Tennessee received some expected news today regarding their most efficient offensive threat this morning. Running back Jaylen Wright announced on social media on Friday morning that he will not return to Tennessee and will officially declare for the draft. Wright is a true junior running back from Durham, North Carolina. He measures in at around 5-11 and 210 pounds.
Jaylen was a huge asset to this Volunteer backfield, as he was the first 1,000-yard rusher at Tennessee since Jalen Hurd in 2015. Wright put together a 1013-yard season despite splitting plenty of carries with Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson. His most yards in a game this year came against Texas A&M at home, in which the Volunteers took home a win. He finished that game with 19 carries, 136 yards, and an average of 7.2 yards per carry. He had his longest run of the season against UConn, in which he had an opening play touchdown that went for 82 yards. His most efficient yards per carry game was also in the UConn game, as he averaged a swift 14.1 yards per carry. The junior back didn’t have a multiple touchdown game, although he did score in the South Carolina, Kentucky, UConn, and Georgia games.
Wright has also chosen to opt out of the bowl game on January 1st against Iowa. Instead, he will put his full focus on the draft process.
The running back room now includes Dylan Sampson, Cameron Seldon, Khalifa Keith, incoming freshman Peyton Lewis, and more. Many fans have stressed the importance of Dylan Sampson and the disbelief of the amount of snaps he has received at times. It is expected that he will carry a large load moving forward for the Volunteers as he enters his true junior season.
