Ryan Day on what Ohio State running back rotation will look like with TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins

Ohio State has two of the best running backs in the nation on the same team and in the same backfield in TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins. That naturally leads to the thought of how the pair will split snaps over the course of the season in Columbus.

Ryan Day addressed the share of carries between those two during his appearance last week at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis. He said that position will come down to their coach and how he determines the depth chart for it. However, both Henderson and Judkins are going to play and play often for the Buckeyes.

“Coach Locklyn is, you know, going to be ultimately responsible for how that rotation goes. But both guys are going to play, both guys are going to play a lot,” said Day. “They’re going to have a lot of carries.”

Henderson has spent the past three seasons at Ohio State. In that time, he has rushed for 2,745 yards on 446 carries, good for 6.2 per touch, and 32 touchdowns. That has made him their leading rusher in two of those years with him finishing behind only Miyan Williams in 2022. He has also caught five additional scores.

As for Judkins, he arrives from the transfer portal after a pair of seasons at Ole Miss. He joins the Buckeyes as the No. 6 overall player and No. 1 RB per On3’s 2024 Transfer Portal Top Players. That comes after rushing for 2,725 yards on 545 carries, good for an average of five yards a carry, for 31 touchdowns. He caught a trio of additional scores as well.

Henderson and Judkins are two of the best players, let alone rushers, in all of college football. That makes them more than a luxury to have for Ohio State with them determining how to utilize each as much as they can.

Day praises how Henderson has embraced Judkins

Ohio State was one of the biggest winners in the transfer portal this offseason. Part of that was being able to snag Quinshon Judkins despite the return of TreVeyon Henderson.

Many marquee players like Henderson would bristle at the idea of bringing in another top back. Not Henderson, though.

“He embraces Quinshon coming in,” Ryan Day said at Big Ten Media Days. “That wasn’t something we were going to do, say force-feed that to TreVeyon. He embraced that. He wanted that. He’s been unbelievable with that and Quinshon and he have gotten along great.”

Having Judkins on the roster can be a huge benefit for each. Both guys should be able to stay fresh for the duration of the season. Moreover, they can help tire out opposing defenses for each other and give a fresh look for the Ohio State offense.

“They understand what this means,” Day said. “They know how long the season is going to be. That’s just a great example of guys who are being unselfish but I think you’re going to see that across the board on our team right now. There is that feeling of we just want to win and that’s how hungry they are.”