Ryan Day shares update on Ohio State's redshirt plans for Dallan Hayden

The Ohio State Buckeyes have a ton of talent every which way you look on the roster. And with that much talent in the locker room, sometimes some individuals can get lost in the shuffle. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has been working to ensure that that does not happen to sophomore running back Dallan Hayden.

Hayden has been on the active roster this season but has seen minimal game-time action. That fact has led some to question whether or not he will be redshirted this season. But Day doesn’t want that to be his young, talented running back’s outcome for this season and has been actively looking to get him some playing time.

“We’re gonna keep pushing that this week and evaluate it again this week. We’ll see how the week goes. But we’re gonna push it to see if we can get him in a game this week,” said Day.

Hayden is another legacy player for Ohio State. He is the son of former Tennessee Volunteers running back Aaron Hayden, who spent four years in the NFL. According to On3’s Industry Ranking, the sophomore out of Memphis, TN, was a national top 300 four-star running back in the 2022 class, ranked 246 overall. He was also the No. 19 highest-rated running back in his class and the seventh-best player out of Tennessee.

This season, Hayden has seen action in two games: at Indiana and Purdue. However, all of Hayden’s rushing stats this season came against Purdue, where he recorded 11 carries for 76 yards and run-rushing touchdown performances.

Day reveals Ohio State’s backup quarterback plan after Devin Brown injury

Ohio State left Ohio Stadium with a big win over Penn State on Saturday, but not with a healthy backup quarterback, as Devin Brown left the game with an ankle injury and is now expected to miss multiple weeks.

Brown lost the offseason quarterback competition narrowly to starter Kyle McCord, and was just starting to get into his rhythm within his own red zone package, highlighted by his rushing abilities. But now the Buckeyes will have to turn elsewhere for a backup quarterback between veteran Tristan Gebbia and freshman Lincoln Kienholz, which head coach Ryan Day addressed this week.

“I think we’ll go through the week and give those guys reps and see how that goes,” Day said. “Tristian has experience, the other, I think they might be five or six years apart, talk about different guys. But I think you know where those guys are, one’s a more experienced guy, one is a younger guy that we think has a really bright future here. So both are at different spots in their career and we’ll kind of see how this week goes.”

Gebbia joined the Buckeyes this offseason for his seventh year of eligibility, spending time at Nebraska at Oregon State before touching down in Columbus. While Kienholz is currently in the midst of his first collegiate season, rated as a four-star recruit and the No. 15 ranked quarterback of the 2023 recruiting class according to On3’s Industry Ranking.