Ohio State’s running back room over the past decade has featured future NFL draft picks Carlos Hyde, Ezekiel Elliott, J.K. Dobbins and, most recently, Trey Sermon. Aside from Sermon, as he’s an incoming rookie, each of these players have been able to continue their success from college to the professional level.

With Tony Alford leading the charge, the Buckeyes are looking to add more names to this solid group in the future as they signed Rivals100 prospects Evan Pryor and TreVeyon Henderson in December.

They also hold a commitment from one of the top running backs in the nation: Dallan Hayden.

Hayden, who teamed up with Ohio State back on June 22, opened up with BuckeyeGrove about last month’s decision, why he chose the school over Notre Dame, his recruiting efforts, and much more.

“It was just an opportunity that’s hard to pass up,” Hayden said. “The official visit went great. It was amazing. It was very detail oriented. Coach Alford just went over a lot of stuff with me and my family. The development I would get there, I feel like I wouldn’t get at any other school at that position. It just felt like it was the best decision for me.”

During his conversation with us, Hayden did confirm that Notre Dame finished second in his recruitment. He took an official visit to South Bend a weekend before his trip to Columbus, and there were even some rumblings that Brian Kelly’s staff felt good following that OV.

For Hayden, however, Ohio State checked off more boxes when it was time to make his decision.