In 2021 the Ohio State Buckeyes had the luxury of true freshman TreVeyon Henderson bursting on the scene. In his freshman season Henderson broke multiple records in his impressive debut.

Additionally, the Buckeyes had some depth, with Miyan Williams and Master Teague seeing time, mostly in close yardage situations. However, now that Teague has officially left for the NFL Draft there are extra touches available in the Ohio State backfield.

Enter four-star recruit Evan Pryor.

Despite seeing mop-up duty in 2021 the true freshman flashed when given the chance. In 2021 Pryor rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown. He also added two catches for eight yards.

Although TreVeyon Henderson is a generational talent, Pryor isn’t a slouch. Just because Henderson had a legendary season doesn’t mean that Pryor won’t be an asset in the long-run.

Even with Henderson and Williams as the expected combo Pryor can still be utilized in a Ryan Day offense. Last March, Day seemed open to utilizing multiple backs.

“And if there’s some things we look at and maybe there are two running backs deserving of being in the game at the same time, we’ll do that. A lot of them have different skill-sets. So, we’ll shake that out, but that’s the fun part that I’m looking forward to going and building as we go through the spring ” Day said in an interview with Bucknuts.

So how exactly could the Buckeyes use Pryor?

Well the obvious answer is on kickoff returns. Pryor has the skillset to make a good kickoff returner alongside Emeka Egbuka. However, Egbuka is expected to play a bigger role on offense as a wide receiver, therefore Pryor might have a chance to win the kickoff return job outright if he has a strong offseason.

Another spot the Buckeyes may utilize Pryor is in the passing game. As Day previously said, he is not afraid to play multiple running backs at once. We could possibly witness a duo of Henderson and Pryor coming out of the backfield as receivers in 2022. Surely that duo would create many mismatches against less athletic opponents.

Finally, the last way I see the Buckeyes using Pryor is as an injury replacement for either Henderson or Williams. Both Henderson and Williams suffered minor injuries in 2021. Henderson was knocked out of the Rutgers game early with a head injury, while Williams missed multiple games with an undisclosed injury. If either player goes down, which is probable given the physical nature of the running back position, Pryor should be the next man up to receive touches.

Yes, Marcus Crowley and Dallan Hayden loom as well. However, Crowley hasn’t been the same player since he suffered a knee injury against Maryland in 2019, and Hayden is a true freshman so the level of his impact remains in question. Therefore Pryor gets the advantage here.

Overall, Pryor offers a rare burst of speed and elusiveness that can be utilized running the ball, in the passing game, or in the return game. Even if Pryor isn’t a full-time starter Ryan Day can absolutely utilize his skillset to keep the Ohio State offense rolling in 2022.

Featured image via: The Columbus Dispatch