{"id":75189,"date":"2025-07-21T09:00:59","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T13:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=75189"},"modified":"2025-09-16T21:34:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:34:24","slug":"2025-buckeye-breakdown-the-running-backs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/07\/21\/2025-buckeye-breakdown-the-running-backs\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Buckeye Breakdown: The Running Backs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ohio State was the only program to have two running backs drafted in the 2025 NFL Draft. Even more impressively, those two backs were selected with the 36th and 38th overall picks<\/a>. Needless to say, Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson left massive shoes to fill. They were the 39th and 40th Buckeye running backs to be selected in the NFL draft. It was the first time since 1994 that multiple Ohio State running backs were drafted, and the fourth time in history.<\/p>\n

Now, the Buckeye running back room is wholly unproven<\/a> save for one veteran transfer. What the room lacks in experience, it makes up for in hype and raw talent.<\/p>\n

2025 Buckeye Breakdown: The Running Backs<\/h2>\n

The Bellcows<\/h3>\n

Replacing 338 carries, 2,076 yards, and 24 touchdowns on the ground will not be easy. However, the guy expected to take up the mantle is sophomore running back James Peoples<\/a>. Last year, Peoples was on the field for the most snaps from any freshman on offense not named Jeremiah Smith<\/a>. In those 87 snaps, Peoples accounted for 197 yards and two touchdowns on 49 carries.<\/p>\n

He is in a perfect position to break out for the Buckeyes. When asked what he brings to the offense, Peoples said, \u201cMy quickness and my agility.\u201d Peoples’ greatest on-field attribute is his play-making ability, \u201cI\u2019m very explosive, I get in and out of holes. I break a lot of arm tackles and stuff like that. I\u2019m a well-rounded back, I do it all.\u201d Meanwhile, Henderson, on his way out, compared Peoples to J.K. Dobbins. Considering Dobbins finished his Ohio State career with 4,459 yards and 38 touchdowns, that’s a ringing endorsement.<\/p>\n

In the winter portal,\u00a0CJ Donaldson<\/a> transferred in from West Virginia. Across his three seasons with the Mountaineers, he led the way in carries in each of the last two. In total, he ran the ball 421 times for 2,058 yards and found the endzone 30 times. Donaldson brings a 4.9 yards-per-carry average with him. He may not be a burner, but he\u2019s reliable in the red zone. Of his 30 touchdowns, 24 were six or fewer yards (15 were one-yard touchdowns). He only has three carries of greater than 40 yards in his career and one touchdown of over 25 yards.<\/p>\n

The one-two punch of Peoples and Donaldson may not be as lightning and lightning has Judkins and Henderson were, but it could be a top-end thunder and lightning tandem.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo Credit: Adam Cairns-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Loyalty Pays Off<\/h3>\n

Two running backs entered the transfer portal after last year. While TC Caffey (who was a walk-on) followed through with it and is headed to Youngstown State, Sam Williams-Dixon returned. Williams-Dixon entered the portal prior to the CFP run but decided to rescind his name after a few weeks. In Spring practices, he was quoted, saying, \u201cIt was just me listening to the wrong people, for real. I had to take care of my life. I didn\u2019t have control of it, now I\u2019ve got control of it, and I\u2019m doing my own thing. I didn’t want to leave \u2026 I love it here, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a loaded but inexperienced running back room, Williams-Dixon will likely be battling for RB3 carries with a talented freshman. In his first season, the former three-star recruit appeared in three games for a grand total of nine snaps. Of those nine snaps, he carried the ball seven times for 53 yards. Three of those carries came in a 40-yard effort against Western Michigan. In his second carry of the game, he broke off a 31-yard gash with the game well in hand.<\/p>\n

Thus far, Williams-Dixon has been a Spring Game darling<\/a> with two solid performances under his belt. On the field, he hasn’t earned a shot. This year, he has a shot to get on the field a tad more to prove he belongs. If he needs to pick up the slack for any reason, Ohio State will be in good hands.<\/p>\n

The Freshmen<\/h3>\n

The Buckeye running back room is rounded out with a trio of true freshmen. To start, a guy who might be too good to keep off the field, Lamar “Bo” Jackson. Despite the namesake, Jackson is not related to either the current Baltimore Ravens quarterback nor the Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn.<\/p>\n

Jackson missed the majority of his senior season with an MCL injury, so this Spring was his first opportunity to knock off the rust and impress Carlos Locklyn. In no time, he showed that he could do anything that was asked of him. His Spring was capped off by leading all players with 88 yards and a touchdown off 13 carries in the Spring Game. His coach gushed about him, \u201cYou look at Bo Jackson<\/a>, man, he\u2019s got size.\u00a0I think he\u2019s right now six foot, 220, speed.\u00a0He\u2019s got gifts only God can give him,\u201d Locklyn said. \u201cSo you see the potential of what he could be.\u00a0Now he\u2019s gonna have to work and compete, but I\u2019m excited about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there is a freshman to push Williams-Dixon, it’ll be Jackson.<\/p>\n

The Future<\/h3>\n

A name to remember for the future is Anthony Rogers. The former Alabama commit can be a do-it-all player in the future. He was not one of the early enrollees, so breaking through as a true freshman will be a challenge (as we will cover in the wide receivers). However, he played both receiver and running back while in high school. Ryan Day said when Rogers committed that he can envision a scenario in which the Buckeyes can use him in an Xavier Johnson-type role.<\/p>\n

Finally, Isaiah West was also an SEC commit who later signed with the Buckeyes’ running back room. He and Rogers are almost certainly going to redshirt this year as they develop.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Adam Cairns\/Columbus Dispatch \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Heading into 2025, the Buckeye running backs are unproven. However, there is plenty of talent and someone is bound to break out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":75255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,10906,2,35609],"tags":[34496,33618,33619,33621,1518,73,9437,3348,7257,33304],"class_list":["post-75189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bigten","category-cfb","category-featured","category-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-anthony-rogers","tag-bo-jackson","tag-carlos-locklyn","tag-isaiah-west","tag-j-k-dobbins","tag-ohio-state-buckeyes","tag-quinshon-judkins","tag-ryan-day","tag-treveyon-henderson","tag-xavier-johnson"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75189"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75256,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75189\/revisions\/75256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}