Kentucky finds its left tackle in Tennessee transfer Lance Heard

The last two days have brought more portal commitments for Will Stein and his new staff in Lexington. With the Oregon Ducks’ season over Stein is finished with the Ducks and moves on to full-time work with Kentucky.

He’s obviously up to speed on everything that has happened with the UK roster and has been in the weeds on that. While an Oregon reporter asked Stein about balancing his work in the playoff with his new job he declined to answer that out of respect for the Ducks. Stein should have a lot more to say soon.

In the last couple of days Kentucky has added portal commitments from Tennessee offensive lineman Lance Heard, South Alabama defensive lineman Dominic Warren, and Pitt defensive back Jesse Anderson.

The latest of those, Heard, announced on Saturday and we’re just digging into what that means for the Cats.

The 6’6, 330-pound product of Bonita (La.) Neville started his college career at LSU before transferring to Tennessee. As a high school prospect On3 rated Heard a five-star. He was considered and recruited as one of the nation’s elite prospects. He’s a big-time portal addition and one of the best linemen available this cycle.

Heard played in every LSU regular season game as a five-star true freshman and he earned freshman all-conference honors on 195 snaps in 2023. He started against Army that year and played a ton against Auburn so the ability was there right off the bat. Heard sat out the bowl game as he was evaluating his position in the program so a transfer was already likely at that point.

Heard won the starting left tackle position for the Volunteers before the 2024 season. He played 753 snaps at his new school that year but only scored 44.9 on PFF. While Heard was solid in pass protection (61.8) he struggled run blocking. That was a learning year but he also played through some injury issues.

What Heard did in 2025 makes it clear why Kentucky considers him a huge addition. He played 887 snaps and scored 71.0 on PFF, the result of strong pass blocking (73.9) and run blocking (69.5) grades. In the big picture the only downside to Heard’s entire college career was the run blocking in the 2024 season. Everything else has been strong since he got to college.

Heard was a third team All-SEC pick according to the league’s coaches this year. Simply put, that makes him a huge addition. He checks all the boxes the Cats were looking for in a starting left tackle and given his extensive experience at two SEC programs he’s a very talented veteran with NFL potential. Cats Illustrated had previously reported that Kentucky was being aggressive in the portal tackle market.

Kentucky had also pursued Auburn left tackle Xavier Chaplin. Yesterday he committed to Florida State after giving the Cats strong consideration.

The word at Tennessee is that David Sanders seems poised to move over to that left tackle spot. Heard probably still would have been the other starting tackle in Knoxville.

The addition of Heard means the offensive line is finally starting to really come together. You can pencil Heard in as Kentucky’s starting left tackle. That left spot was specially targeted and they’ve found their man. Coleton Price is the apparent starting center. We don’t have answers as to who will start in the two guard spots or at right tackle but at this rate we might know soon.

Without question Heard will be one of the biggest portal investments that Kentucky makes this offseason. Quarterbacks command a lot of money but offensive tackles do, too, and the cost of bringing in a left tackle with five-star pedigree and multiple seasons of starting experience in the SEC is substantial.

Kentucky’s investment in Heard suggests that Malachi Wood will either move to right tackle or come off the bench, just like the addition of Coleton Price implies a change in the plan for Evan Wibberley.

Here’s a full list of Kentucky’s portal additions to date:

QB Kenny Minchey, Notre Dame

RB Jovantae Barnes, Oklahoma

WR Xavier Daisy, UAB

LT Lance Heard, Tennessee

C Coleton Price, Baylor

G Max Anderson, Tennessee

G Olaus Alinen, Alabama

DL Dominic Wiseman, South Alabama

DL Ahmad Breaux, LSU

DL Jamarrion Harkless, Purdue

LB Tavion Wallace, Arkansas

EDGE Antonio O’Berry, Gardner Webb

CB Hasaan Sykes, Western Carolina

CB Aaron Gates, Florida

S Jordan Castell, Florida

S Jesse Anderson, Pitt

Kentucky has added players at almost every position with the exception of tight end and there are active pursuits ongoing there. The secondary, the offensive line, and the defensive line are the areas that have been most addressed but there are impact players pretty much everywhere to replace outgoing players.