Scarlet Sunrise: Who joins J.K Dobbins in Buckeyes backfield?

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Who will help J.K. Dobbins carry rushing load for the Buckeyes?

There are plenty of more pressing position battles for Ohio State to monitor this spring, and the return of J.K. Dobbins for another season means there is absolutely no uncertainty on top of the depth chart at tailback. Truthfully, the situation at running back might finally be somewhat comfortable for the Buckeyes since they also don’t need to stress about the best way to share the workload between two capable starters — something that probably wasn’t handled all that well a year ago.

But the program is going to need to start solidifying a pecking order behind Dobbins. And that could set up one of the more fascinating, under-the-radar competitions in camp when the pads go back on in March.

Lettermen Row senior writer Austin Ward looks at a few possible candidates to fill the void in the Ohio State backfield in Friday’s Question of the Day.

Scouting Report: ‘Freakish’ signee Dawand Jones growing into potential

It was basketball, always basketball for Dawand Jones.

Even midway through last football season, the Ohio State signee had resolved to play basketball once he graduated from Indianapolis’ Ben Davis High School.

Now that Jones has become the final piece to Ryan Day’s inaugural recruiting class, his high school coach indicated those years of basketball can help the mammoth offensive tackle’s next-level transition.

“The basketball has his body trained to play in space, has his body trained to use his length to his advantage,” said Ben Davis head coach Jason Simmons. “And really that quick foot-touch, being able to put his foot in the ground and redirect, he’s going to need that at some point. Whether it’s a pass-rush move up and under, whether it’s a guy that’s slanting post-snap, he’s going to need those feet in the Big Ten.

“But basketball truly has helped him in terms of playing in space and using his length.”

Lettermen Row’s John Brice spoke with people close to Jones to provide a full scouting report on one of the newest Buckeyes.

Will Ohio State chase decommitted prospects?

Recruiting sure is a fun little world, isn’t it? Six months ago, Ohio State had six commitments in the Class of 2020, and if there was prediction which players would be the surest bets to sign, Jake Wray, Lejond Cavazos and Darvon Hubbard would almost certainly be near the top of the list.

Wray, the first 2020 commit, is the younger brother of a current Buckeyes lineman. Cavazos’ father, CJ, is a long-time friend of Urban Meyer. And Hubbard is an Akron-native who was playing football in Arizona alongside Ohio State commit Jack Miller — and would help keep the quarterback in the fold when the urge to look around eventually hit the rising star.

Welp. Back to the drawing board, huh? Here we are now almost to March, and those three 4-star prospects have all reopened their recruiting process with each claiming that the December retirement of Meyer was the primary motivator for their decision. So, can the Buckeyes earn all three of their pledges again? Birm looks at that probability in Friday’s Recruiting Question of the Day.

Men’s hoops faces tough road test at Maryland

After handling business at home against Northwestern in a must-win game, Ohio State men’s basketball now travels to College Park to take on No. 24 Maryland on Saturday.

The Buckeyes are still in the NCAA Tournament picture, and they will be even with a loss to the Terrapins, but the formula for a tournament bid requires at least one and possibly two more wins down the stretch against non-Northwestern teams, and there are only a few such opportunities left.

Tip off from the Xfinity Center is at 2 p.m.

Counting down

• Ohio State hoops at Maryland: Today
• Oho State spring game: 49 days

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