Tennessee Football: Two running backs leading the way on offense

Tennessee is looking to replace more than 1,000 yards of production on the ground this season with a new group of running backs on the field. Jabari Small and Tiyon Evans headline a deep running back room which is primed to carry the load on offense.

Small is a sophomore who made 10 appearances in 2020. He ran for 117 yards on 26 carries, making him the Volunteers’ top returning rusher.

Evans comes to Tennessee as the No. 1 ranked junior college running back. He did not play in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic but tallied 538 yards and nine touchdowns for Hutchinson C.C. as a freshman. He follows in the footsteps of Cordarrelle Patterson and Alvin Kamara, who both played at Hutchinson before joining Tennessee.

With the arrival of a new coaching staff and the departure of key contributors Ty Chandler and Eric Gray, every player has a chance to battle for the starting running back spot. Tennessee running back coach Jerry Mack gave his thoughts on the top contenders ahead of the season.

Read what Mack had to say:

On the fluid depth chart

“As we’re toward the end of fall camp, we’re still combing through the depth chart. I do think those two guys have separated themselves as far as being a little bit more at the top of the depth chart than more at the bottom. Both of those guys, they can go in the game right now as 1A and 1B and participate. They both have very similar skill sets. Jabari is obviously a little bit smaller, a little bit shiftier, has got some experience playing the receiver position, so he can do a lot of different things as far as his repertoire. At the same time, you have Tiyon, who has just so much power like I said before, running between the tackles. Those guys have really been a good 1-2 punch throughout fall camp.”

On using multiple running backs

“I would love to. Like I said before, we’ve got not only Jabari and Tiyon. Jaylen Wright has continued to come along. Even Marcus Pierce is a guy that had some good clips in the spring as well. I do think there will be an opportunity for Tiyon and Jabari to contribute at a high level. Being that 1-2 combination on the field at the same time, I think that would be really cool.”