Ohio State is no stranger to having the best football players in college. When you choose to be a Buckeye coming out of high school, you know there is a perfect chance you will never see a time where you’re the number one starter on the team at your position due to all the talent they bring in every year.
Ohio State’s Dallan Hayden Was Going To Be A Star
Ohio State’s sophomore running back Dallan Hayden, a pivotal player for the team in his freshman season in 2022, stepped up when TreVeyon Henderson was sidelined with an injury. Despite being redshirted in 2023, he was poised to take on the role of the starting running back in 2024.
Many thought TreVeyon Henderson would enter the NFL Draft, leaving Hayden as the starting running back, but Henderson decided to return for his senior season, and that’s not all that will be in the Buckeyes’ running back room in 2024.
Ole Miss Quinshon Judkins, the second-best running back in the country, entered the transfer portal and headed to Ohio State, making him the backup behind Henderson and leaving Hayden as the third back.
Hayden decided not to enter the winter transfer portal even though Henderson and Judkins would be ahead of him on the depth chart, but he will be heading out of town and entering the spring portal.
Hayden Looks To Be Heading Into The Spring Portal
Matt Zenitz from 247sports.com states, “Ohio State running back Dallan Hayden has informed Buckeyes staff that he plans to enter the transfer portal when the spring portal window opens.”
The Buckeyes Sort Of Forced Hayden Out
Is this a shock? No, but it does seem like the Buckeyes forced Hayden out when they got Judkins from the portal. Hayden wasn’t going to stick around and be the third guy in his third season in college football, and I don’t blame him. Ohio State has to get the best players in the country, and they couldn’t say no to Judkins when he is better than Hayden at the moment.
More must-reads: