One NFL Draft analyst has Tennessee's Dylan Sampson as No. 2 RB in draft
CBS Sports NFL Draft analyst Mike Renner believes Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson is the second-best running back in the NFL Draft. And he has the tape to prove it.
“He’s one of those guys where if you just watch his highlights,” Renner said this week during an appearance on The Mina Kimes Show. “I don’t think it does him a service.
“You really have to watch every single run. And the fact that this guy just maximizes. He has this innate ability to find the gap wherever it is, get to that gap.”
Sampson in three seasons at Tennessee ran for 2,492 yards and 35 touchdowns, averaging 71.2 yards per game and 5.9 yards per carry. He broke Tennessee single-season records last season with 1,491 yards and 22 touchdowns.
‘I know for a fact that he will be a good back at the next level’
Sampson had 604 yards and seven touchdowns in 12 games as s sophomore in 2023 and 397 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games in 2022. He caught 40 passes for 342 yards and had one receiving touchdown in 35 career games with the Vols.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has Sampson as the No. 4 running back on his NFL Draft Big Board, behind Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton and Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson. Ohio State running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins were ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
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The 5-foot-11, 201-pound Sampson has a 6.36 Prospect Grade from NFL.com, with a label of “will eventually be a plus starter.” Only two other backs have higher grades from NFL.com, with Jeanty at 7.15 and Henderson at 6.38.
“He’s in this mold,” Renner said, “there’s kind of this new wave of running backs that aren’t the most physically gifted. Kyren Williams, Bucky Irving come to mind, where they were. Barely scraping 200 (pounds), 5-foot-10. You look at them and you’re like, ‘That’s a bell cow running back?’
“You see his frame and you’re like, is that going to work at the next level? And then he will try to run through a defensive tack. That works. Like a guy that runs that hard, that works at the next level.
“So I have him as my (second running back) in this draft class,” Renner added, “just because I know for a fact that he will be a good back at the next level.”
NFL.com Prospect Profile: Dylan Sampson
Lance Zierlein: Compact back with good instincts and run-after-contact ability that propelled him to stardom in his lone season as a starter. Sampson separates himself from other backs in the class with an impressive feel for timing, spacing and blocking scheme. He sees lane development in real time and is disciplined to stay on the designed track, but he can flip a switch and improvise when traffic mounts. He can wiggle around tacklers or break free from their grasps. Ball security and pass protection improvement will be early priorities for his next coaching staff. Sampson plays with the instincts of a seasoned veteran and has the talent to build on what he started in 2024.
