Big Blue View
Will Sampson’s electric running light up the NFL?
The running back class in the 2025 NFL Draft is truly remarkable.
It is at least as good as the 2024 wide receiver class, and perhaps even better. There are incredible players at the top of the draft, and talented runners throughout the depth chart. There are running backs who can fit any role in any offensive scheme.
Tennessee runner Dylan Sampson is a bit overshadowed in this incredible running back class, but he’s an electric runner who’s just plain fun to watch.
The Giants already have a relatively similar skill set in Tyrone Tracy, and conventional wisdom would dictate that they look for a big power back to balance Tracy’s elusiveness between the 20’s. But what if the Giants opted to lean into that skill set?
Could Sampson’s electric running make him an option?
Prospect: Dylan Sampson (6)
Games Watched: vs. NC State (2024), vs. Oklahoma (2024), vs. Alabama (2024), vs. Georgia (2024)
Red Flags: Hamstring (2024)
Best traits
Dylan Sampson is an undersized but athletic and highly productive running back prospect.
While Sampson might look significantly different from other top running back prospects at 5-foot-8, 200 pounds, he combines twitchy athleticism with great vision and competitive toughness to great effect. He was a very big part of the Tennessee offense in 2024, and led the conference in carries (258), yards (1,491), and touchdowns (22), on the way to being named SEC Offensive Player Of The Year.
Sampson has incredibly quick feet which give him great quickness, agility, and acceleration. He runs with impressive patience behind the line of scrimmage, hiding behind his blockers and waiting for creases to develop before exploding through the line of scrimmage. Sampson does a fantastic job of altering his pathing and tempo to manipulate defenders before committing to his intended running lane.
In addition to great athleticism, Sampson also has excellent vision and feel for the position. He almost seems to view the defensive front not as the opposition, but as an obstacle course to be navigated. He routinely slips past, spins around, ducks under, or bounces off would-be tacklers to turn a modest run into chunk yardage. His acceleration and change of direction skills allow him to regularly break angles, and ankles, with his suddenness.
And despite his size, defenses often need to gang-tackle Sampson, simply because of how slippery he is. Individual defenders can bring down Sampson due to his size, but getting a square shot at him is much easier said than done.
And while he doesn’t have great speed in the open field, he hits his top speed so quickly and is able to sustain separation from most defenders.
Sampson wasn’t heavily featured in the passing game, but he’s a viable check-down option and his athletic traits make him very dangerous on screen plays.
Worst traits
Sampson’s weaknesses...
