Tennessee would love to have a deep group of tailbacks it could use to test the Vols’ defense during preseason practice and compete against one another for significant carries this fall. However, that’s just not the case. The Vols will enter the season with one veteran tailback, Dylan Sampson, and they have to keep him healthy.
“He’s sitting up there taking the mental reps when he’s… on the sideline,” running backs coach De’Rail Sims said on Wednesday after practice. “He’s taking his reps when he’s not in on that drive. He’s doing a really good job of seeing and envisioning what’s getting ready to happen. And then if he sees something from the younger guys that’s in there, he’s the first one to go attack it, coach them up and kind of give him some pointers (and say), ‘Hey, if this presents itself again, here’s some things that you could do to kind of help yourself out.’ So he’s been a really, really good leader from that standpoint.”
While it’s ultimately up to Tennessee’s coaches to limit Sampson, he must be on board as well. After all, no one wants to sit out and watch more than necessary, especially skill-position players.
“You kind of tell him like, ‘Hey, you understand what’s going on, you know what to do. Coach up the younger guys. We understand what you can do. Let’s make sure we’re sharpening your tools in the toolbox.’” Sims said of addressing Sampson on the issue. “But he’s always ready to go. In every situation, he wants to take all the reps. So that’s when we just have to manage him.”
Compared to last season’s eldest tailbacks, Jaylen Wright and Jabari Small, Sampson has been viewed as more of a scatback that relies on speed and quickness rather than power. That could change now that Sampson has put on 10 pounds of muscle to reach 211 pounds, per UT’s listing.
“You kind of look at his body, how his body has changed over the summer,” Sims said of the 6-foot tailback. “He’s put on really good weight and then he does a really good job of second effort. Not allowing one guy to bring him down, exploding from contact, which we talk about all the time. So the extra weight gains that he’s put on, in a good way, has helped him tremendously and it hasn’t made him lose one step with speed or quickness that he has. So that’s been good.”
Sampson has been criticized publicly for some pass protection woes he suffered in the Citrus Bowl against Iowa. Sims didn’t seem to think that would be an issue in the future.
“I feel like right now we’re doing a really good job,” he said when asked of pass protection. “No. 1, it always starts with our identification process…I think, fundamentally, that’s something that you always can continue to get better at because sometimes guys know who to get and then they go in there so aggressive.
“It’s kind of like a bull in the china shop mentality just a little bit. But they’ve done a really good job of sticking their face inside, making sure that they’re keeping the quarterback up right and we haven’t had too many busts in terms of pass protection this camp. Knock on wood.”
Sampson could also bring a different threat to opposing defenses than the Vols’ earlier featured tailbacks. Sampson, in a limited role, caught nearly as many passes as Wright last season, who was UT’s leading receiver at tailback, catching 22 passes for 141 yards. Meanwhile, Sampson reeled in 17 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown.
“They’ve done a good job in terms of taking the opportunities that they are given on the perimeter when we’re able to get the ball in their hands,” Sims said. “All of them bring a different skillset from that aspect, but all of them have reliable hands to where we’re able to put the ball in their hands on the perimeter and then it is all about what you do after the catch.
“The yards after the catch that come with it, but they’ve all done a good job of putting themselves in situations to catch the ball out of the backfield.”
Out of the backfield or not, Sampson just has to stay healthy.
