5’11” 206 pounds; Hometown: Memphis, Tenn.
Obviously, the transfers of Eric Gray and Ty Chandler to the Oklahoma Sooners and North Carolina Tar Heels respectively left the running back position wide open for Tennessee football in the spring. The arrival of junior college transfer Tiyon Evans was supposed to help that, but he was banged up in spring ball.
Meanwhile, newcomer Jaylen Wright was a speedster who showed flashes but wasn’t yet consistent, according to Patrick Brown of GoVols247. That left Dee Beckwith, Tee Hodge, Len’Neth Whitehead and Jabari Small as the guys who could make an impact. It was clear that Small made that impact above all else.
In our earlier reference to Josh Heupel’s interview on The Swain Event in which he mentioned standout players, Small was another player on that list. He did miss the open practice, where Beckwith and Hodge showed flashes, but the graduate of Briarcrest Christian in Eads, Tenn., just outside of Memphis but still in Shelby County, proved he was the top back.
Small was the third running back last year behind Chandler and Gray, and he finished with 30 touches for 141 all-purpose yards. In the spring game, he had 12 carries for 48 yards and two touchdowns. That production enough combined with the mention from the head coach was enough for us to put him high on this list.