2025 Buckeye Breakdown: The Running Backs

Loyalty Pays Off

Two running backs entered the transfer portal after last year. While TC Caffey (who was a walk-on) followed through with it and is headed to Youngstown State, Sam Williams-Dixon returned. Williams-Dixon entered the portal prior to the CFP run but decided to rescind his name after a few weeks. In Spring practices, he was quoted, saying, “It was just me listening to the wrong people, for real. I had to take care of my life. I didn’t have control of it, now I’ve got control of it, and I’m doing my own thing. I didn’t want to leave … I love it here, man.”

In a loaded but inexperienced running back room, Williams-Dixon will likely be battling for RB3 carries with a talented freshman. In his first season, the former three-star recruit appeared in three games for a grand total of nine snaps. Of those nine snaps, he carried the ball seven times for 53 yards. Three of those carries came in a 40-yard effort against Western Michigan. In his second carry of the game, he broke off a 31-yard gash with the game well in hand.

Thus far, Williams-Dixon has been a Spring Game darling with two solid performances under his belt. On the field, he hasn’t earned a shot. This year, he has a shot to get on the field a tad more to prove he belongs. If he needs to pick up the slack for any reason, Ohio State will be in good hands.

The Freshmen

The Buckeye running back room is rounded out with a trio of true freshmen. To start, a guy who might be too good to keep off the field, Lamar “Bo” Jackson. Despite the namesake, Jackson is not related to either the current Baltimore Ravens quarterback nor the Heisman Trophy winner from Auburn.

Jackson missed the majority of his senior season with an MCL injury, so this Spring was his first opportunity to knock off the rust and impress Carlos Locklyn. In no time, he showed that he could do anything that was asked of him. His Spring was capped off by leading all players with 88 yards and a touchdown off 13 carries in the Spring Game. His coach gushed about him, “You look at Bo Jackson, man, he’s got size. I think he’s right now six foot, 220, speed. He’s got gifts only God can give him,” Locklyn said. “So you see the potential of what he could be. Now he’s gonna have to work and compete, but I’m excited about him.”

If there is a freshman to push Williams-Dixon, it’ll be Jackson.

The Future

A name to remember for the future is Anthony Rogers. The former Alabama commit can be a do-it-all player in the future. He was not one of the early enrollees, so breaking through as a true freshman will be a challenge (as we will cover in the wide receivers). However, he played both receiver and running back while in high school. Ryan Day said when Rogers committed that he can envision a scenario in which the Buckeyes can use him in an Xavier Johnson-type role.

Finally, Isaiah West was also an SEC commit who later signed with the Buckeyes’ running back room. He and Rogers are almost certainly going to redshirt this year as they develop.