Where Tennessee RB Jaylen Wright is ranked in ESPN's 100 best picks in the NFL Draft
Jaylen Wright was the 69th-best pick in the NFL Draft according to ESPN analyst Matt Miller, who ranked his top 100 picks from last week’s draft. The former Tennessee running back landed with the Miami Dolphins in the fourth round, picked at No. 120 overall.
“Miami selecting one of the fastest running backs in the class should surprise no one,” Miller wrote of Wright and his fit in Miami. “Wright will pair with 2023 third-rounder De’Von Achane to be the team’s future in the backfield with Raheem Mostert recently turning 32 years old.”
The Dolphins traded a 2025 third-round pick to move up in the fourth round and pick Wright at No. 120 overall.
Dolphins have one of the most productive rushing offenses in the NFL
Now he joins a Dolphins offense that last season finished sixth in total rushing (2,308 yards), led the league in yards per carry (5.1) and tied for the league lead in rushing touchdowns (27).
Mostert carried 209 times for 1,012 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. Achane, who the Dolphins took in the third round last year, had 800 yards and eight touchdowns on 103 carries, averaging 103 yards per carry.
NFL Network’s Peter Schrager last week described Wright as having potential to be one of the biggest steals of the draft during an appearance on Pardon My Take on Monday, calling Wright his “diamond in the rough” leaving the draft.
“If I know Mike McDaniel, which I think I know fairly well, that’s his pick, written all over it,” Schrager said of the Dolphins head coach. “They traded up to get him.”
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Jaylen Wright ran for 2,297 yards, 18 TDs over three seasons at Tennessee
During his breakout junior season at Tennessee, Wright carried 137 times for 1,013 yards and had four rushing touchdowns, averaging 7.4 yards per carry. He became just the 19th Tennessee running back to go over 1,000 yards in a season and did it in fewer carries than any other back before him.
Over the last three seasons with the Vols, Wright totaled 2,297 yards and 18 touchdowns on 368 attempts. He had 409 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman in 2021 and 875 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2022. He averaged 4.8 yards per carry in 2021 and 6.0 yards per carry in 2022.
“I don’t know how it works in fantasy football,” Schrager said, “because (the Dolphins) have Achane and Mostert and (Salvon) Ahmed, they have all these guys. This Jaylen Wright averaged eight years per carry at Tennessee. He’s as fast as they come. Was supposed to go on Day 2, goes early on Day 3 and they trade up to get him.”
“Again,” Schrager added later, “depth chart be damned. There will be plays where Jaylen Wright … has an 80-yard scamper or does something crazy. The way they do their offense, all those running backs will touch the ball. Jaylen Wright, fourth-round pick, Dolphins, that’s my diamond in the rough.”
