Ryan Day made an interesting comment during a 20-minute press conference with Ohio State beat reporters on Tuesday.
With Ohio State’s running back depth looking thin behind two-time All-Big Ten honoree TreVeyon Henderson and two-time All-SEC selection Quinshon Judkins, Day said safety Caleb Downs could get some looks at the position.
“We started having conversations with Caleb during the recruiting process of him doing a little bit of running back as well,” Day said. “It’s something he wanted to do. We’ve been having him in the meetings and some of the individual drills – as a possibility there if he’s needed down the road – to continue to build depth at the position.”
Day’s comments come as a surprise, considering Downs transferred to Ohio State after a stellar season in the secondary at Alabama. In 14 appearances for the Crimson Tide, Downs recorded 107 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups and two interceptions, earning SEC Freshman of the Year and first-team All-SEC honors after the regular season.
Moreover, Ohio State has two scholarship running backs behind Henderson and Judkins in freshmen James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon. Walk-on TC Caffey also performed well in spring practices and could give the Buckeyes another option out of the backfield.
“We feel like if you have four strong running backs going into it, then that’s gonna be enough to carry this season,” Day said. “The quarterbacks will run the ball more this season, so that should take some carries away from them. James and Sam are gonna have to step up.”
Still, with a potential 17-game season looming in 2024, Day said the Buckeyes could look to get Downs involved on offense, too.
“We’ll see,” Day said. “We’ll see where that goes. We don’t have a specific plan now, but we want to introduce him to (the running back position). … It’s healthy. You’re seeing it from the other side of the ball. This time of year, you can get away with that a little bit and a little bit in the preseason. Where it goes, we’ll see, but you just never know. We’re trying to put some contingency plans in place because it could be a long season.”
