Tennessee made an interesting promise to Vols' latest commit
The Tennessee Vols received some good news to kick off Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday afternoon, 2024 four-star running back Peyton Lewis announced his commitment to Tennessee. Lewis, 6-foot-1/190 lbs from Salem, VA, is rated by 247Sport as the No. 11 running back in the nation and the No. 3 player in the state of […]
The Tennessee Vols received some good news to kick off Memorial Day weekend.
On Saturday afternoon, 2024 four-star running back Peyton Lewis announced his commitment to Tennessee.
Lewis, 6-foot-1/190 lbs from Salem, VA, is rated by 247Sport as the No. 11 running back in the nation and the No. 3 player in the state of Virginia.
The Virginia native committed to the Vols over offers from Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, among several others.
Lewis told On3 that Tennessee has promised to utilize a personalized playbook for him.
"They’ve informed me that there would be a specific playbook personalized for me to succeed," explained Lewis to On3's Hayes Fawcett. "So I am confident I will not waste my potential playing at Tennessee.”
That might seem like an odd promise to make to a recruit, but Josh Heupel has shown a willingness to constantly adapt and tweak his offense. So I'm sure this "specific playbook" that's personalized for Lewis is simply a set of plays that Tennessee will use to maximize the young running back's potential.
Essentially, that's what Heupel and his offensive staff do with each skill position player — they find an area where a player excels and then figure out how to work that into the offensive scheme.
Here's the scouting report from 247Sports on Lewis.
From 247Sports: Routinely out-runs high school defensive backs. Is difficult to arm tackle and does not go down on first contact often. Patient runner who is comfortable running between the tackles but has speed to bounce plays outside. Shows balance and is effective with stiff arm. Can gear down to hit gap and quickly accelerates to get through. Knows how to change pace and has burst to overcome angles. Can be effective pass catcher out of backfield.
Lewis has a broad skill set. He can run between the tackles or he can make defenders miss in the open field, which makes him a perfect fit in Heupel's run-first offense (the passing game gets the attention, but Tennessee runs the ball more they throw it — 40 rushing attempts per game compared to 32 passing attempts per game last season). The running game is what allows the Vols to take some deep shots in the passing game.
With Lewis now committed to Tennessee, the Vols currently have the No. 8 recruiting class in the nation.
