Ohio State Buckeyes Have Major Issue Fans Seem to be Ignoring

The Ohio State Buckeyes just won a national championship courtesy of one of the most loaded rosters we have seen in recent memory. Ohio State was stacked on both sides of the ball, and once the Buckeyes were in the College Football Playoff, no one else really stood a chance.

Ohio State is expected to be very good yet again in 2025, although it's clear that Ryan Day's club is not the terrifying juggernaut that it was a year ago. The Buckeyes have lost all but two defensive starters, and some very key offensive pieces have departed, as well.

While losing wide receiver Emeka Egbuka stings, Ohio State at least has Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, not to mention some hungry young wide outs ready to step up, so the Buckeyes will be just fine there. Running back, however, is a different story.

Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson made their way to the NFL last month, with both star halfbacks coming off the board on Day 2 of the draft. Both running backs racked over 1,000 yards last season and were pivotal in Ohio State's dominant CFP run.

The lethal tandem made Will Howard's job easier under center, and it placed ample pressure on opposing defenses who were also consistently scared of getting beat deep by Smith.

But now, the Buckeyes will have to rely on some combination of James Peoples, CJ Donaldson and potentially Bo Jackson, Sam Williams-Dixon and Anthony Rogers.

Let's just get this out of the way now: as far as we know, Peoples is no Henderson, and Donaldson — a West Virginia transfer — is certainly no Judkins (who transferred over from Ole Miss last year). So while the formula is similar, the results probably won't be the same.

Perhaps Peoples will enjoy a breakout campaign and Donaldson will flourish in his new environment, but there is no doubt that the running back position is a major question for Ohio State right now.

Everyone seems to be focused on the Buckeyes' quarterback competition and whether or not former five-star recruit Julian Sayin is up to the challenge, and rightfully so, I guess. After all, signal-caller is the most important position on the field.

That being said, if Ohio State isn't getting enough production from its ground game, whoever is taking snaps will feel the effects.

There really isn't anything the Buckeyes can do to change their backfield situation at this juncture. They just need to hope that it all works out, and while Ohio State has a sparkling track record of churning out top halfbacks, it doesn't necessarily mean history will repeat itself in 2025.