1. How much can the offensive line improve?
The offensive line played better down the stretch. There’s no denying that. But some flaws were also masked by Dobbs’ mobility, as the sophomore quarterback regularly made defenders miss in the backfield to wipe away several potential sacks. Dobbs is expected to return as the starter next year, so the Vols can rely on that help again next year, but if this whole group can get better, it’ll help the entire offense. Tennessee has put together a collection of skill players that rival virtually any other program in the conference at this point. The backfield can be potent with the combination of Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara. There are options everywhere in the passing game. Dobbs took some big steps and has the potential to be an upper-echelon SEC QB next year. But all of that is somewhat contingent on this group taking another step. UT doesn’t need it to be the best in the conference to have a good year, but it can’t be a liability like it was at times in 2014.
