Ohio State Buckeyes running back Isaiah West has added 10 pounds of lean muscle this offseason, which he admits has been an adjustment, but was also always RB coach Carlos Locklyn's plan for the Philadelphia native.
West explained his shoulder injury, which kept him out of the Buckeyes' entire spring practice run, including the spring game, and subsequent surgery and recovery process to Bucknuts' Steve Halwagen in a recent interview.
"I am definitely getting healthy, but I've been working on my body a lot. I put on about 11 pounds of lean mass this winter and off-season. I got my body fat down to about 12 percent, so that was a big part, and of course, I can't work on the field right now, but speed-wise, so there's really not a lot of physical action," Halwagen wrote.
"I mean, Coach Locke, that's something that we kind of talked about, he said, like, freshman year, I mean, coming off of the injury that I had before, I mean, I didn't want to be super heavy, but going into my sophomore year, I was definitely going to up my weight and be a bigger back.
"Sprinting with 220 is a lot different from sprinting with 210, but I think I'm doing pretty good. I'm still moving out there. I definitely feel stronger. I mean, Coach Mick is the best in the business, so he's definitely gotten me stronger."
Ohio State RB room has a ton of looks to throw out at opponents
From the sounds of it, West is looking like a potential goal-line back with this added bulk. Bo Jackson, meanwhile, does his best work running outside the tackles, which he did for 62% of his carries and amassed 5.6 yards per attempt.
Those two could play off each other for the bulk of the carries, while Legend Bey could be a Curtis Samuel-type option to throw another look at defenses and keep them on their toes with a hybrid RB/slot.
Arthur Smith's system will allow all types of running attacks, and more than likely will carry the offense next to downfield bombs to Jeremiah Smith and Chris Henry. The interior offensive line looks sturdy, with Carson Hinzman in his fifth year, calling out defensive formations, and the interior line looking beefed up with Austin Siereveld on the right side and Luke Montgomery on the left side.
With Tegra Tshabola gone, many expect a step up from this group, especially the right guard spot that Tshabola will no longer compete for. Tackle-wise, Ian Moore and Philip Daniels look poised to take the left and right spots, respectively, and while Moore isn't known for it yet, Daniels is proven at protecting the run.
If the protection and rushing attack could create chemistry, Julian Sayin just needs to take advantage of all the weapons around him, as his predecessor Will Howard did, and the sky is the limit once that's achieved. Smith was hired to boost the run to complement Sayin's pocket work, and he looks poised to do just that. Clearly, though, the players themselves want to have a say in that, as West made clear in the work he put into his frame this offseason.
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