Rookie Dylan Sampson is being underutilized by the Cleveland Browns

Dylan Sampson has breakaway speed.

On Sunday, Nov. 16, against the Baltimore Ravens, Sampson was given a first half handoff from rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, taking the rock 19 yards on his first carry of the game. The fourth-round selection out of Tennessee was dominant, flying past various Ravens to reset the chains for the Browns.

It looked like Cleveland was thriving in the rushing attack. Up until that point, counterpart Quinshon Judkins was also breaking runs off for strong carries.

But the Ravens made adjustments and started to shut down the run game.

Judkins finished the game with 17 carries for a measly 58 yards. That obviously isn't a recipe for success, but neither is not giving Sampson another carry the rest of the game.

That's right, after taking a carry for 19 yards Cleveland's coaching staff opted to not get him involved in the offense the rest of Sunday night's outing, a blatant mismanagement of the team's talent.

Yes, Sampson has had a few struggles in his game this season. In the rushing attack, he currently has 31 carries for 66 yards, but when he's given the right carries and getting good blocks, the native of Baton Rouge, La. can showcase next-level speed.

At the Tennessee Pro Day, he ran a 4.42 second 40-yard dash time, which if he would've participated in the NFL Combine 40-yard dash, would have placed him sixth in all running backs.

He's got the speed, he's got the talent, he just needs to opportunity to shine.

However, this isn't something new.

While Sampson's taken his time getting used to the professional game, he consistently recorded chunk carries while with Tennessee in college.

Across his three seasons as a Volunteer, he rushed for 2,492 yards and 35 touchdowns with an average of 5.9 yards a carry. His best year came in his junior season, taking 258 carries for 1,491 yards for an average of 5.8 yards a carry. He also tacked on an incredible 22 touchdowns on the ground.

His ability to take carries for big-time yardage and showcase that elite, game changing speed is what drew the Browns' front office to him.

Incredible sequence by Dylan Sampson just before the half, capped off with winning a 1 on 1 battle with Danny Stutsman for the TD. 92 hard fought YDS for D-Samp. pic.twitter.com/edCNegdos5
— V͎O͎L͎d͎e͎m͎o͎r͎t͎ (@vo_ldemort) September 22, 2024

With the Browns, Sampson has now took an increased role in the receiving game as well. Through his first season in Cleveland, he has more receiving yards than rushing yards.

Of 25 targets, he's hauled in 21 passes for 136 yards and one touchdown, averaging 6.5 yards a reception.

He actually has the highest success rate per reception at 60%, ahead of tight ends David Njoku and Harold Fannin Jr. by nearly 20% and wideout Jerry Jeudy by 25%. He also has the highest catch rate on the team at 84%.

His reliability in the passing game needs to be relied upon more, especially if he can get outside the hashes with speed. If Cleveland isn't willing to give him more carries than Judkins, the offense at least needs to find other ways to involve him in the offense.

With rookie signal callers Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders trying to get adapted to the offense and intensity of the professional game, checkdowns are their bread and butter to garner confidence.

If Cleveland's coaching staff leans into the strengths of Sampson more, he can be a feared receiving in the AFC North.

Even if, for some reason, the 21-year-old doesn't have a spike in production down the back half of the season, the game against Baltimore showed that the Browns currently have no clue what they are doing with the offense at this point in time.

Up next, Cleveland prepares to take on the Las Vegas Raiders for another late-afternoon affair set for 4:05 p.m.

The two sides enter the outing with just two wins on the 2025 campaign and will clash from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev.