At Ohio State practices this spring, Curtis Samuel can be seen off to the side, tucked in a corner at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center along with some other hobbled teammates, rehabbing with hopes of returning soon from an injury.
It’s certainly a frustrating time for Samuel, who is expected to be one of the Buckeyes’ breakout stars for the 2016 season. He had offseason surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot and that’s why he is sidelined. He can’t do much at the moment — “I haven’t really started running yet; I’m still in the recovery process,” he says — but Samuel does plan to be ready in plenty of time to emerge as one of Ohio State’s most dynamic playmakers in the fall.
After a freshman season spent as the backup running back to Ezekiel Elliott — one in which he tallied 383 yards rushing and six touchdowns while averaging 6.6 yards per carry — Samuel moved to wide receiver in 2015 with the idea behind it being he would be on the field for more snaps and thus receive more touches.
But on an offense loaded with talent, that’s not exactly how things went. Samuel touched the ball a total of 39 times — 22 catches, 17 carries — for a total of 421 yards and three touchdowns. It just never seemed like Ohio State could figure out the right way to get Samuel — and some others — the touches they needed.
Samuel admitted Thursday he suffered the broken bone in his foot during the Buckeyes’ win over Illinois and thus played the final three-plus games of the season with the injury, one which Samuel admitted hampered his performance a little bit.
“It’s definitely going to help me out because last year I had been running around with a messed up foot and it just had been bothering me,” Samuel said. “I felt like I couldn’t come out of my breaks, I couldn’t cut as well as I wanted to. I was running fast, but it was just the pain, it was still there.
“I’m gonna do both when I come back. I’m not going to limit myself by just going to running back or just playing receiver. I’ll be doing both.”– Curtis Samuel
“I feel like I’m going to be much better now and I’m ready for it.”
Samuel is an interesting player because of his versatility. As mentioned, he spent the majority of his time as a freshman at running back and the better part of his sophomore year at wide receiver, but next season, as a junior, the Brooklyn, New York native plans to do both. He will line up in the backfield and take handoffs from quarterback, J.T. Barrett as well as line up in the slot at head coach Urban Meyer's infamous H-back slot.
“I’m gonna do both when I come back,” he said. “I’m not going to limit myself by just going to running back or just playing receiver. I’ll be doing both.”
Added Meyer: “You’ll see Curtis and Dontre [Wilson] carry the ball.”
That seems like the best way to use a dynamic player like Samuel. Meyer and Co. want to get him the ball as many times as they possibly can.
On an offense looking to replace eight starters, Samuel seems like the prime candidate to be one of Ohio State’s breakout performers. He has shown flashes of his potential throughout his first two years in Columbus, but Samuel says that’s only a glimpse of what is to come.
“You haven’t seen much yet,” he said. “You’re just gonna have to wait.”
And Samuel have to wait, too, as he’s still unsure when he’ll be fully cleared to play. He doesn’t have a timetable right now on when he'll be cleared to run and cut, but it almost certainly won’t be anytime this spring. There's no need to rush things, after all.
But by the time summer conditioning and fall camp rolls around, Samuel fully expects to be back to 100 percent. And when that happens, Samuel says, look out.
“[Next season] is my time to go out and really put on a show,” he said, “and let the world know who Curtis Samuel is.”
