It looks like a leader has emerged in key position battle for Tennessee Vols

The Tennessee Vols held their first scrimmage of fall camp on Friday night and it looks like a leader has emerged at a key position battle.

Vols head coach Josh Heupel told reporters after the scrimmage that starting running back Dylan Sampson was held out (Heupel didn't elaborate on why) on Friday night. With Sampson not on the field, it was redshirt freshman running back DeSean Bishop who received the first team reps.

And not only did Bishop receive first team reps, he was the first player that Heupel mentioned during his post-scrimmage media session.

"I thought DeSean Bishop had a really nice night, efficient, effective, ran hard," said Heupel. "I thought he did a really nice job."

Heupel noted that he thought Bishop, who is from Knoxville, performed well in practice a year ago before suffering an injury, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the redshirt freshman had a solid scrimmage.

“A year ago before he got hurt, really liked how he was flashing in practice and early in the scrimmage," said Heupel. "He’s very consistent. I’m really proud of how he’s rebounded from the injury. Just his continued growth as a person, the way that he approaches every day when he comes into the building. He's got great vision, great pace. He does a really good job of using the blockers in front of him and setting those blockers up. And he ran with great pad level tonight.”

With Cam Seldon still out due to an injury he suffered during spring practice, it sounds like it's Bishop that's poised to operate as Tennessee's No. 2 running back.

Bishop didn't see any action as a true freshman in 2023 after suffering an ankle injury during Tennessee's first scrimmage of fall camp a year ago.

True freshman Peyton Lewis and sophomore Khalifa Keith are also in the mix at running back, but it looks like it's Bishop who has the inside track to serve as Sampson's primary backup as the start of the 2024 season draws closer.

Related: Jerod Mayo sends subtle message to Joe Milton after the former Vol's solid first preseason game