‘Just play it by ear’: The ‘hot hand’ will continue to determine Tennessee’s running back rotation
Tennessee’s run game was a two-headed monster last season, with Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright combining for big numbers. The duo went for just over 1,600 yards on a combined 303 attempts and scored 23 touchdowns in total.
And they split the work down the middle.
Small had 157 carries to Wright’s 147. Wright had 875 yards to Small’s 734. Small had 13 touchdowns to Wright’s 10.
“You were able to get in rotation last year,” running backs coach Jerry Mack said last week, “and really have some great success.”
Josh Heupel’s offense is known mostly for a wide-split passing game producing big numbers, but the Vols more than held their own on the ground in 2022.
Tennessee finished third in rushing touchdowns in 2022
Tennessee’s 40 touchdowns scored on the ground ranked third nationally, trailing only Georgia (44) and Michigan (41). The Vols were 24th in rush yards (2,593), 26th in yards per game (199.4), 28th in attempts per game (40.2) and 31st in yards per carry (4.96).
And all three of Tennessee’s leading running backs from last season — Small, Wright and sophomore Dylan Sampson — are back, while freshmen Khalifa Keith, Cameron Seldon and DeSean Bishop were added to the group.
“That’s a blessing,” Wright said of the additions on Friday. “We compete, but we all know that we’re all we got. It’s good that it’s a competitive running back room. That just makes all of us better.”
The blessing for Mack is both depth and balance in his running back meeting room.
“Obviously we all feel like those guys are three-down backs,” Mack said, “so we feel like they can play every down. We don’t have to rotate guys in for short yardage and pass pro things like that.”
The harder question to answer is who gets the bulk of the carries. Wright and Small have clearly established themselves over the last two seasons, but determining the rotation will be a week-to-week decision.
“It really just depends on the flow of the game,” Mack said. “One thing about running backs, if the guy has a hot hand, you want keep him in. So that’s no different than what we’re trying to do.
“The guy that is really in the rhythm, I would be crazy to take him out while he’s on. But I do foresee that we’re gonna need all those guys as the season progresses.”
‘Both (Jaylen Wright and Jabari Small are) playing at a really high level right now’
After splitting carries last season, Small and Wright won’t experience anything different when the new season kicks off on September 2, when Tennessee faces Virginia in a Noon Eastern Time start at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.
“We don’t really know too much,” Small said Friday when asked about the rotation. “Really we just take advantage of our opportunities. I think maybe last year we knew the first couple drives, but other than that man, we just play it by ear.”
A difference this season, as Mack explained it, is that Wright and Small are “definitely more interchangeable” now than they were a year ago.
“Jaylen has really grown as a pass protector,” Mack said. “He’s grown in his hands. Jabari has grown as a pass protector, so I don’t feel like he has a lot of deficiencies from that aspect.”
“… Like both of those guys’ games, both of them playing at a really high level right now.”
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