Expert opinion: LSU reporter speaks on Vols transfer OL Lance Heard
Tennessee has landed former five-star offensive tackle and LSU freshman Lance Heard out of the transfer portal.
Following the commitment, many questions have arisen on what the Vols are getting.
I spoke with Death Valley Insider's Luke Hubbard to answer some of these questions.
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Did he look like a five-star in his freshman year?
Hubbard: "Yeah, I’d say so. Just from a pure stature standpoint, he looks like he’s a five-star. He’s 6’6, 330 pounds and looks like he belongs in the SEC as a tackle. He definitely had some “freshman moments,” but overall, he looked how I expected him to."
Was there a drop-off in games he had to step up and start or did it feel like the line maintained form?
Hubbard: "I wouldn’t say there was a major drop-off, but when he came in he was replacing Emery Jones who’s been one of the best tackles in the SEC, so there was definitely a slight drop-off. He struggled in the run game in a couple of games, but in pass pro, I never really noticed too much of a difference between him and Jones (but to be fair, most of the time he was in was against inferior opponents)."
Where's an area he'll need to grow in moving forward?
Hubbard: "I would say run blocking. I know PFF doesn’t tell the entire story, but he had two games with a sub-60 grade in run blocking. He seemed to do a lot better “catching” defenders in pass protection than when he was the aggressor in the run game."
Are you confident he's ready to be an SEC team's starting left tackle?
Hubbard: "Well, he played all 195 of his snaps at LSU at RT, so it’s a bit different, but I think he could be. He has some reps where he looks amazing, but then he has some reps that aren’t so good. If he can become more consistent, then he 100% has the talent to be a starting tackle in the SEC."
Do you think he's better suited for run or pass sets?
Hubbard: "I think pass sets. He played 95 pass blocking snaps this year and didn’t allow a single sacks and gave up just three pressures. Now, he did draw four penalties, but that’s something that can get cleaned up with coaching. With more experience I think he’s got the ability to be one of the best pass blocking tackles in the conference."
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