Way-too-early rankings of SEC offensive lines leading up to the 2024 season
13. South Carolina
Head coach Shane Beamer is looking to rebuild an offensive line for South Carolina that ranked dead last in the SEC last season in pass-blocking efficiency and in the bottom half of the conference in yards before contact. The good news is that he returns four out of five starters along the offensive line to improve that showed some potential late last season.
Vershon Lee is returning for his fourth year as a starter along the interior offensive line for the Gamecocks. He is the anchor for South Carolina's interior offensive line, starting for the second year in a row as their center.
Offensive tackle is where South Carolina must improve the most, after the Gamecocks allowed well over a dozen sacks from those spots along the OL in pass pro in 2023.
12. Oklahoma
Joining Mississippi State as the only SEC team in 2024 without a single returning starter along the offensive line, Oklahoma has some work to do with this unit to get it set entering a tough slate in conference play this fall.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables needs this unit to be stout in 2024 blocking in front of a first-year starting quarterback in Jackson Arnold. While Arnold is one of the most talented arms among projected starters in the SEC this year, he'll need the time in the pocket to go through his reads if he is to succeed in his first year starting in this conference.
The interior offensive line should be steady for the Sooners this upcoming season after they added two quality immediate impact players from the transfer portal this offseason. SMU grad transfer Branson Hickman and North Texas transfer Febechi Nwaiwu are both multi-year starters in the FBS who graded out among the top half of players at their positions in the G5 in 2023.
Offensive tackle is a bigger concern for the Sooners, though. Projected starting offensive tackles Jacob Sexton and Jake Taylor bring just four combined starts in their careers. And despite playing just over 100 combined pass blocking snaps last season, Taylor and Sexton still allowed four sacks and a dozen quarterback pressures.
11. Ole Miss
The Ole Miss Rebels and head coach Lane Kiffin are relying on a combination of transfers and a couple of returning starters to bolster an offensive line that was middling in the SEC regarding its production in pass pro and run blocking in 2023. Ole Miss ranked ninth in pass-blocking efficiency and sixth in yards before contact in the SEC last season.
While Ole Miss ranks in the top five in the SEC in returning FBS blocking snaps and career starts, questions remain regarding the ability to pass protect for some of the more experienced projected starters for the Rebels. Returning senior offensive tackle Caleb Warren ranked in the bottom half of starting SEC offensive tackles in run and pass blocking grade last year.
Projected starting right tackle Micah Pettus also ranked in the bottom third of the SEC in pass blocking efficiency and blown blocks on run plays last season.
10. Tennessee
Evaluating the projected starting offensive line for the Tennessee Volunteers in 2024 will largely come down to how the left side of the line holds up in run blocking and pass pro. Over 85 percent of Tennnessee's returning blocking snaps and career starts are from the middle and right side of the line. And all three returning starters for the Vols are at center, right guard, and right tackle.
Projected starting left tackle Lance Heard is a former LSU transfer and elite top 100 recruit from the 2023 class who has all the talent in the world. We've heard good things about him settling into his starting role at right tackle since the spring for the Vols.
If the left side of the line gels this fall, Tennessee could easily find their offensive line among the top 10 best units in the SEC.