Top Of The Charts: Running Back

Previous Positions: QB |

We continue our look at the top players at key positions on Ohio State’s 2025 football schedule by moving over to running back. While we are trying to limit things to a top five, we are going to go with seven here and you will see why as the piece goes on.

Last season teams could not run against Ohio State as the Buckeyes were No. 3 in the nation in rushing defense, allowing fewer than 88 yards per game. Jim Knowles is now gone and on the team that has the top back(s) that Ohio State will face in 2025, but the Buckeyes have not forgotten how to play defense, and Matt Patricia will have a trick or two up his sleeve (written in pencil, of course).

Some of these names will be familiar not only to the Buckeyes but to Ohio State fans as well as running back at Penn State has not changed as well as the Buckeyes faced one of the Texas duo in the national semifinals.

If you missed out on the start of the series and quarterback, you can get up to speed here but enjoy our look at running back as we continue through the offense.

5. Justice Haynes – Michigan (November 29^th)

This is the only player that I am going to allow myself to “project” on, whereas everyone else is more of a known quantity. My next option was Devin Mockobee at Purdue, and I just wasn’t going to allow a rivalry to drive me into that position. Ohio State really wanted to land Haynes prior to landing at Alabama, and it must anger many fans to see him up north, but it is what it is. Haynes has just slightly mor than 100 career carries and nine touchdowns during his collegiate career. The Wolverines have been able to run the ball mor so than throw it through recent years, so there should be little doubt that there will be a desire to feed the back while breaking in a new quarterback up north.

4. Darius Taylor – Minnesota (October 4^th)

Did anyone know that Taylor was 1-2 carries shy of being a 1,000-yard rusher last season? I pride myself on following the game closely and wasn’t sure that the Minnesota running back was that solid, but here we are. He is the main weapon on the ground for PJ Fleck and while he hasn’t shown out for a 200-yard game yet, we saw him go for 143 and 113 in the last two games of the season and those were two games where everyone in the stadium and in TV Land knew he was getting the ball about infinity times.

3. Jonah Coleman – Washington (September 27^th)

While I was aware of Taylor, I knew very little about Coleman for the Huskies. He did break the 1,000-yard mark and had five games of rushing for more than 100 yards. The numbers have not always been consistent with a few games where his presence was barely felt (Oregon, Penn State, Louisville) there were other games where the 230-pound bowing ball was almost impossible to bring down. The Huskies may be better than most people think going into this season and Coleman will play a large factor in Washington having a seat at the table of deciding the Big Ten or if Washington just ends up being a very long, yet uneventful, road trip for teams.

2. CJ Baxter/Tre Wisner – Texas (August 30^th)

Our first daily double and that is because CJ Baxter is coming back after missing 2024 with a serious right knee injury and Tre Wisner (among others) stepped in nicely in his place. You better believe that Baxter wants to come back with a vengeance, but will Steve Sarkisian allow him to be full go in the season opener against Ohio State, or will we see more of a dose of Wisner, a player that Ohio State faced in the national semis last season. Winser had 17 carries for 46 yards against Ohio State with a long of 13, as the Buckeyes held UT to just 58 yards on the ground in net rushing. Baxter is likely the better talent with all things being equal and it may be in Ohio State’s advantage that this is the opener and not a game in November when it comes to a trust factor in Baxter’s knee.

1. Nick Singleton/Kaytron Allen – Penn State (November 1^st)

Every year we seem to talk about this duo and every year coming out of the annual Penn State game, we marvel that the duo was not more impactful, despite the immense amount of talent possessed by each. Singleton has rushed for 108 yards (zero touchdowns) against Ohio State while Allen has 129 yards (one touchdown). Mind you, each player has played three games against Ohio State, so we are talking about 24 quarters of football between the two, and that is all that they have managed to scratch on the board. But ‘this is going to be the year’ or so they say. We haven’t seen it yet, and it isn’t any easier playing at Ohio Stadium (even at 12pm, just saying) than at night at home. The talent is there though, both backs are among the best in the nation, but for whatever reason, it hasn’t worked out yet against Ohio State.

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