The Ohio State football team learned something new about the running back group

Coming into the Spring Game, the Ohio State football team knew that they had perhaps the best one-two punch at running back in the country. With TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, they have two guys who have had seasons over 1,000 yards in the same backfield.

The Ohio State coaches are sure that they will produce this season. What they aren't sure about is what kind of depth they have behind those two guys. Coming into the Spring Game, they wanted to find out. With Dallan Hayden transferring out, they needed someone to step up.

What the Buckeyes got was a couple of running backs who stepped up. Both true freshmen running backs ran well. In fact, they both scored touchdowns. James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon came in to make a mark on the game and earn trust. They both did that.

Peoples is a four-star running back from San Antonio, Texas, and is the highest-rated running back recruit the Buckeyes had in the 2024 recruiting class. He ran hard and showed that if the Buckeyes have to go three or four-deep at running back, they can.

Williams-Dixon was actually the lowest-rated recruit that the Ohio State football team had in their 2024 recruiting class. He's a local kid, coming in from Pickerington North High School. He showed that he could run hard and hit the hole with some explosion as well.

Losing Hayden was not ideal and was a product of Tony Alford not doing his job. He's a talented running back who should make an immediate impact wherever he ends up. But both of these freshmen showed that if one of the top two guys gets hurt, they are ready to step up.

Ohio State may have been looking at grabbing a back from the portal. They won't be looking at that anymore now that the Spring Game showed them that they have the depth they need.