Tennessee football: 6-foot-5 running back Dee Beckwith is turning heads

Tennessee football redshirt freshman Dee Beckwith arrived in Knoxville as a quarterback and transitioned to wide receiver as a freshman. The 6-foot-5, 227-pound athlete was later moved back into the backfield as a running back, where he will look to make an impact in 2021.

Beckwith played in the final three games of the 2020 season, contributing on special teams and at running back. He has two career carries for 24 yards.

With the arrival of a new coaching staff this season, every player has been given a chance to improve their stock. Running back coach Jerry Mack gave his thoughts on Beckwith and others ahead of the season.

On how Beckwith can climb the depth chart

“I think the attention to detail. I think Dee Beckwith and some of those other guys as well are still young at the position, I think we forget that a ton, that those guys are still trying to learn exactly how being a college football player works, as far as playing that position,” Mack said. “There’s a lot more on them than in high school. 

“Dee Beckwith is a former quarterback as well, so he has a really good idea, a good vision of the big picture and how it all fits together. Learning the smaller details of playing the running back position is really critical. The physicality of playing the running back position is a little different at this level. Obviously, depending on where they came from, sometimes even with a guy like Tiyon, being physical at this level compared to the junior college level, you’re playing against guys that are potential NFL players.

“Getting used to, as we say on special teams a lot, ‘running through the smoke’ a lot of times when things look cloudy. We’ve got to get used to that with some of those younger guys and playing with great pad level.

“Some of those guys are used to being the biggest, fastest and strongest where they came from. Now, they need to play with better pad level because they’re going to be playing against guys that are probably a little bit stronger and maybe a little bit faster in some instances than they are.”

On the benefits of Beckwith’s size

He continued by explaining the benefits of Beckwith’s size.

“I think one of the benefits is, from a protection standpoint, when he goes to protect with those long arms it’s like being a boxer with that wingspan to protect. He does a really good job from a protection standpoint. He does a really good job of being a big target, when we talk about flexing those guys out and throwing balls to those guys.

“Probably one of the disadvantages for guys who are that tall is pad level and being able to get their pad level low because they are a big target for linebackers and safeties running through the middle. Those are probably the pros and cons of being that size.”