The Pittsburgh Steelers are doing plenty of homework on what’s considered a deep draft class of running backs. According to Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline, the team has an official pre-draft visit scheduled with Tennessee RB Dylan Sampson.
The news comes one day after a separate report that Steelers are also bringing in Kansas State RB DJ Giddens for an official visit, one of 30 each team gets ahead of the draft.
Though Pittsburgh signed Kenneth Gainwell, his contract was a cheap one-year deal that clearly isn’t altering the Steelers’ draft plans.
An accomplished runner, Sampson broke out in 2024 for the Volunteers. He rushed for nearly 1,500 yards with 22 rushing scores across 256 carries, the lead runner in a high-octane, up-tempo Tennessee offense. In each category, those numbers led the SEC.
Short but not small at 5081, 200 pounds, Sampson didn’t run at the NFL Combine but jumped 35 inches in the vertical in Indianapolis. At his Pro Day held earlier this week, Pauline reports Sampson was timed in the 4.4-range with some scouts timing him as fast as 4.35 seconds, fantastic times for the position.
Pittsburgh had at least two personnel members at his Pro Day workout. Wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni made the trip to check out WR Dont’e Thornton while area scout Jarrod Highberger also attended.
In our scouting report, Jonathan Heitritter praised Sampson for his speed and juice, lateral agility, and vision to follow his blocks. Negatively, his pass protection is inconsistent, and he lacks overwhelming power. We concluded:
“Dylan Sampson is a proven runner who would fit well in a zone running scheme to get him in open space as he follows his blocks to green grass. His running style should help him fit a committee role to start out in the league with the chance to become more of a feature back with time. However, his upside is capped due to his work as a pass catcher/pass protector, and those areas need to improve for him to become a back that can be relied upon to operate in all phases of the game.
When coming up with a pro comp for Sampson, Jaylen Wright, his former teammate at Tennessee, comes to mind as a similar-style player with similar size and quickness who was drafted in the fourth round last season. I foresee Sampson going in a similar spot in this year’s draft.”
Heitritter gave him a borderline third/fourth round grade. Per Mock Draft Database, which aggregates mock drafts, Sampson is projected to be a third-round pick. Currently, the Steelers’ only Day 2 selection comes in the third round at No. 83 overall. That’s a plausible spot where they could select Sampson.
Check out our full report below.
