Jabari Small gives scouting report on Vols freshmen backs, Justin WIlliams-Thomas, Dylan Sampson

Jabari Small is slated to serve as the lead running back for Tennessee Volunteers in the 2021 season, taking the bulk of the carries in Year 2 under Josh Heupel in Knoxville. But speaking to the media, Small offered up some tidbits about two newcomers, freshmen running backs Justin Williams-Thomas and Dylan Sampson.

Small noted that Williams-Thomas pushes Sampson, and vice versa. It’s a similar dynamic to what Small experienced during his freshman year at Tennessee, he said: Coming in with other freshman at the same position and pushing each other forward.

“Dylan, he’s very versatile,” Small said. “He’s about 185, 190, but he runs way harder than his weight. Very smart, just like I said about Justin. Both of those guys, they push each other. So I remember, as a freshman, coming in with other backs and you just push each other, you know what I mean? So Dylan and Justin, they have a bright future. I’m ready to see how they do this year.”

It’s also put Small in a position to take on a leadership role within his position group, despite being relatively young, himself. He acknowledged that what he does now will play a role in how Tennessee does on the field once he’s gone.

“Kind of had to take those guys along, they need somebody to look up too,” Small said. “I know how important that is. I remember my freshman year, I had two older guys and they were very monumental for me. So I just take it serious because when I’m gone they’re still going to be here. So Tennessee’s going to be here a long time and I’ll be gone so I have to push forward the guys that are younger than me, try to make them better than me.”

Small also reiterated the bit about running hard, noting that the running back room takes pride in being hard runners.

“I think we run hard, at the least,” Small said. “I think we run hard, try to finish runs, and as far as the whole room I think we just address our weaknesses. On the film, we don’t run away from it, like ‘Oh I’m not going to do that so I’m not going to focus on that.’ We try to address out weaknesses and work on those each practice. Coach Heupel does a good job of putting us in hard situations in practice so the game is just like practice.”

JD PicKell also had praise for the Vols’ freshmen running backs

On3’s JD PicKell touted the performance of Tennessee’s freshman backs after a recent scrimmage.

“You had some freshmen pop in the fall scrimmage,” PicKell said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re gonna be starters or guys that contribute for you early and often, but it’s a good sign.

“Kaleb Webb the receiver, a freshman out of Georgia. He did some really good things. He’s a guy that On3 was actually a lot higher on than the average industry ranking. You had two freshmen backs: Dylan Sampson popped off and then you had Justin Williams-Thomas pop off as well. Both of those guys ran the ball effectively and did a great job getting through the first and second level of the defense and navigating the blitz.”

All three freshman come in as four-star prospects, with Webb rankings the highest as the No. 203 overall players according to On3 Consensus. Williams-Thomas is not far behind him at No. 228, while Sampson taps in at No. 385. Although PicKell isn’t predicting that they will make an immediate impact this season, he does think it is a good sign of what Heupel is building toward.