Vols insider thinks one key position battle for Tennessee is 'ongoing'

The Tennessee Vols didn't enter fall camp with many position battles on the offensive side of the ball.

Everyone knew that Nico Iamaleava would be the starting quarterback, and that Dylan Sampson would be the No. 1 running back. Everyone also knew that the wide receiver rotation would be deep. The same goes for the tight end position with Ethan Davis, Holden Staes, and Miles Kitselman, who should all play a fairly equal amount of snaps (depending on who has the hot hand).

The only real position battle for the Vols was at left guard, with the rest of the offensive line pretty much set at the end of spring practice (Lance Heard and John Campbell at the tackle positions, Cooper Mays at center, and Javontez Spraggins at right guard).

It looks like senior Andrej Karic will get the start at left guard against Chattanooga. Karic missed eight games due to injury last season after transferring to Tennessee from Texas.

While Karic will likely get the start, VolQuest's Brent Hubbs thinks the left guard battle is still "ongoing".

"At left guard, I think Andrej Karic is going to start," said Hubbs during an appearance on Ramon, Kayla, and Will on Friday. "But I think they're going to rotate at that position early in the game by design. Because I think that competition is still ongoing there."

Redshirt senior Jackson Lampley was listed as the co-starter with Karic at left guard on the Vols' first depth chart.

Lampley, who is from Nashville, is a former four-star recruit who played in 13 games for Tennessee last season with two starts (those two starts came in the Vols' final two games of the season).

Based on Hubbs' comments, I'd expect to see Lampley get into the game early against Chattanooga in the season-opener on Saturday.

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