In order to become the best, you’ve got to study what the greats have already done.
Whether it be academics, sports, or just day-to-day lifestyle activities, studying the success of others has always been a tried and true method of gaining ground.
And while Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright has been gaining plenty of ground on the football field this season, portions of his success in preparation can be traced back to former NFL greats such as Walter Payton and Terrell Davis.
“You wish all your guys would make sure they are students of the game,” Tennessee running back’s coach Jerry Mack said on Tuesday. “And Jaylen has done a really good job in the offseason and in-season studying game. You know, we tease these guys a lot of the time that they don’t watch football, so a lot of times they can’t tell you even some of the past greats that played the game because they didn’t grow up watching the games as much as my generation did more than anything else.”
Wright, though, has been different. Wright is that student of the game that Mack was alluding to as the Tennessee junior knows all about Sweetness’s physicality and T.D.’s speed.
“But now what you see, here’s a guy, kind of got a throwback feel to him, he can tell you about guys like Walter Payton or TD (Terrell Davis) or anyone else like that,” Mack said of Wright. “So it’s just a mindset of, ‘Hey, look, I want to study the greats. I want to study past greats, I want to study current greats, I want to study just the game of football to see what those guys saw.'”
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Wright has been phenomenal for the Volunteers this season as the SEC’s fourth-leading rusher with 541 yards, also leading the conference in yards per rush attempt at 7.14 yards. According to RTI’s Jack Foster, Wright’s 136 rushing yards against Texas A&M was more than Jase McClellan (ALA), Raheim Sanders (ARK), and Jarquez Hunter (AU) had against the Aggies combined.
“He got that little leg kick like Payton used to have sometimes when he’s trying to be patient, going between the tackles on the perimeter,” Mack said of Wright.
Wright’s newly implemented combination of speed, physicality, and finesse has turned him into one of the sport’s best backs and the engine of Tennessee’s offense.
“I think, more than anything, just the diversity that he brings to the table,” Mack said of Wright. “You can see Jaylen has really worked on his pass-receiving skills and you can see now we start to do more things with him as far as throwing the ball out of the backfield… I do think just the approach he takes to games, he’s a lot more patient as a runner. If he continues to do a good job of being patient, he’s going to always have success no matter what defense we line up against.”
Jaylen Wright and the No. 17 Volunteers will travel to Tuscaloosa this weekend for an SEC cross-divisional matchup with No. 11 Alabama at 3:30 p.m. ET in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
