Wanya Morris’ first year at Tennessee went as well as most expected. But his second year with the Vols is starting with him sitting out spring practices.
According to Austin Price of VolQuest, Morris will miss all of Tennessee’s spring practices after having offseason surgery on his hip. The rehab process is expected to be “lengthy,” but Morris is expected back for fall camp in August.
The 6-foot-4, 313-pound lineman started 12 of Tennessee’s 13 games this season, playing mostly as the Vols’ left tackle. He also played some right tackle and guard during the season. He was named to the 247Sports True Freshman All-American Team and was voted a Freshman All-SEC performer for his debut campaign at UT.
Morris, a former five-star prospect, became the first true freshman to start on the offensive line in a season opener for the Vols since Trey Smith in 2017. Morris started the Vols’ opener against Georgia State, and Smith started his first game as a Vol against Georgia Tech in 2017.
Coming out of high school, Morris was the No. 28 overall prospect and No. 6 offensive tackle in the 2019 class per the 247Sports Composite rankings. He was one of two five-star offensive tackles to sign with the Vols in the 2019 cycle, joining Darnell Wright as bookends to UT’s offensive line haul.
As a true freshman, Morris was a big part of the Vols’ offensive line that steadily improved as the season went along. He started all six games during Tennessee’s six-game winning streak to close out the season, and he helped the Vols up their rushing total from 2018 to 2019 and protected UT’s quarterbacks better than the previous season as well.
With Morris sidelined, expect to see rising sophomore Darnell Wright and rising redshirt junior K’Rojhn Calbert receive work at the tackle positions in the spring. Georgia transfer Cade Mays has also played at tackle in college and could get reps there as well.
Tennessee’s spring practices are set to begin on March 9th. The Orange & White Game will kick-off at 4:00 PM Eastern on April 18th.
