry-generated 247Sports Composite, the 6-foot-6, 340-pound Heard, who participated in 12 games for LSU last season, was ranked as the No. 15 overall prospect in the country. This year, 247Sports placed him as the No. 13 overall prospect in the transfer portal.
Hiring offensive linemen through the transfer portal is challenging for various reasons, and securing a player with Heard’s calibre was always going to be a challenging task. But Tennessee won that war and defeated numerous of the best programmes in the country.
Josh Heupel, the coach of the Vols, has pulled off another coup with the signing of Heard. Heupel has received flak from certain quarters for his efforts in the transfer portal, but he has consistently signed major players there, including some very large ones this cycle. Heard’s absence also helps to make up for Gerald Mincey’s departure from the portal last week.
Other subjects covered in this episode include Tennessee’s recent gateway acquisition of Temple cornerback Jalen McMurray and the future of
There’s a lot to talk about, as usual, and this episode talks about a lot of it.
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Tennessee basketball preview: The No. 6 Vols take on Alabama On Saturday afternoon, two of the SEC’s top teams will square off in Tennessee. Here’s all the information you need to know about the Vols vs. Crimson Tide.
The sixth On Saturday afternoon, Tennessee will host Alabama at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Centre in a matchup between two of the top SEC basketball programmes. ESPN2 will broadcast the tip-off at 2:00 p.m. ET, with play-by-play commentator Karl Ravech and analyst Jimmy Dykes in the horn.
The last eight meetings between Tennessee and Alabama have ended in a draw, with the Crimson Tide winning three of the most recent four after the Vols had won three of the previous four. The series has had single-digit decisions in eight of the last nine games, including the last six.
According to analytical rankings from NET, KenPom, ESPN BPI, BartTorvik, and Haslametrics, the Vols and Tide are ranked in the top eight nationwide.
Tennessee recently defeated Florida 85-66 in a convincing fashion.
