Terrific Tennessee Tuesday: Jesse Perry

The Tennessee redshirt freshman tackle has been one of the Vols best stories this season.

Credit: Elliot Walker/Tennessee Athletics

There were several different reasons why Tennessee’s passing game struggled in 2024 and 2023. One of the reasons it struggled last season, though, was the play of the offensive tackles. Former five-star recruit and LSU transfer Lance Heard struggled at left tackle in his first season on Rocky Top, and the combination of John Campbell Jr. and Dayne Davis really struggled at right tackle throughout SEC play as well. The combination of Heard, Campbell Jr., and Davis finished with PFF grades of 44.9, 48.3, and 59.0. The same issues at tackle were true for most of 2023, too, as Gerald Mincey, Campbell Jr., Davis, and Crawford all graded out worse than 62, per PFF.

This year things are different, though.

You could certainly make the case that there has not been a more important under-the-radar victory for the Volunteers than the emergence of redshirt freshman Jesse Perry. While many assumed before the season that Perry was in a good spot to be one of the Vols’ starters at guard, an injury to freshman five-star right tackle David Sanders Jr. changed things. Tennessee has had to mix and match along the offensive line a bit over the last two years, and they had to again to begin this season. However, Perry slid over to right tackle and has been fantastic at a critical spot for Tennessee. Of all the key snap-getters along the offensive line this season through five games, Perry leads them all with a PFF grade of 71.0. Against Georgia in his first SEC start, Perry earned an 85.4 grade, his best mark of the season on the biggest stage.

Perry is simply an excellent player for Tennessee.

With Sanders Jr. back in the fold, it’s fair to assume Perry slides back into a guard spot against Arkansas. It will be interesting to see if Tennessee keeps him on the right side or flips with Arizona transfer Wendell Moe Jr. along the interior to add more balance between the older and younger players along the offensive line. Redshirt sophomore Sham Umarov has played well at left guard in his five starts, and Sanders Jr. popped when he got his chances late against Mississippi State last Saturday night.

He’s just a redshirt freshman, but Perry hasn’t played like it to this point. He’s a versatile guy, and you can never have enough of those in college football. Tennessee is 4-1, nearly halfway through the season, but you wonder where they would be if Perry and Heard, too, were not off to strong starts at tackle. Tennessee lost a key swing tackle in Larry Johnson III to the spring transfer portal, and the Vols’ depth at tackle looked a bit shaky going into the season. Compound that with Sanders Jr. not being available for nearly the first half of the season, and you don’t have to squint too hard to see a very different scenario play out for the Vols’ offensive line through five games.