Tennessee Vols’ recent handling of key player confirms suspicion about quiet concern entering 2024 season
The Tennessee Vols haven’t been shy this offseason when it comes to telling folks about the team’s improved depth.
Tennessee has the deepest roster, by far, that it’s had since Josh Heupel was hired to replace Jeremy Pruitt as the program’s head coach in early 2021.
But while the Vols’ overall depth is much-improved, there are still a couple of positions with some depth concerns.
Tennessee lost running backs Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright to the NFL this offseason, leaving junior Dylan Sampson as the Vols’ top option.
Sampson is an electric player who will likely be playing on Sundays in the not-so-distant future. The Louisiana native has the talent to be one of the best running backs in the nation.
Behind Sampson, however, there aren’t any options with proven track records. There are players with upside, but there’s no one who has a significant amount of SEC experience. Until someone else steps up during the regular season, it’s uncertain what Tennessee will get from the running back position aside from Sampson.
The uncertainty behind Sampson is likely why Tennessee is being overly cautious with Sampson during fall camp.
Sampson, who has been spotted at practice recently in a knee brace, was one of several players who didn’t participate in Tennessee’s scrimmage last Friday night.
When asked about Sampson after the scrimmage, Heupel told reporters “D-Samp wasn’t in the scrimmage tonight, we held him out of the scrimmage”.
According to VolQuest, Sampson isn’t expected to take part in any of the scrimmages before the start of the 2024 season. Sampson, however, is expected to be fine for the start of the regular season.
It appears that Heupel and his staff are just being extremely cautious with their star running back, which is certainly understandable given the Vols’ running back situation.
Now, the good news for Tennessee is that it sounds like redshirt freshman running back DeSean Bishop stepped up in a big way during the Vols’ first fall scrimmage.
“I thought Desean Bishop had a really nice night,” said Heupel after the scrimmage on Friday. “Efficient, effective, ran hard. Thought he did a really nice job.”
Sophomore Cam Seldon, who is still sidelined due to injury, sophomore Khalifa Keith, and true freshman Peyton Lewis will be the other running backs competing for playing time behind Sampson this fall.
There’s some nice talent behind Sampson on the depth chart, but Tennessee’s handling of the former four-star recruit seemingly confirms that Heupel and his staff believe he’s a player that they absolutely can’t afford to lose in 2024.
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