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Day: Teague the incumbent starter, but three RBs could play

Teague will likely start the year ahead of the pack at RB, but for how long?
Teague will likely start the year ahead of the pack at RB, but for how long? (© Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

INDIANAPOLIS –– Master Teague may not possess many bells or whistles, but with three years of experience, 256 carries, 1,409 yards and 13 touchdowns to his credit in Scarlet and Gray, there’s little doubt that he will lead the pack at running back to start the 2021 season for Ohio State.

Head coach Ryan Day all but confirmed Teague’s status as RB1 at Big Ten Media Days Friday, although he stopped short of showering the Tennessee native with the type of praise you might expect for a fourth-year player and returning starter.

“He’s the incumbent coming in for sure. He’s got the biggest body of work and he’s done a really good job for us,” Day said. “He didn’t do really anything in the spring, so I think he’s healthy as we head into preseason, which is great. And we’ll go from there.”

Teague has certainly had his moments for Ohio State, having racked up four 100-yard rushing performances in the past two seasons, and his career yards per carry average of 5.5 is nothing to scoff at.

A true signature breakout performance has eluded him though, and in the biggest games for the Buckeyes over the last two years, Teague has come up somewhat short for one reason or another.

Against Michigan in 2019, Teague ran for just 29 yards on 12 carries, and with J.K. Dobbins in and out of the Fiesta Bowl with injuries, Teague had just nine yards on seven attempts.

Last season Teague suffered an injury in the Big Ten Championship Game after just two carries, causing him to miss the Sugar Bowl as well, and despite scoring two touchdowns in his first game back against Alabama, Teague’s 65 yards on 15 carries were a shadow of what Trey Sermon had shown capable of in the two previous contests.

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Those facts, in tandem with the rising crop of rushers coming up in Tony Alford’s crowded position room, have given cause for many to believe that Teague could be pushed for his presumptive starting job this season.

The three names most apt to do so include third-year Florida native Marcus Crowley, who missed most of 2020 working his way back from a torn ACL, redshirt freshman Miyan Williams, who sprang onto the season with some impressive work late last season, and true freshman TreVeyon Henderson, a heralded top-100 recruit that appears game-ready beyond his years.

Along with Teague, that gives Alford and Day four viable options at running back. However, Day said Friday that the Buckeyes will only really need the services of three of them in any one game.

“You can probably play three running backs. When you start getting a little bit more than that, it’s hard,” Day said. “But it’s a long season and these guys are gonna have an opportunity to play based on what happens over the next couple weeks. I don’t think you can really play more than three, because then you just can’t get yourself into a rhythm. And then maybe a little bit more situational, if that’s what we find. Some guys do a little bit better on third down, short yardage, those types of things.”

Crowley, Williams and Henderson have a combined 41 rush attempts for the Buckeyes –– about six times less than Teague alone –– so with their limited bodies of work, it’s difficult to discern which player might fill one situational role versus another.

Ohio State will have the luxury of a bit more time to test the strengths of its RB corps with a full slate this season, but with games at Minnesota and against Oregon to start off the season, the Buckeyes aren’t exactly beginning the year with carte blanche to experiment at the position.

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