The Ohio State football team saw more than a few guys leave in the Transfer Portal. In fact, more players left in the portal than any other year in Ryan Day's era. One of the players who left in the portal was running back James Peoples. Peoples left the Buckeyes after two seasons in Columbus.
Peoples made the decision to stay in the Big Ten, transferring to Penn State. It's a bold decision to make, considering the Nittany Lions haven't beaten the Ohio State Buckeyes in a decade. Peoples won't have to face Ohio State this season, however. They would only face off in a postseason game.
Now that he's at Penn State, Peoples is trying to earn some playing time. However, a video of him working out has surfaced, and it doesn't look good. In fact, Peoples is getting roasted online for his extremely poor form when it comes to doing pull-ups.
Former Ohio State RB James Peoples crushed for pull-ups video
The video was originally posted to compliment Peoples on the number of pull-ups he's able to do. Instead, it turned into him getting roasted. Take a look at the form in the video below.
Penn State running back James Peoples finishes with 25 total pull-ups while getting encouragement from his teammates
— Tyler Donohue (@TDsTake) July 1, 2026
The Ohio State transfer is about as physically impressive as anyone on this roster. pic.twitter.com/O2UnEBvS5L
Buckeye fans and others didn't waste any time mocking him for needing to thrust his entire body to get over the bar.
These are pull ups? Not sayin the guy isn’t a physical specimen, but these are definitely not pull ups……
— LockJAWS plays (@LockJAWSbets) July 2, 2026
Yeah, those aren’t pull-ups.
— KJB (@SimulationLOL) July 1, 2026
The video is pretty unfair to Peoples. If that's what he's going to do while working out, someone within Penn State shouldn't be sending that out. That's a bad look for him. While he was with the Buckeyes, Peoples wasn't ever known as a super-physical runner. He is a more of a speed guy.
While he's with the Nittany Lions this year, that is what he is going to have to do if he's going to see the field. Penn State lost both starting running backs from last year, so he will have a shot in Fall camp to win a significant number of snaps.
Ohio State doesn't miss James Peoples
While the Buckeyes lost a lot of depth at the running back position in the offseason to the portal, they don't necessarily miss him heading into this season. Ohio State has Bo Jackson as the established starter. Isaiah West is clearly the backup, and it looks like Legend Bey will be the third-string guy.
Peoples might not have been ahead of any of those players on the depth chart had he stayed in Columbus. Moving on was clearly the right decision for him. It was probably the right move for the Buckeyes, as well. Peoples is still a solid running back, though.
As long as Penn State teaches Peoples how to do standard pull-ups better, he should have a chance to be part of their running back rotation. He showed plenty of burst during the limited snaps he got while he was in Columbus.
Ohio State is going to be one of the best teams in the country. Peoples and the Nittany Lions are going to have issues making the College Football Playoff.
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