Urban Meyer kept a keen eye on all of his young players during Ohio State's 2016 spring game. When half your roster is either a true or redshirt freshman, it's hard not to.
Still, Meyer pointed out a handful of guys after the fact that he most wanted to see, among them someone he hopes is a young star at running back.
"Mike Weber was one. I watched him closely," Meyer said April 20. "Are we really going to hand him the ball in front of 100,000 people here next year?"
Meyer said the redshirt freshman is still in a battle with fifth-year senior Bri'onte Dunn to start this fall, but Weber did his part this spring to match the extreme expectations he received the minute he committed to Ohio State on signing day 2015.
"He definitely improved," running backs coach Tony Alford said. "He definitely has grown up a bunch. He had a really good spring. He's a physical player, which we thought he was, but he really started gravitating toward really trying to learn this offense the way we like him to."
“He's growing up. Again, not a finished product, but he's growing up. That's what you want.”– Tony Alford on Mike Weber
Weber served as an unfortunate pawn in a war of words shortly after he signed and sent his letter of intent from Cass Tech High School in Detroit to Columbus. The next day, running backs coach Stan Drayton left Ohio State for the Chicago Bears.
Drayton was primarily responsible for convincing Weber to spurn his home state Michigan Wolverines, so his almost immediate exit left a sour taste in not only the running back's mouth but also that of his high school head coach Thomas Wilcher.
Chances to coach in the NFL aren't readily available, a fact Weber had to come to terms with and accept as a teenager that just left home.
"It was tough because I had a good relationship with him and everything was going good," Weber at Ohio State media day last August. "I didn't really expect that to happen but it kind of opened my eyes to the situation of it being a business."
Weber got over it, and Alford and Meyer spoke highly of his development that summer and in the early stages of fall camp. A torn meniscus set him back, though, and Ezekiel Elliott's dominance in the backfield led to a redshirt.
Elliott now plays for the Dallas Cowboys and Weber is in a dead heat with Dunn to own the lion's share of the carries this fall.
"He's picking the game up and he's starting to learn the nuances of plays in particular and where the ball should hit based on what the defenses are giving us," Alford said. "He's done a nice job."
A wrecking ball with powerful legs, Weber stands at 5-foot-10 and 215 pounds. A four-star recruit and the second-ranked running back from Michigan in 2015, many thought he would be one of the only true freshmen to earn time despite such a loaded roster.
It didn't happen mainly due to his injury, but in hindsight, his year out will be better for his maturation and development, Alford said. Weber is also excellent in pass protection — a rarity for a running back without any college football experience.
"That's a hard thing to do especially as a young player because that's not a natural act," Alford said. "You've got to want to throw your face in there and he's done a nice job. He uses his hands really well. He's a physical back, a physical football player. He's done a nice job of that."
Meyer and Alford also spoke highly of Dunn and early enrollee Antonio Williams this spring, doing their best not to divulge who will get the first chance at replacing Elliott. In a scrimmage dominated by the passing game, Weber ran the ball eight times for 38 yards and two touchdowns but the Gray still defeated his Scarlet team, 28-17. Dunn sat out with an ankle injury and Williams ran seven times for 29 yards.
Meyer said he wants Dunn, a senior, to earn the first start because of experience and from a leadership standpoint. Regardless, the Buckeyes demand big things from the running back position — a battery of Carlos Hyde and Ezekiel Elliott averaged more than 1,600 rushing yards in Meyer's first four seasons in Columbus.
But don't sleep on Weber to be the guy the staff sees as a better option and decides to go with as the season grows older. There is a reason Ohio State and Meyer wanted him so desperately and stayed up until midnight before signing day convincing him to say no to Michigan and yes to the Buckeyes. He is a superior talent and will figure significantly into a unit that must replace nine starters, including the Big Ten's best player.
"He's growing up," Alford said of Weber. "Again, not a finished product, but he's growing up. That's what you want."
