NFL Draft
2/17/25
6 min read
Dylan Sampson 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Tennessee Volunteers RB
Height: 5110 (unofficial)
Weight: 201 (unofficial)
Year: Junior
Pro Comparison: JK Dobbins
Scouting Overview
Tennessee Volunteers running back Dylan Sampson projects as a potential NFL starter at the NFL level. He offers the contact balance, cut ability, and pass protection skill set to serve as a team’s primary running back.
Sampson has dynamic open-field ability behind a road-grading offensive line and could be a major threat to hit home runs on a weekly basis — as he did at Tennessee. His receiving profile is modest and ball security looms as a potential threat that could derail him earning the trust of a coaching staff early in his career, but Sampson’s rushing ability should earn him plenty of opportunities nonetheless.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| RB | Dylan Sampson | Tennessee | 124 | 35 | 13 |
Positives
- Explosive open-field ability and dynamic long speed allow him to destroy second-level pursuit angles
- Offers good contact balance to run through piles or trash around his feet that could trip up other backs
- Possesses a sturdy foundation of pass protection ability that can get him on the field in neutral downs
Negatives
- Undersized profile for a featured player and just one year of more than 125 touches
- Ball security was a major issue in 2024, with four fumbles lost (one every 64.5 rushes)
- Passing game utilization is modest; he is not often asked to win routes in space and had multiple drops on his targets beyond the LOS
Background
Sampson is from Baton Rouge, LA, and played high school football for Dutchtown HS. There, he was ranked as a 4-star recruit (247 Sports) who set school records for all-time rushing yards and single-game rushing yards while being named All-State as a senior. Also a track athlete, Sampson is credited with a 10.48s 100m personal best and a 4.32s 40-yard dash in high school. Sampson was given offers from programs like Arkansas, Cal, Purdue, Colorado, South Carolina, Louisville, NC State, and others before settling on Tennessee.
As a true freshman in 2022, Sampson played in 10 games and ranked second in the SEC for freshman touchdowns. He earned his first start in 2023 as a sophomore while playing in 12 games and leading the team in rushing touchdowns (7) — starting against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl. Sampson assumed the starting role full-time in 2024, posting 22 rushing touchdowns en route to being named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year. Sampson was named a Second Team All-American for his play and led the conference in rushing yards per game (114.7).
Sampson’s 35 career rushing touchdowns rank second in program history all-time. He decided to forego his final season of eligibility to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Tale Of The Tape
Sampson is an explosive runner who was a perfect match for the Tennessee Volunteers spread system. The traits and ability do appear to transcend the uniqueness of the scheme in Knoxville and should serve as the foundation of a productive NFL player.
As a runner, Sampson saw most of his opportunities during his featured season in gap concepts that allowed him to fall in line behind insert blocks, pulls, and wraps. In these instances, Sampson did well to press up behind his blockers before cutting to daylight and out into the open field. His explosiveness and burst allowed him to wipe away pursuit angles from second-level defenders in the core and out into green grass for chunk gains.
Sampson paired that success with quick feet and elusiveness to force missed tackles at a high rate. These missed tackles came in short yardage coming out of the mesh point, on the edges, and head up in the hole. Sampson was credited with 70 forced missed tackles in 2024, an average of approximately one every four carries. He offers a good mix of power and contact balance to go along with his burst, posing challenges for how he can go around or through defenders and putting them on their heels trying to fit him in space.
Sampson offers good vision and feel for small creases. He isn’t afraid to put his head and pads down and attack a sliver of daylight. As a result, Sampson was effective in converting in short-yardage chances — 80 percent of his third down carries with four or fewer yards to go were converted.
On passing downs, Sampson is an impactful player in protection. Tennessee’s usage of spread formations put the running back position in the spotlight for six-man protections, and Sampson was the primary assignment. He totaled more than 110 snaps in protection in 2024 with seven pressures allowed. When he is conceding pressure, it appears as though Sampson is sorting through multiple threats in real time, and he can be a tick late to get into position.
Additionally, he can be guilty of catching defenders instead of attacking consistently with his hands. Still, he’s willing to step up and frame on the edge or inside, possesses a low enough center of gravity to absorb contact, and on several occasions, exploded into and rode a rusher past the quarterback to maintain a clean pocket.
As a pass catcher, Sampson was primarily used underneath as a behind-the-line-of-scrimmage target. Just five receptions this year came past the line of scrimmage, and only two came further than five yards downfield.
This is a notably underdeveloped portion of Sampson’s game, and he illustrated a hard time plucking the ball away from his frame or adjusting to the throw on more than one occasion. The workload here was not necessarily one that put a lot of stress on his plate, and Sampson should be assumed to be almost exclusively a screen and shallow swing or checkdown option early in his career as a result.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Sampson projects as a diverse run scheme talent who would be best suited to run between the tackles as an inside zone and gap-schemed player. He possesses the speed to ride the wave as an outside zone runner, but his yards after contact physicality would shine inside despite his frame.
Sampson should be given early-down opportunities early in his career, allowing him to develop his pass-catching profile and hands further to become a more complete player.
Grade: 75.00/100.00, Third Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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