There are 32 plaques on a wall inside Memphis football's practice facility, the Billy J. Murphy Athletic Complex — one for each NFL team. The plaques each list the former Tigers who played for those teams, with the newest players on the bottom.

And of those names most recently added, there's one position that stands out — running back.

Tony Pollard. Antonio Gibson. Patrick Taylor. Darrell Henderson Jr. Kenny Gainwell. All recent players for the Tigers.

But that pipeline, which included many of those running backs as teammates, appears to be clogged. The Tigers did not have a 100-yard rusher in a game last season, and that's a position coach Ryan Silverfield and his staff are expecting more production from in 2023.

One running back who wants to take that role? Sophomore Sutton Smith.

Smith had 29 carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns as a freshman. He also caught four passes for 58 yards. But coaches have raved about his ability this offseason, and he's a key part of the running back room going into this season. Smith is competing with junior Jevyon Ducker and Old Dominion transfer Blake Watson for snaps at the position.

"I feel like every running back is good," Smith said. "It only gets the best out of me, just keeps me going every day and pushes me. If I one see running back, do something good, I'm like 'I'm gonna do this two times better.' I'll work harder at it. So the competition is healthy. It's good for the team and it'll only help the team and make me a better player down the road."

While coaches have generally been tight-lipped throughout the offseason about who's winning specific position battles, the praise for Smith has been consistent. Special teams coach Chris White went out of his way to say Smith has impressed him.

"He has dynamic make-you-miss ability with elite speed, vision," White said. "Right now, if we were to play today, he would be our starting kickoff returner."

Said Silverfield: "Sutton Smith is dynamic."

For his part, Smith has been watching tape of Pollard's returns and wants to be an all-AAC returner this season. He said he's also working on his pass protection skills and feels his versatility is what ultimately sets him apart from other backs in the program.

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And there are likely to be opportunities for the Powder Springs, Georgia, native. Silverfield said he's expecting to use multiple backs throughout the season.

"The day and age of just having the Adrian Peterson that's going to get 30 carries a game, we're not seeing as much of that in college football, especially with what we do offensively," Silverfield said. "We want a handful of guys, but I think every single one of those guys has a role. And if every one of them is getting 30 snaps a game in some form or fashion, whatever that may look like, we may do some two back stuff, we've got a variety of guys we can move all around."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Can Sutton Smith be the next great running back for Memphis football?