A quick run-down the Tennessee offensive checklist makes it pretty easy to see what could make the difference between a six-win season and a 10-win season for the Vols in 2015.

Smart, mobile quarterback to run the offense? Check.

Pair of powerful, quick running back with varying styles? Check.

Stable of wide receivers with size, length and game-breaking speed? Check.

Strong group of linemen to pave the way for the run game while also protecting the quarterback? Ehh…

The inconsistent unit that plagued the Vols in 2014 again is their biggest question in 2015. But there’s hope that things could be on their way up.

Going into last season, the Vols offensive line had no returning starters. After taking its lumps with a new crew that allowed SEC-worst 43 sack allowed, Tennessee now returns seven of the eight players that started games last year.

The offensive line’s performance improved when Joshua Dobbs took over at quarterback in the second half of the season. Was that a result of Dobbs being better equipped to avoid rushers than former QB Justin Worley, or a sign that the group was figuring things out as they gained experience?

Senior Mack Crowder, who started 11 games at center last season, seems to think that all of the experience gained last year will produce some better results the next time around the league.

“I think we’ve gotten a lot better,” Crowder told Patrick Brown of the Chattanooga Times Free Press after spring practice. “It’s just a whole different world whenever you finally get some playing experience under your belt. Things start slowing down a little bit for you, and you can start focusing on technique and assignments and things like that a little bit better. It’s not all about just really surviving.

“Now we’re starting to be a little bit more physical and really just coming together and starting to be a pretty good O-line. As an O-line, you really have to work together and know what each other does on every play. Forming that bond, it takes a while. It really does, but now we’re starting to really get it.”

Crowder is joined on the interior by offensive guards Marcus Jackson (RS senior with 17 starts and 36 games played) and sophomore Jashon Robertson, who earn freshman All-SEC honors after starting all 13 games in 2014.

The stability on the interior allows senior Kyle Kerbyson, who started games at three positions in 2014, to settle into the left tackle spot this season.

That leaves right tackle as the only starting spot that should be in question as fall camp begins. According to Brown and Dopirak, sophomores Brett Kendrick and Coleman Thomas are the two top candidates to fill that role.

“We’re getting more molded into our positions and getting to stay in one spot, which is going to be nice,” Kerbyson told Knoxville News Sentinel’s Dustin Dopirak. “We’re a lot more confident this year than we were last year having a whole year under our belt, all of us coming back. Guys are ready to step up. Some of the younger guys are ready to play like Coleman and Brett. It’s really going to be their opportunity.”

The Vols also should enjoy a bit more depth on the line this season thanks to an infusion of talent from the 2015 recruiting class. According to Brown, early enrollees Jack Jones and Chance Hall saw time on the second-team during spring practice. The class also includes Drew Richmond, who along with Jones was a major in-state recruiting win, as well as Venzell Boulware and Zach Stewart.