Tennessee football: Ranking, grading position groups in Vols' 2022 class

Tennessee football: Ranking position groups in Vols’ 2022 recruiting class with grades

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

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Dylan Sampson is now the Dutchtown career rushing leader with 4,300 yards.Dylan Sampson /

5. Running back: B-

On paper, the future of running back for Tennessee football is set. Jabari Small returns as the feature back. Jaylen Wright returns as the all-purpose back. Len’Neth Whitehead returns as the power back. At least two of those guys will be on the roster for at least two more years, and it’s likely all three remain on the roster for the next two years.

Taking that into account, adding two running backs with quality into this class is really just icing on the cake. However, there is more of a need at the position than it seems on paper. The Vols did lose their top producer at the position when healthy, Tiyon Evans, to the transfer portal.

With Evans gone, depth needs to be addressed. Heupel did that by adding Dylan Sampson and Justin Williams. Sampson is a four-star on 247Sports and On3 but a three-star on Rivals and ESPN. Williams is a four-star on Rivals, On3 and ESPN but a three-star on 247Sports.

That means that Heupel did add some quality to the position, and it’s enough to push this signing into an above average grade. Now, he could have probably added one elite back, but this is the first position where the situation is actually pretty good beyond this year.

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