Struggling to Live Up to the Hype Due to Injury, Can Dontre Wilson Finally Be An Impact Player?

After consecutive years of declining production largely impacted by a broken foot requiring multiple surgeries, one of the most intriguing offseason questions is whether or not the stars will finally align for senior-to-be Dontre Wilson. 

If the specter of draining eligibility isn't enough to make Wilson hungry, the reality of Ezekiel Elliott, Braxton Miller, Mike Thomas and Jalin Thomas leaving behind an astonishing 474 touches up for grabs should be enough to make him salivate. 

Similar to Curtis Samuel, the junior all-purpose back we profiled last week, questions abound as to how Wilson will fit into next year's offense and by extension, what level of impact he can have on the offense. 

Exactly how Samuel and Wilson are ultimately deployed will likely have a cause/effect relationship to each other considering the similarity in skill-set and physical makeup. 

Arriving at Ohio State in 2013 projected as Urban Meyer's first Percy Harvin all-purpose guy, Wilson made a strong first impression. After 12 touches for 86 yards and a score over the first two games the DeSoto, Texas, product hit Cal for eight touches and 107 yards in a 52-34 Buckeye win in Berkeley. 

Wilson would go on to log 53 total touches in his rookie season for 460 yards (8.8 per touch) and three scores, giving fans much to be excited about heading into the 2014 campaign. 

Ohio State's championship season saw Wilson's role decrease just a hair (4.8 touches/game in 2013 to 4.3 in 2014) and with Ezekiel Elliott putting a stranglehold on the tailback slot, Wilson recorded more receptions (21) than carries (18) during what became an abbreviated 10-game season. 

In the ninth game on the road in East Lansing, Wilson's roller coaster night in which he fumbled twice, dropped a touchdown pass, hauled in a huge 16-yard toss on a crucial 3rd down to extend a scoring drive before capping another scoring drive with seven-yard touchdown reception ended in the noted broken foot. 

Wilson did earn a couple snaps in the national championship win over Oregon more than two months later but his foot was still not right triggering the need for a second surgery. 

Now with pins in his foot, Wilson missed all of 2015 spring practice and more bad news followed that summer when it was announced he would miss the season opener due to suspension for the proverbial (pro-herbial?) violation of team rules. 

The residual of missing so much practice time, lingering problems with his foot and the glut of higher profile playmakers especially in the slot limited Wilson to just seven touches in seven games last season. 

Down but not out, Dontre has one last chance leave a legacy in Columbus. Barring injury, Wilson figures to receive his share of touches next fall but like Samuel, the where and how remain unresolved. 

Meyer recently noted his desire to get Wilson the ball out of the backfield a little bit but with Mike Weber, Bri'onte Dunn and even Samuel stacked at the position (among others), his best bet will likely be to emerge as a jack of all trades doing damage via H-back receptions and rushes with a handful of tailback opportunities sprinkled in between. 

One factor in Wilson's corner should Meyer wish to deploy him more often from the backfield is the 20 additional pounds Dontre has put on since busting onto the scene in 2013. Now at 195 pounds, Wilson could be improved at breaking tackles while still featuring the speed and elusiveness in the open field that made him so attractive to Meyer in the first place. 

Still, on a team full of question marks, near the top of the list is whether or not Wilson can finally stay healthy and put it all together during his collegiate swan song. 

If he does, there's little chance we'll forget about Tre.