The Pittsburgh Steelers may have placed an RFA tender on RB Jaylen Warren and signed RB Kenneth Gainwell in free agency, but don’t expect that to be the end of their additions to the room this offseason. It’s set to be a historically good running back class, and they’ve already brought in a couple players at the position that should be taken over the first two days of the 2025 NFL Draft. Today, it was reported that Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson is among the talented backs coming to Pittsburgh for a pre-draft visit.
I had a chance to speak with him at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine during his podium session available to the media.
Sampson only spent three years in college, and didn’t get much of an opportunity over his first two seasons with just 184 total touches over his first two seasons. Following his sophomore season, the media chatter surrounding the Tennessee Volunteers was that they needed to go shopping in the transfer portal at the running back position. Sampson took that to heart and used it to drive him to a career year.
“I take a lot of pride in it, cause a lot of people didn’t think I could do it,” Sampson said. “A lot of people thought we should have went out and got another back, but this was the moment I’ve been waiting for my whole time at Tennessee. I kind of sat behind and rotated for a long time and I knew the opportunity I had this year. So I was eager to show people that every time I touched the field I could be that guy.”
Sampson was that guy for the Vols in 2024. In 12 games, he had 258 rushing attempts for 1,491 yards and 22 TDs. All three numbers led the SEC. He also chipped in another 20 receptions for 143 yards. He did enough to earn the No. 64 overall spot on Pro Football Focus’s big board for the upcoming draft.
When asked about his best attributes that he can provide to an NFL team, he listed several off-field things before he ever mentioned his skills as a player of the game.
“I think my tenacity, more than anything,” Sampson said. “I think just the mindset I take every time I touch the field regardless of how big I am, I know what I’m gonna do when I get the ball in my hands and even when I’m not playing with the ball in my hands. Teams can expect to get a hardworking player who won’t have any issues off the field, gonna come in the locker room and learn and try to grow and become a leader and whatever they need me to do. I’m a playmaker.”
At 5081, 200 pounds, Sampson is on the smaller side for an NFL back. He would fit right in with the small, but mighty group of backs that the Steelers currently have under contract. He didn’t run the 40-yard dash at the combine, but he ran at his Pro Day, per Shayne Pickering on X.
Tennessee made it to the first-ever expanded college football playoffs and played the eventual champion Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round. Unfortunately, Sampson barely participated.
“A lot of people thought I got hurt in that game. Nah, I was dealing with a hamstring injury from Vandy. It was lingering. I was trying to talk positive,” he said. “I tried to go out there for my team, but it just wasn’t going, I really would’ve been a liability out there, and I really didn’t want to get nobody else hurt and further injure myself. It was hard…If I could’ve went, I would’ve been there.”
While some players start football at a young age and play for nine or ten years before going to college, Sampson had a bit more of a unique path.
“I only played one year of peewee football in the third grade, and I didn’t play again until the seventh grade,” he said. “I was gonna quit football for a minute after my grandfather died. That was a big moment in my life. Kind of found myself being lost in that moment. A lot of things going on. Great flood of 2016 in Louisiana, grandfather diagnosed with cancer for the second time. It hit me hard and I kind of lost my way for a minute. But I woke up and I found a verse, Roman 8:28, and it was just speaking to me. My family prayed over me and I felt like this is what I should be doing and I have an impact in this. Not just on the field, but off the field.”
While some players will speak about having an impact off the field, but fail to walk the walk, Sampson actually took steps in college to live what he is saying. He took a course in college which took him to Africa to learn how to connect with the community and build relationships in a third-world country.
“Through a program called Vol Leaders set up through the athletic institution. It’s a year-long class,” Sampson said. “The whole class is just surrounded on building and developing your leadership skills and then also in turn learning how to work with people and then build community through sport. So each year they pick a new third-world country, learn about it, and travel to it for close to two weeks.”
He spent time in South Africa and Botswana, and some of the encounters he had with locals there changed his perspective.
“I met this kid named Siphiwe, he was infected when he was young and had to cut off a certain amount of limbs and fingers,” Sampson said. “He’s 14 years old, had the biggest, brightest smile. Never took any energy away from anybody’s day. Still runs track to this day, holds paralympic records. Anything I took is just to be thankful for the situation that you’re in, ’cause it could always be worse. You gotta count your blessings.”
He said teams took an interest in his stories outside of football as they used their meeting time with him to get to know him. If he was anything like he was on the podium, there are some teams that probably love his hearts and smarts. He was an honor roll student for multiple semesters in college.
The Steelers met with him informally at the combine, and they must have liked what they saw because they are reportedly flying him out to Pittsburgh for a pre-draft visit.
