2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Dylan Sampson

Last Updated: 2/14/2025

Career Stats

Summary 

Upon his arrival to Knoxville as a four-star prospect, it was a surprise how quickly Dylan Sampson made an impact even in a limited role. Once getting a shot to lead the backfield, he excelled leading the SEC in rushing yards and touchdowns this year.

Sampson is standing on a lean 5-foot-11, 201 pounds. His game is predicated on deception and speed. Behind the line of scrimmage, he displays plenty of patience to follow pulling blockers — sometimes to a fault. Mixing this with strong vision and anticipation allows him to expose defenders in the first and second levels by attacking their leverage. His lateral agility and dead leg allow him to maximize runs but does lack a ton of elusiveness. Other than a spin move that he deploys almost too often, there is minimal creativity in making defenders miss. It is off to the races once he is in the open field, where his burst is very evident, often eliminating angles and eating up yards quickly. Despite flashing positive top end speed, there are reps where he gets run down by defenders making me question his play speed.

With his lighter frame, it is no surprise Sampson lacks a physical dominance, but he is not shy to contact. Attacking the point of contact with a good pad level allows him to bounce off defenders, while using his spin move and lateral agility to limit significant blows. If a defender does get a solid lick or their arms around him anywhere it is likely they will get him to the ground. Lacking strong contact balance often results in him succumbing to limited contact. We also saw him struggle to push piles at the end of runs, or power forward while running between the tackles.

As a pass catcher, it’s a mixed bag — he shows average hands and transitions from a receiver to a runner fluidly. On the other hand, there have been some pretty bad drops and a limited route exposure. There are also struggles in the blocking game. Sometimes looking lost in identifying the assignment and failing to anchor effectively resulting in quarterback pressures.

Strengths

• Burst
• Patience
• Vision

Weaknesses

• Physicality
• Consistency
• Passing game prowess 

Honors and Awards

• First Team All-SEC (2024)
• SEC Offensive Player of the Year (2024)
• All-America Second Team (The Athletic, FWAA, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Walter Camp)
• USA Today SEC Player of the Year (2024)

Athletic Testing

• 40-yard dash: TBD
• Vertical: TBD
• Broad Jump: TBD
• Three-cone: TBD
• Shuttle: TBD
• Bench: TBD

NFL Role Prediction

• Early down back 

Scheme Fit

• Gap/Interior Zone

Fantasy Outlook

It feels like Dylan Sampson will be relegated to an early-down role at the next level due largely to his lack of blocking skills and limited passing game exposure. His burst and vision can make him an effective runner at the next level, but I worry he may be more replacement level than full-time starter. The path Jerome Ford followed seems likely, as I can draw parallels in their games. In the right situation we may see early production, but it feels like Sampson may be a bit of a project — so be prepared for this when selecting him in fantasy draft.

Player Comparisons

• Jerome Ford
• Miles Sanders
• Khalil Herbert