Dylan
Sampson.
Dylan
Sampson.
Tennessee· 5'8"· 200 lb· 4.46s 40
"A 200-pound jump-cut runner who broke a Tennessee rushing touchdown record that had stood since 1929, Sampson is a change-of-pace weapon whose NFL value will be decided by his hands and his pass protection, not his carries."Pre-draft read
Sampson runs with instant lateral cuts and no wasted steps. He presses the line, plants and gets north in a single move, which is exactly what a wide zone scheme wants, and he has the long speed to finish once he clears the second level. His contact balance beats his listed weight because he runs behind his pads and rarely takes a clean shot square.
The limits are structural. He will not move a pile, and short-yardage work in traffic turns his frame into a liability. As a receiver he is natural out of the backfield with soft hands and real route feel. Pass protection is the open question: willing and assignment-sound, but the anchor is not there against NFL blitzers.
CLE runs a wide zone blocking scheme that emphasizes outside runs, but also uses gap/duo concepts for inside runs on occasion.
Sampson could be an immediate contributor in a committee in his rookie year, with his ceiling being a productive starter.
Pure power run scheme where he's consistently asked to run between the tackles.
Sampson's best fit is in an outside zone or spread RPO scheme that can utilize his athleticism and receiving ability.
Dylan Sampson Highlights || Mid Season Highlights || Tennessee Volunteers || RB || 2024
Dylan Sampson | 2024 Tennessee Highlights
Dylan Sampson || Tennessee Volunteers Running Back || 2024 Junior Highlights
Sampson produced a genuinely historic 2024: 258 carries for 1,491 yards and 22 rushing touchdowns, the most in Tennessee history and the first time the 1929 record had moved, plus SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors. Across three seasons he totaled 2,491 rushing yards, 35 rushing touchdowns and 40 receptions in 35 games.
The testing profile fits the tape and the frame: 5-8, 200 pounds, 4.46 in the forty with a 1.58 ten-yard split, a 35-inch vertical and 13 bench reps. Explosive in a straight line, small-framed, and with no three-cone or shuttle published to confirm the change-of-direction the film already shows clearly.
The projection is straightforward and honestly bounded. He is a committee back from day one, a good one, with schemed touches, screens and outside zone as his diet. The path to more is the receiving role — 33 targets a year turning into 55 — and the path to less is a pass-protection breakdown that gets him pulled on third down. Cleveland is a good outside zone landing spot for exactly this kind of runner.
- 01
Jump-cut ability
He demonstrates elite jump-cut and one-cut ability, pressing the line and getting north without wasted motion.
- 02
Long speed
Sampson possesses legitimate 4.46 long speed to finish runs once he clears the second level.
- 03
Route running
He displays natural hands and route feel out of the backfield on option and angle routes.
- 04
Contact balance
He runs behind his pads with better contact balance than his frame suggests.
- 05
2024 Production
Sampson had historic 2024 production against SEC defenses, not manufactured volume.
- 01
Frame limitations
His 200-pound frame offers no answer in short yardage or between the tackles.
- 02
Pass protection
His pass-protection anchor is insufficient against NFL edge blitzers.
- 03
Small hands
He has small hands (8.75 inches) with some ball-security exposure in traffic.
- 04
One-year producer
Sampson is a one-year producer, as 2022 and 2023 were rotational backup seasons.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.46sp50
- Vertical
- 35inp50
- Broad jump
- 124inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 13repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Att | Yds | TD | Rec | RecYds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Tennessee | 10 | 58 | 397 | 6 | 3 | 24 |
| 2023 | Tennessee | 12 | 106 | 603 | 7 | 17 | 175 |
| 2024 | Tennessee | 13 | 258 | 1491 | 22 | 20 | 143 |
| Career | — | 35 | 422 | 2491 | 35 | 40 | 342 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
- Nico IamaleavaQB20%
- Dont'E ThorntonWR10%
- Miles KitselmanTE8%
#2 of 21 tracked contributors · Production leaned on volume · Offense explosiveness 1.12 (p4) · CFBD — usage x PPA per tracked player
Honors
- SEC Offensive Player of the Year (2024)
- First-team All-SEC (2024)
- Tennessee single-season rushing TD record (22, 2024)
Change-of-pace committee back with 120 to 150 touches a year and real passing-down usage.
Undersized zone runner who earned a near-even backfield split on receiving value.
Receiving-first back whose protection issues keep him inactive most weeks.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Cleveland used him precisely as projected, and the receiving split told the story. Sampson debuted in Week 1 against Cincinnati with 12 carries for 29 yards and eight catches for 64 — a debut that was more slot receiver than tailback — and scored his first NFL touchdown a week later on an eight-yard reception from Dillon Gabriel.
The season finished at 65 carries for 175 yards and 33 receptions for 271 yards with two receiving scores. That is a 2.7 yards-per-carry line that looks alarming and a 33-catch line that quietly justifies the pick. The runs came in the situations the file warned about: bodies in the box, no crease, no ability to create one. The catches came in space, where he is a legitimate NFL weapon. Year one drew the boundary of the role rather than the ceiling of the player.