Why Tennessee's Dylan Sampson Should Be a Heisman Candidate

The Vols' running back is having a historic season, but why is no one noticing?

Oct 19, 2024; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Dylan Sampson (6) runs the ball against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second half at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images / Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

During Tennessee’s 6-1 start to the season, the offense has undoubtedly been inconsistent. 

The play of starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava has been up and down, especially since SEC play began. However, there is one offensive player whose level of play has not dipped at all this season. The Vols’ starting running back, Dylan Sampson, is having an unbelievable season through seven games. He has 838 rushing yards with 17 touchdowns, which is tied for second-most in the country. He has the same number of rushing scores as Heisman favorite Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.

The fact that Samson is doing this in the SEC cannot be ignored. He has rushed for over 100 yards in every game this season except for one. The only game he did not get over 100 yards was against Oklahoma, where he had 92 yards and a score. His last two games for Tennessee have been particularly special.

Against Florida in a 23–17 overtime victory, Sampson rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns. The very next weekend against Alabama, he had 139 yards and two touchdowns. He had a combined 53 carries in those games as well. It is not very common that Tennessee beats Florida and Alabama in the same season, and the Vols could not have done it this year without Sampson.

In 1929, Gene McEver rushed for 18 touchdowns. That is still Tennessee's school record for rushing touchdowns in a season. Sampson will likely break that mark against Kentucky after the Vols’ bye week. He has been the undisputed best player on the Vols' offense and the best running back in the SEC.

Despite Samson's incredible season, his name is not appearing on many Heisman odds lists. In fact, it is hard to find any Heisman rankings that include Sampson in the top five. That makes no sense at all.

The Heisman Trophy is usually an award for quarterbacks. It is very difficult for running back to take home the prestigious, honor, but it is possible. Even this season, Jeanty is getting tons of Heisman buzz, and rightfully so. However, Samson also deserves some recognition for his incredible play. It is not clear what he will have to do to start getting his name mentioned with some of the other award's top contenders.

So far, Sampson has been dominating the SEC's rushing leaderboard. He has 164 more yards than the second-leading rusher in the conference. He also has six more rushing touchdowns than the next closest SEC player. Yet so far none of that has been enough to even be in the Heisman conversation.

The bottom line is that Sampson deserves much more recognition on a national level than he is getting currently. It remains to be seen what else he has to do to earn that respect.