Ohio State Football: Dallan Hayden should play more

The Ohio State football team got a lift from running back Dallan Hayden last Saturday against Purdue. Hopefully, we see more of him.

The Ohio State football team got a welcomed lift from backup tailback Dallan Hayden last Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette. He finished the game with 76 yards on 11 carries after Chip Traynum went down with an early injury. He was explosive and hit the open holes with authority. Something we saw a lot of last season as he was pressed in for action as a true freshman.

Ryan Day confirmed last week that the Buckeyes were possibly trying to redshirt Hayden this season. But with the mounting injuries in Tony Alford’s running back room, that might not be possible.

Furthermore, I would argue that Hayden might have the best vision of any tailback currently on the Ohio State roster. And while he might not have TreVeyeon Henderson’s home run-hitting ability, he hit those holes hard on Saturday when they were open and got good gains.

The Buckeyes don’t need a homerun hitter at running back. They need a guy to get the yardage that is available which helps keep this offense on time. Too many times in the past few seasons Ohio State tailbacks get caught dancing in the backfield instead of putting their foot in the ground and taking what’s available.

I think this Ohio State offense is more balanced when Dallan Hayden is in at running back. And I would hope that Ryan Day and Tony Alford can see that too. Look, there is no dominant team in college football this season. The Buckeyes have as good of a chance as anybody does to win the national title. Let’s put our best possible team out there and see what happens, even if that means burning a redshirt.

Clearly, there is room for multiple backs at Ohio State. Nobody on this roster is currently a bell cow. But Dallan Hayden deserves to be out there, and he could play a major role in whether or not the Buckeyes beat Penn State on Saturday afternoon.