Tennessee football: Five key Vols to watch for vs. Vanderbilt
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Sophomore. Jabari Small. 2. 839. Running back. player
5’11” 206 pounds
Last week, Jaylen Wright had a mini-breakout game for Tennessee football. Len’Neth Whitehead also played well. However, Jabari Small and Tiyon Evans are still the top two guys when both are healthy, so they are the guys who will be responsible for making this offense go.
Evans, though, is still likely banged up, meaning this game is for Small to shine in. Against the South Alabama Jaguars, he was second to Wright in rushing yards, who had 13 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown, and he was second to Whitehead in yards per carry, as Whitehead had six carries for 60 yards, averaging 10 yards per carry, and a touchdown.
However, Small was the more consistent back throughout the night, and he’s the only one who had two touchdowns to go along with 73 yards on 11 carries. Simply put, Small is going to be the main guy to generate yards on the ground first in this one with Evans out.
Given Vandy’s issues at stopping the run, he should thrive as well. The Commodores allow 186.4 yards a game and nearly five and a half yards per carry, ranking No. 103 and and No. 118 respectively. The last time UT faced a rush defense this bad statistically, they dropped 62 points on the Missouri Tigers, so watch out.