Lessons Learned from Tony Alford, loaded Buckeyes tailback room

COLUMBUS — Tony Alford isn’t going to shy away from dishing out high praise for his running back room at Ohio State. But he certainly says it with a caveat.

The Buckeyes have five tailbacks returning for another season. Four of them had at least one game with 80 or more rushing yards last season. Three of them topped the 100-yard marker a season ago. The position group is loaded — when it’s at full strength.

Lead tailback TreVeyon Henderson isn’t fully cleared for team drills yet. Evan Pryor is still recovering from a severe knee injury. Miyan Williams was slowed down by injuries throughout last season. If all of them are at full strength, they lead a room that also features second-year back Dallan Hayden and speedy, bruising back Chip Trayanum to form one of the deepest batches of backs in the country.

Alford agrees — but only when the room is at full strength.

“When healthy, yeah,” Alford said Wednesday afternoon following the Buckeyes 10th practice session of spring. “And when we’re not healthy, we’ll roll the dice. But when healthy, from top to bottom, I would say it’s probably it’s the deepest room. … When healthy, I liked the room we got when healthy.”

Alford has good reason to believe his room can be that elite. It has the talent to reach levels rarely seen for the Buckeyes backfield. But the room is getting healthier, working to reach all of its goals. Lettermen Row has lessons learned from the tailback room after hearing from the Buckeyes on Wednesday.

TreVeyon Henderson back to feeling 100 percent, ready to roll for Ohio State

Ohio State is staying cautious with star running back TreVeyon Henderson, opting to keep him out of team drills this spring as he recovers from a broken bone in his foot.

Henderson has pushed to get back on the field. He wants to compete. So far, he’s allowed back in individual drills earlier than he expected to be. He won’t be seen in team drills, but even as he’s being held on the sideline, he feels like he’s ready to play for the Buckeyes. And he certainly feels better than he did last fall.

“I feel great,” Henderson said. “I feel like I’m back to myself. I started doing some individual work, but they still want to keep me out of team work just to be safe. When I come back, they want me to come back for good.”

The last time Henderson was seen on the football field was the late-November game at Maryland, when he had 11 carries for 19 yards and didn’t look anywhere near the same caliber he showed during his freshman season. After the foot procedure and rehab, though, Henderson is gaining it all back.

“I feel like I’m 100 percent,” he said. “I’m running full speed, I’m back to cutting. I’m feeling great now.”

Buckeyes not settling roles, depth charts at tailback in spring

Tony Alford has no reason to set roles or depth charts in his running back room. That’s why he has no plans of doing so, especially as three of his five running backs currently aren’t practicing.

Alford is allowing the players in his room to develop. The rest will sort itself out as fall nears.

“Right now, I’m just trying to build depth,” Alford said. “Because we want to guys that are three-down players and everybody can do everything. Obviously, as you move through things, some guys are going to be better than others and certain things, but right now it’s just really training guys to do everything that we do to the best of their abilities and enhance them wherever we can enhance them. We haven’t started putting packages together. … Those haven’t been put together. But as we get into the summer, in the fall, we’ll do those.”

Chip Trayanum and Dallan Hayden both have impressed in spring practice, and that should be taken into consideration come training camp, even when the Buckeyes are back at full strength in the running back room. But the depth chart doesn’t need to be set in mid-April. Alford knows that too well.

Chip Trayanum continues to impress with expanded spring role

A year ago in spring practice, Chip Trayanum was in the midst of learning a new defense along with the rest of the Ohio State linebacker room. Now he’s headlining the media session with the Buckeyes tailbacks. What a difference a year makes.

Trayanum is no stranger to playing tailback; that’s where he thrived at Arizona State for two seasons. But he certainly is settling in nicely with every Buckeyes spring practice. It was on display Saturday during practice when he sliced through the defense for a 70-yard touchdown run during full-contact team drills.

“Just comes from being comfortable playing the position again,” Alford said about Trayanum. “He’s a pro in how he handles his business as far as his study habits, as far as how he takes care of his body, the way he practices, it was full tilt. But we already knew that. I think a lot of it is just kind of getting ingrained again, and just the feeling of being in the backfield and running.”

So far, so good for Trayanum as he works his way back into the running back equation at Ohio State. He is standing out this spring.

Dallan Hayden making most of every spring carry

Despite only showing up on campus at Ohio State in June, Dallan Hayden capitalized on an injured Buckeyes running back room by becoming the team’s second-leading rusher a season ago.

Even as an inexperienced freshman, Hayden flashed elite skills throughout his freshman year despite being much lighter than the Buckeyes wanted him to be. Now, however, he is playing 8-10 pounds heavier, showcasing new skills and becoming a more complete player.

He has the numerous reps that he’s receiving this spring to thank for the improvement.

“The reps are going pretty good,” Hayden said. “You know, everybody is getting reps. And I just live by the motto that you have to make every rep count. And all the coaches have emphasized the spring saying every rep matters. So that’s been my mentality this whole spring.

“I did some good things last year. Nowhere near where I need to be out there. So just trying to use the positive I did last year and build on them.”

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