The running back room is thin, but it’s provided some opportunities for these two.
The Tennessee backfield situation has become a story this spring, following the injury to rising sophomore Cam Seldon. The assumed RB2 will miss the rest of the spring and will spend his summer rehabbing a shoulder issue. Seldon is expected to be back and ready to go for the fall.
The Seldon injury is a bigger deal now, considering incoming four-star freshman Peyton Lewis is unable to go after getting some things cleaned up upon arriving in Knoxville. Lewis missing out on physical reps is a big deal, as Tennessee tries to build depth with Jaylen Wright and Jabari Small heading to the NFL.
With two key pieces of the puzzle missing, more reps have landed on the three remaining healthy backs. Obviously Dylan Sampson is going to lead this group, and he’s been praised all spring long for his shift into a leadership role within the program.
“He’s always brought great energy out to the practice field with him or the meeting room,” Heupel said of Sampson. “But he is really, thrust himself into to a leadership role and, and we got a great collective group of leaders that are really strong right now. They’ve grown since we started our off season in January.”
We know about Sampson at this point — he’s in for a big season. But what about the relative unknowns on the roster like DeSean Bishop and Khalifa Keith? They’re the big beneficiaries from the injuries, snapping up as many reps as they can handle as spring begins to wind down.
Both guys were praised by Heupel following Thursday night’s scrimmage.
“Brought up Deshaun Bishop, I thought he ran extremely well tonight without watching the film,” Heupel said. “I’d say probably his best football that he is played this spring. He’s a guy coming back off of injury that is getting more comfortable as he’s gone through the spring and so, really like what he did. Khalifa had a good night too.”
Bishop got a lot of work in last year’s spring game (24 carries), and figures to be a main piece of this year’s game as well. The former Tennessee Mr. Football winner came to the Volunteers as a three-star prospect in the class of 2022. Unfortunately his freshman season was cut short due to injury. Now the 5-11, 200 pound running back is trying to carve out a role in the offense as a redshirt freshman.
Keith brings a lot more size to the table, checking in at 6-1, 233 pounds. He handled ten carries as a true freshman last season, getting his feet wet in garbage time. We’ll get our first extended look at Keith during the Orange and White Game next weekend.
There’s been some chatter about potentially adding a back out of the transfer portal ahead of the fall, with limited depth on the roster. I’d guess that would depend on the rehab of Seldon, along with how comfortable the staff feels with Lewis after receiver no physical reps this spring.
The spring transfer portal window will open on April 16th, so that’s something to keep an eye on over the next month.