If the spring game is any indication, Ohio State is set to have another dangerous backfield in 2025.
The Buckeyes’ top four running backs – James Peoples, CJ Donaldson, Bo Jackson and Sam Williams-Dixon – combined to collect 193 yards in just 30 carries, a clip of 6.4 yards per carry. Most of that production was accumulated by Jackson and Williams-Dixon, who are projected to be the third and fourth backs in Ohio State’s rotation this season behind Peoples and Donaldson.
With that quartet, Ryan Day is confident about where his running back room stands exiting spring practice.
“I feel solid about where we're at, but I know this has to be a big sprint,” Day said after the spring game. “I feel like we have what we need there. We just need to continue to build.”
Peoples will have ample opportunity to showcase his talents as a ball carrier. The spring game was not that time.
His stock has soared generally in spring practice, with former Ohio State running back teammate TreVeyon Henderson comparing to Buckeye great J.K. Dobbins, who hails from Texas as Peoples does. Entering his sophomore season, he’s taking the correct approach to help fill the shoes of Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.
“I think James has a chance to be a special back,” Day said. “But still just hasn't played a whole bunch of football. But he's got great energy. He's really matured. He's very coachable. He's seen the way it's supposed to look. He knows what the standard is.”
Peoples is “pushing to be great,” as running backs coach Carlos Locklyn put it in March, but he only participated in a few of Ohio State’s “thud” tempo series in the spring game, not giving him any chances to run through contact, and he finished with just two carries for 6 yards. Donaldson similarly only got four chances to run the ball, but flashed with 35 yards and a touchdown in those attempts.
Donaldson dropped weight this offseason in an effort to add some burst to his game. His past two seasons at West Virginia were productive but can still be built upon, with 798 yards at a clip of 4.7 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns in 2023 then 734 yards at a clip of 4.5 per carry and 11 touchdowns again in 2024.
“I look at him as a slasher,” Locklyn said of Donaldson in March. “He has good enough speed, great hands, but he's a slasher, a big guy. Big guys often win with the little guys, so he's gonna fall forward. But I look at him as a slasher with power. Got really good feet for a big guy. Really good hands and good vision. So (the weight loss is) gonna help him a little bit with probably his longer speed, but he is good.”
Getting to Jackson, the spring game displayed all the skills that made him one of the top standouts at Ohio State’s student appreciation day practice on April 5. He outraced the Buckeyes’ defense for a 27-yard gain on a perimeter run, but here he sheds three tackles to pick up 20 yards on a counter play between the tackles:
Jackson finished with 13 carries for a team-high 88 yards and a score. He’s positioning himself to command carries as a freshman behind Peoples and Donaldson.
“He's a hard worker,” Peoples said of Jackson in March. “He came in here and just kept his head down, just been working. He has good speed, of course, good feet. He’s a good back and a good dude as well. So, well-rounded guy.”
Williams-Dixon rounded out the spring game standouts at running back with 11 carries for 64 yards. He added a receiving touchdown on a wide-open wheel route. The second-year prospect from Ohio might be in a tough position to receive reps this season, but he demonstrated some good skill on Saturday.
With that top four at running back, it’s easy to see why Day feels the Buckeyes have what they need.
