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Tennessee fans celebrated, and rightfully so, when David Gabriel-Georges announced earlier this week that he was committing to the Volunteers for 2027.
Recruiting services currently rate Gabriel-Georges, or DGG, as he’s commonly referred to, as the No. 2 running back prospect in the 2027 class. Securing the commitment of DGG has been called the best get for Tennessee recruiting since Peyton Manning — which is a considerably high bar.
So, yes, we haven’t even begun the 2026 season, but as we look ahead to 2027, what’s a reasonable expectation for what DGG can contribute to the Vols? What would be considered a disappointment?
The high mark, for a freshman, would be the 1,197 yards on 237 carries. That’s what Reggie Cobb accomplished as a redshirt freshman for the Vols in 1987, part of a school-record 1,721 all-purpose yards and 20 touchdowns, which tied the Southeastern Conference mark at the time.
How about in a single game? The current highwater mark for rushing is 294 yards, set by Chuck Webb during the 1989 season. I remember Webb as a standout back for the Vols as a youngster, but his 1,392 yards for his career doesn’t come close to cracking the top 20 for all-time rushing yards at Tennessee.
The best single season for a Tennessee back belongs to Dylan Sampson. He racked up 1,491 yards and 22 touchdowns on 258 carries — all single-year program records for the Vols — during their run to the College Football Playoff in 2024.
How about if DGG busts out 1,364 yards and seven touchdowns as a freshman? That’s what Jamal Lewis accomplished in the first of his three seasons at Tennessee. Lewis went on to run for 2,677 yards as a collegiate player before going pro.
A slow start at the college level probably will lead to speculation that DGG enters the transfer portal. Travis Stephens, for example, probably would never have stuck around Knoxville in the current college landscape. Stephens ran for 477 yards on 107 carries as a sophomore in 1998, redshirted in 1999, then had 359 yards on 81 rushes in 2000. It wasn’t until 2001, when he was a fifth-year senior, that he broke out for 1,464 yards — the program single-season rushing record until Sampson broke it in 2024.
How about 939 yards as a freshman? Seems modest, but that’s what James Stewart racked up in the first leg of a Tennessee career that reaped nearly 2,900 yards on the ground. The game has changed, and how running backs are used has changed with it, but if DGG could produce similar stats to “Little Man” it would be quite impressive.
If DGG evolves as a pass catcher, though, he might be the best complete threat out of the backfield since Arian Foster. His tenure at Tennessee didn’t end well but, given history and hindsight, Foster has to go down as one of the best ever to play the running back position for the Vols. Foster’s 2,964 career yards rushing ranks second all-time at Tennessee. Moreover, he had 742 yards receiving, the second-most for any Vol that ran for 1,000 or more yards in his career. Ironically, Foster’s legacy for the Vols might be looked at with kinder eyes had he chosen to turn pro at the end of his junior year. Foster bypassed the NFL, and a second-round draft grade, at the end of the 2007 season to return to school for a disastrous 2008 Tennessee season that cost Phillip Fulmer his job and led to Foster not being chosen in the subsequent NFL draft.
DGG still has more than a year to go before he makes his official collegiate debut. And it’s fine for Vol fans to be excited about his potential.
Of course, if you’re looking at the exploits and achievements of Tennessee running backs through the history of the program, the Cheese stands alone. That’s Cheese, as in Travis Henry, who remains the career rushing leader for the Vols. He earned that “Cheese” nickname because he was reputed to be as hard and tough as a block of government cheese. Henry ran for 3,078 career yards, the only Vol to surpass the 3,000-yard barrier, and also holds the program records for rushing attempts and 100-yard games.