Tennessee Football: Way-too-early 2022 depth chart projection

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Nov 27, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Jabari Small (2) celebrates after a touchdown during the first half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /

Running Back

RB1: Jabari Small (junior)
RB2: Jaylen Wright (sophomore)
Situational RBs: Justin Williams (freshman), Len’Neth Whitehead (redshirt sophomore)

While Tiyon Evans was the top back to start the year, Jabari Small stepped in and took over that job permanently. Small is a versatile back, and flashed a good deal of explosiveness in the latter half of last year, running for 791 yards and nine touchdowns in 2021.

Like most teams, Tennessee runs a two-man rotation at running back, so that second spot represents a big increase in carries. One of the big competitions to watch is going to be incumbent Jaylen Wright versus freshman Justin Williams for that slot.

Wright should get the nod to start the year though since Williams won’t be on campus for spring practice. Wright isn’t a bad back at all, but Williams has a rare combination of size and explosiveness that will allow him to rise up the depth chart once the season starts.

Len’Neth Whitehead made spot appearances for the Vols offense but was reduced mostly to garbage time. He’s a bigger back with less speed, but also can’t run through arm tackles as well as Small and Wright.

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