Heading into Week 1, the Ohio State Buckeyes have finally started to define roles for members of their team. The Buckeyes have a lot of new faces on the roster from both the Transfer Portal and last year's recruiting class from the high school ranks. Ryan Day is in charge of finding roles for all of them.
One player whom the Buckeyes will be putting on the field plenty this season is true freshman Legend Bey. He had a rough start to his Ohio State career, but he has turned the corner. Day just announced what his exciting new role will be for his first season.
Legend Bey announced as starting kickoff returner for Ohio State
Day revealed that Bey will be the starting kickoff returner for the Ohio State football team this season as a true freshman. For someone who has a ton of speed and shiftiness, that is the perfect role for him. He will have the opportunity to make an impact on special teams.
Of course, kickers from really good programs usually kick it in the end zone. That means Bey will have only a few games to showcase how good he can be with the ball in his hands in that role. He is one of the backup punt returners, so he won't be the primary guy in that role.
When explaining his decision, Day talked up Bey and all of the potential that he has. With Day making this decision, the Buckeyes have shown that they have faith in Bey after his rough start. In fact, Day explained why they have regained their trust in Bey after the start of the Fall.
"There was an event that happened, and he certainly at that point controlled the response. Since then, he has been much better. He has worked really hard in practice. There are some habits he needs to improve on...but he's worked."
Ryan Day is excited for the future of Legend Bey at Ohio State
Day made it very clear that he liked the response from Bey after he was suspended early in camp. His work in practice has not gone unnoticed, either.
"I also think we see the explosiveness when the ball is in his hands, and he knows the first thing he's got to do when he's in the game is take care of the football. So how do you do that? You have to earn trust through time. And he's built enough trust that we feel comfortable with him being back there.
It's rare under Day that he is willing to play a true freshman significant snaps. Very few of them have been able to earn his trust since he took over the program. Jeremiah Smith was certainly one of them. J.K Dobbins was another, as was TreVeyone Henderson. Bey has big shoes to fill with those offensive playmakers.
Ball State will be a great experience for Bey as he tries to evolve into the great playmaker that he will eventually become as he gets older.
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