Tag: TreVeyon Henderson

Five Buckeyes featured on 247 Sports’ Top 20 Big Ten Players ranking

Who was left off? Who should be higher? #GoBucks

With Big Ten media day starting on Wednesday, there’s a lot of buzz and excitement around Big Ten football right now.

In light of this, three 247Sports college football analysts convened to rank the top 20 players in the Big Ten. These three analysts include Blake Brockermeyer, Chris Hummer, and Robbie Weinstein.

Coming into the season, the Big Ten appears to be as strong as it’s been in years. In the East division Ohio State and Michigan enter the season as two of the biggest national championship contenders. Penn State projects to be a top-ten team with a lot of talent returning.

The West division projects to improve as the Luke Fickell era kicks off in Wisconsin, Iowa looks to get back to the conference title game, Illinois looks to build upon an 8-win season last year, and Minnesota also projects to figure into how the West will be won.

With a lot of talented players in the conference, this turned out to be an impressive list. The Buckeyes, along with Penn State had the most players to appear in these rankings with five each. Here are the five Buckeyes who made the list.

Check out where Ohio State lands on Phil Steele’s offensive position group rankings

Phil Steele likes Ohio State’s offensive position groups. #GoBucks

With college football around a month and a half away from kicking off, the venerable Phil Steele released his yearly college football preview magazine.

Steele provides in-depth previews for all Football Bowl Subdivision teams and one of the best components of his magazines are his top 65 position group rankings. For offense, Steele ranks where each team’s unit falls for quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and offensive line.

It’s difficult to project how a team’s specific unit will perform in a season as teams will have injuries, as well as players who overperform or underperform. Regardless, these lists provide us with expectations for teams and players headed into the season.

Ohio State has been spectacular on offense in recent years as it was a top-two-scoring offense in both 2022 and 2021.

With CJ Stroud, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Paris Johnson Jr., Dawand Jones and Luke Wypler off to the NFL, the Buckeyes are losing some great players. The good news is they’re also bringing back many high-quality players from last year’s unit and have players ready to step into bigger roles.

Ohio State fared pretty well on Steele’s lists as it was ranked in the top 10 in three of the four position groups. Here’s how it all shook out.

2024 NFL draft: Preseason RB watch list and early rankings

The initial 2024 NFL draft running back rankings and preseason watch list from Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon

Running backs have taken a hit in value in recent NFL drafts, but with two (Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs) being selected in the top 12 in 2023, perhaps a resurgence is coming. The early returns on the potential draft class of 2024 aren’t so strong, but there are some impressive talents to watch in the upcoming college season.

These are very fluid rankings. In general, these are early impressions about the NFL potential of players who still have a considerable amount of football to play before they’re drafted. The RB position in particular lends itself to players rising or falling rapidly on one season, so don’t expect the final rankings in April to look anything like this.

After watching enough to get a baseline feel for the players, and in talking with some NFL-employed scouts, here is an early listing and my preliminary ranking for the running backs in the NFL draft class of 2024.

See which Buckeyes made it on Phil Steele’s Preseason All-American Teams

Six Ohio State football players made it on Phil Steele’s Preseason All-American teams. #GoBucks

Phil Steele, who releases an excellent, in-depth college football preview magazine every year, recently released his preseason All-American teams for the 2023 season.

Preseason All-American teams are very difficult to predict as there will inevitably be players who perform worse than expected and under-the-radar players that emerge. However, they’re still useful to set an expectation for players and teams.

Steele released first through fourth All-American teams. Offensively, each team featured one quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, two tackles, two guards, and a center. Defensively, each team featured two defensive ends, two defensive tackles, four linebackers, two cornerbacks, and two safeties.

Steele featured six Ohio State players in total with two on the first team, three on the second team, and one on the third team.

Here’s a rundown of which Buckeyes caught the eye of Phil Steele.

First up … Phil Steele First-Team Preseason All-Americans

Top three Big Ten running backs for 2023

The Big Ten has some elite talent at the running back position and one Buckeye makes our top three #GoBucks #B1G

Making the list of the top quarterbacks in the Big Ten was a tough task considering the ranking was based primarily on projections, but because the Big Ten is the Big Ten we have enough legit proven talent to make a more confident list.

The tough part with the running backs is that there are enough elite backs in the conference to make two lists. Just like with what we saw in the quarterback list, the Wolverines have some legit talent in the offensive backfield as we all witnessed in November. That talent is back for 2023.

Wisconsin has a familiar stud in the backfield who is primed to explode in 2023 with a new and improved offensive scheme surrounding him. One of the tougher decisions was deciding which Ohio State back was going to make the list because both are so unique and dynamic when healthy.

Let’s dive into our list!

College Sports Wire ranks two Ohio State running backs among the top 25 in college football for 2023

Where would you put the dynamic duo individually when ranking them with other running backs in the country? #GoBucks

Under head coach Ryan Day, Ohio State has had some of the most explosive offenses in the country over the last few years. Most of that damage has been done through the air as of late, but that doesn’t mean some of the best running backs in the country aren’t still flocking to the banks of the Olentangy to be a part of all the fun.

In fact, according to Patrick Conn of College Sports Wire, two of the Buckeye running backs on the roster for 2023 are two of the top 25 in the entire country.

I’m sure you can guess the two ball carriers included in the ranking, but here’s what Conn says about the dynamic duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams.

NEXT … A Buckeye in the Top Ten

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2024 NFL draft: Initial top 20 prospects

The initial top 20 prospects for the 2024 NFL draft from Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon

It’s been a couple of weeks since the 2023 NFL draft wrapped. Just enough time to sort through an early list of the top early prospects for the 2024 draft that will take place in Detroit next April.

I haven’t done a deep dive into most of these players, but I’ve studied them enough to have some level of confidence that they’re poised to excel in the 2023 college season and attract significant draft attention in 2024.

These aren’t necessarily in a strict order, but in general, this is how they would list out if I had to make a too-early big board. There is a lot of football to be played before any rankings should be considered too seriously, just as is the case with preseason college football polls. Also remember: big boards do not necessarily equal projected draft slots.

On3 ranks Ohio State as having one of best running back units in college football for 2023

Ohio State gets recognized as one of the best running back rooms in college football entering next season. #GoBucks

On3’s Jesse Simonton has started releasing position group rankings for next season this week. The rankings are meant to reflect not just the ten best players at the position, but also factor in the depth of the unit.

On Tuesday, Simonton ranked the Buckeyes as the fourth-best running back unit trailing only Michigan, Alabama, and Penn State.

After an injury-riddled season at running back last season, the Buckeyes come into next season with a lot of depth and options. If both are fully healthy, Treveyon Henderson and Miyan Williams will enter the season as first and second on the depth chart.

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Henderson arrived at Ohio State with a lot of hype surrounding him as the top-ranked back in the 2021 class. He quickly showed he was worth the hype rushing for 1,248 yards and 15 touchdowns as a true freshman.

Unfortunately, last season he lacked explosiveness for much of the season as he was dealing with a foot injury throughout the season that kept him sidelined for five games.  If he’s able to stay at 100 percent throughout this season, he’ll get the most touches in this offense.

Williams also dealt with injuries last season including a lower leg injury that heavily hindered him in the Michigan and Georgia games.

He showed last season, however, that regardless of whether Henderson is healthy or not he’ll still get his fair share of carries. He was very efficient as a runner, breaking tackles at a high rate and leading the team with 14 rushing touchdowns.

Henderson and Williams will likely be 1-2 on the depth chart if healthy.  However, there are at least two more intriguing options that will compete for consistent touches in this offense and more solid depth pieces beyond that.

Evan Pryor is a former top 100 player and sixth-ranked running back in the 2021 class. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in fall camp last season and missed the whole year.  Pryor is an electrifying back and has the talent to get touches in this offense.

Dallan Hayden is another very good option at running back, stepping up numerous times last season when Henderson and Williams were dealing with injuries.

As a true freshman, Hayden ran for a total of 553 yards and five touchdowns on 111 carries. This included three games of over 100 rushing yards, with a 146-yard three-touchdown performance against Maryland.

Chip Trayanum is a transfer from Arizona State who originally intended to switch positions to linebacker. However, after some injuries at running back last season, he switched back.  He ended up getting some action as he had 14 carries for 83 yards in the Michigan game.  He presents a good depth option as a power back.

The remaining four running backs are Cayden Saunders, TC Caffey, Will Hartson, and Chase Brecht. They aren’t likely to get significant playing time but are solid depth options to have on the roster.

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247Sports predicts seven Ohio State players selected in the first round of 2024 NFL draft

Seven Buckeyes in the first round?!?! #GoBucks

The 2023 NFL draft began Thursday night with three Ohio State players getting selected in the first round.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud went No. 2 to the Houston Texans, offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. was taken at No. 6 by the Arizona Cardinals and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was selected at No. 20 by the Seattle Seahawks.

Many schools would think that having three players taken within the first twenty picks is impressive, but 247Sports Allen Trieu had a “hold my Buckeye candy” moment for the 2024 potential Buckeyes selected in the first round.

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Trieu released a way-too-early 2024 mock draft with seven [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] stars projected to get picked on Day one. Find out below which Buckeyes Trieu believes could be taken in the first round about a year from now.

Badger running back ranked in On3’s top 10 for 2023

Braelon Allen was listed as the 10th best RB heading into the 2023 season by On3.com ahead of his third year with the Badgers.

Braelon Allen was listed as the 10th best running back heading into the 2023 season by On3.com. The big bruiser is going into his third season with the Badgers and will look to build off the addition of Luke Fickell as head coach and Phil Longo at offensive coordinator.

Overall, there are six running backs from the Big Ten listed in the top ten with Blake Corum (Michigan, 1), Nick Singleton (Penn State, 3), Miyan Williams (Ohio State, 6), TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State, 7) and Donovan Edwards (Michigan, 8) also making the list.

Allen produced 1242 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns in 2022 while mostly facing stacked defensive fronts due to the Badgers’ inconsistent passing offense. It seems likely that he’ll face less pressure in 2023 with Longo’s “Air Raid” offense coming to town, which could lead to an explosive year for the 6-foot-2, 238 pound athlete.

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