Ohio State Football: RB Position goes from weakness to strength
The Ohio State football team has quickly turned a bleak outlook at the running back position into a strength, both for the 2020 season and beyond.
Heading into the 2020 offseason, the Buckeyes were prepared to replace Heisman-caliber running back J.K. Dobbins with Master Teague, who rushed for 789 yards as a backup in 2019.
However, when Teague went down with an Achilles injury on the first day of spring practice, running backs coach Tony Alford and head coach Ryan Day were quickly faced with a very thin RB group. The “next-in-line” Marcus Crowley was still recovering from a season-ending knee injury from 2019 and Demario McCall and Steele Chambers were inexperienced as far as reps at RB.
Coaches Alford and Day (likely along with offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson) worked quickly and picked up grad transfer Trey Sermon from Oklahoma on March 22. Sermon brings with him 2,467 yards from scrimmage and 25 total TDs over three seasons (though Sermon did miss Oklahoma’s last four games in 2019 with a knee injury).
Adding Sermon to an offense that already has Justin Fields, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson pushes the Buckeyes from national title contender to a favorite to win it all.
Coach Alford wasn’t just working on landing Sermon, though. Just six days prior to Sermon’s transfer, 4-star RB Evan Pryor (No. 6 RB prospect according to 247 Sports) committed to Ohio State to add to their record-breaking 2021 class, which has the makings of a future dynasty.
And if that wasn’t enough, five days after Sermon’s transfer coach Alford added the No. 2 RB prospect — and No. 17 overall player in the 2021 class– 5-star RB TreVeyon Henderson, who is just .0005 points behind the No. 1 RB prospect.
With two of the top six prospects in next year’s class and a top-tier transfer, the Buckeyes have gotten answers to the questions they had at the RB position.
Five healthy RBs with little to no experience and one 3-star RB in the 2020 in-coming class have been bolstered by Sermon this year. And the RB position will continue to create exciting play next year when Henderson and Pryor come into Columbus.
Next. 3 way too early predictions for 2020 season. dark
The legacy of running backs at Ohio State — Les Horvath, Vic Janowicz, Hopalong Cassady, Archie Griffin, Eddie George, Carlos Hyde, Ezekiel Elliott and J.K. Dobbins — was in danger of being a weakness in the explosive Ohio State offense in 2020 and beyond. Now, the legacy will continue this year and in the future.