Former Tennessee Vols RB is having his NFL rookie season totally wasted

These days, it's hard to complain about Tennessee Volunteers football. The team is 6-1 and ranked the No. 7 squad in the nation. Yeah, it's safe to say things have been going amazing for Josh Heupel and his staff.

However, life hasn't been so great for some former Tennessee players who have made the leap to the NFL. In this case, we're talking about running back Jaylen Wright, who was a ton of fun to watch during his playing days in Knoxville. However, things aren't going according to plan for him with the Miami Dolphins.

Taken in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Wright impressed during the preseason and the expectation was that he'd be featured quite a bit by Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. Instead, the opposite has been the case and Dolphins fans are quite angry about it:

Jaylen Wright needs to be featured more for the Miami Dolphins

It seems like whenever Wright has the ball in his hands, good things happen. However, McDaniel and his coaches continue to give the ball to De'Von Achane and Raheem Mostert instead. Hey, it makes sense, as Achane is incredibly fast and Mostert is a veteran of the game.

However, you can't ignore the fact that Wright has looked strong whenever he has had the ball in his hands. On the year, the first-year playmaker has 36 carries to his name for 190 yards - he's still waiting for his first professional touchdown.

In Miami's win over the Patriots not long ago, Wright filled in when Achane suffered an injury. He took full advantage of his extra reps, posting 13 carries for 85 yards. He's averaging 5.3 yards per carry this season, which has been awesome.

What hasn't been awesome is that there are games where he barely hits the field. In the loss to the Cardinals in Week 8, Wright had just two carries for 18 yards. It was his second time this year with only two carries in a game. That's unacceptable from McDaniel. He needs to feed the Vols product more often. Maybe Wright can help this team get back on track, as the Dolphins are a lowly 2-5 in 2024.