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Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has shown not to be scared of using a freshman running back in the offense if the moment calls for it.
As a freshman tailback during Heupel’s first season in 2021, now-NFL running back Jaylen Wright posted 85 carries across nine games. Then, in 2022, running back Dylan Sampson tallied 58 attempts during his freshman season with the Vols.
During each’s respective season, Wright and Sampson were used on the back end of a three-man rotation with Wright picking up more carries following Tiyon Evans’ late-season departure. But Tennessee showed enough faith in their freshman running backs to put them in the game when the moment called for it and put some responsibility on their shoulders.
With a three-man room of Jabari Small, Dylan Sampson, and Jaylen Wright last season, Tennessee didn’t have space for an up-and-coming freshman like Cam Seldon to break through the mold.
Sampson is projected to be Tennessee’s workhorse running back during the 2024 season with the previously mentioned Seldon stepping up into the No. 2 role in the offense. While Seldon was injured during spring camp this year, he still projects as a rotational piece among the Vols’ running backs.
That leaves a fascinating third spot open, though. Khalifa Keith and DeSean Bishop were both praised during spring camp for their work at the position and are candidates to see time in that third spot.
But there’s another player out there who could fit the mold for a dynamic freshman that Heupel works into the offense: Peyton Lewis.
The former four-star prospect out of Virginia enrolled at Tennessee in January but missed spring camp with an injury. Lewis is a dynamic and quick running back who garnered a lot of attention on the recruiting trail leading to his arrival on Rocky Top.
That attention has stuck with ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, who calls Lewis his “sleeper” pick for Tennessee heading into the season.
“Lewis, from Salem, Virginia, was a five-time sprint champion in high school,” Schlabach wrote for ESPN. “He had 373 yards with four touchdowns on 30 carries in a Class 4 state semifinals game in 2023. Lewis missed spring practice after undergoing shoulder surgery, but he’s expected to be ready for the start of preseason camp.”
Tennessee doesn’t have the same level of experience in the running back room as they have had in years past but do have some unproven young talent. Keith and Bishop are wild cards in the situation while Sampson is proven, Seldon is bursting with potential, and Lewis returns from injury with low mileage.
It’s hard to say what Tennessee will get out of Lewis but that answer will be revealed throughout fall camp in August before the season. With Lewis and Seldon out of spring camp with injury, Sampson, Keith, and Bishop were left as the main participants in the offensive sets. And even then, Sampson did not record a carry in the Orange & White game leaving Keith with the most carries on the team at nine attempts. Bishop, Patrick Wilk, and Hunter Barnes all received two carries each.
A “sleeper” might be the perfect way to describe Lewis with the unseen talent that he can bring to Josh Heupel’s offense. Fellow freshman Mike Matthews is already on the rising path to success after a strong spring and isn’t necessarily in the “sleeper” category as a five-star prospect, but could fit into that boat as well.
Stay locked into Rocky Top Insider for SEC Media Days in July and the start of the Vols’ spring camp in August.
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