Tennessee Volunteers–No. 6 | |
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Position | Running back |
Class | Junior |
Personal information | |
Born: | September 14, 2004 |
Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
Weight | 201 lb (91 kg) |
Career history | |
College |
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Bowl games | |
High school | Dutchtown (Geismar, Louisiana) |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Dylan Jacob Sampson (born September 14, 2004) is an American football running back who played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Sampson attended Dutchtown High School in Geismar, Louisiana. [1] During his high school career, Sampson surpassed Eddie Lacy as the school's all-time leading rusher. [2] [3] As a junior, he ran for 1,327 yards and 15 touchdowns in eight games. [4] He followed that up as a senior by rushing for 1,374 yards and 22 touchdowns. [5] A four-star recruit, Sampson committed to play college football at the University of Tennessee over offers from Arkansas, Mississippi State, LSU and Penn State. [6] [7]
As a freshman, Sampson ran for 397 yards and six touchdowns on 58 carries, in addition to leading the team with 6.8 yards per carry. [8] [9] In the 2023 season opener against Virginia, he recorded four total touchdowns—three rushing and one receiving—helping lead the Volunteers to a 49−13 victory. [10] Against UTSA, Sampson rushed for a career-high 139 yards and two touchdowns. [11] After playing as a backup through the majority of his first two seasons, Sampson got an opportunity to make his first career start against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl. [12] Against Iowa, he rushed for 133 yards on 20 carries. [13] [14] Sampson finished his sophomore season rushing for 604 yards and seven touchdowns while also recording 175 receiving yards for a touchdown. [15]
In the 2024 season, Sampson broke the school record for single-season rushing touchdowns, a mark previously held by Gene McEver since the 1929 season. [16] At the end of the year, he was named First-Team All-SEC and earned SEC Offensive Player of the Year. [17]
On December 27, 2024, Sampson declared for the 2025 NFL draft. [18]
Season | Games | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||
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GP | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | |||
Tennessee Volunteers | |||||||||||
2022 | 10 | 58 | 397 | 6.8 | 6 | 3 | 24 | 8.0 | 0 | ||
2023 | 12 | 106 | 604 | 5.7 | 7 | 17 | 175 | 10.3 | 1 | ||
2024 | 12 | 256 | 1,485 | 5.8 | 22 | 19 | 141 | 7.4 | 0 | ||
Career | 34 | 420 | 2,486 | 5.9 | 35 | 39 | 340 | 8.7 | 1 |