With six season-ending injuries already testing Tennessee’s depth, the Vols just added another major name to that list. On Saturday inside Neyland Stadium, RB DeSean Bishop had barely picked up two yards when starting left guard Wendell Moe Jr. stayed down on the turf. Trainers had to help him off the field as he struggled to put weight on his left foot, and after heading to the locker room, he never returned in Tennessee’s 20-17 loss to Texas on Sept. 26. Now the Vols know the damage extends far beyond one afternoon, with Moe expected to miss the rest of the 2026 season.

According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Wendell Moe Jr. is expected to miss the remainder of the 2026 season. Knoxville reporter John Sartori also shared the final snap he played against Texas, putting a visual marker on the moment Tennessee’s O-line took another hit.

Given Tennessee’s growing injury list, losing Moe this early is a major blow. The 6’2, 330-pound fifth-year senior entered the season as the Vols’ only preseason All-American and a returning First Team All-SEC selection.

Moe transferred from Arizona before the 2025 season and started 11 games last year, eight at right guard and three at left guard. He had settled into the left guard spot this season and started all four games before the Texas injury forced Tennessee to reshuffle the line.

Shamurad Umarov moved from right guard to left guard, while West Virginia transfer Donovan Haslam stepped in at right guard. Jesse Perry is another option heading into Auburn, with Ory Williams remaining at right tackle.

That leaves Josh Heupel trying to replace one of Tennessee’s most experienced and accomplished linemen while keeping an already changing unit stable. Moe is now the seventh Vol ruled out for the remainder of the 2026 season and the fourth starter Tennessee has lost.

Tennessee is losing several experienced bodies

The list was already ugly. Starting safety Edrees Farooq suffered a torn patellar tendon in his right knee during fall camp on Aug. 14, starting TE Ethan Davis tore his ACL against Georgia Tech on Sept. 12, and starting CB Jadais Richard was lost before the season after suffering an upper-body injury while training independently in July.

DB Dylan Lewis, LB Jaedon Harmon and WR/kick returner Joakim Dodson have also been ruled out for the year, pushing Tennessee to seven season-ending injuries through just four games. The No. 17 Vols are 3-1 overall but 0-1 in SEC play after the Texas loss, and Auburn arrives at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 3 with Tennessee still trying to stabilize its offensive line.

Heupel has dealt with this kind of attrition before. In 2023, Tennessee’s Citrus Bowl notes listed 10 starters who missed time during the season, including four offensive linemen. John Campbell Jr., Andrej Karic, Cooper Mays and Javontez Spraggins all missed games, forcing the Vols to use five different offensive-line combinations. Even then, the unit allowed only 18 sacks, the second-fewest in the SEC, and reached the Joe Moore Award semifinalist stage.

The injuries that year also spread across the roster. Kamal Hadden and Bru McCoy were eventually ruled out for the season, Keenan Pili missed 11 games, and Tamarion McDonald, Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Wesley Walker also lost time. Tennessee still finished the regular season 8-4, but the difference now is timing. This 2026 injury wave has already taken out seven players, including four starters, before the calendar has even reached October.

Moe’s absence only adds to the pressure on Heupel to find workable combinations quickly. Tennessee can reshuffle the line and lean on younger players, but with SEC play underway, the room for experimentation is shrinking fast.