Subscribe
Follow Us
The Ohio State Buckeyes are expected to be a contender in 2022 with quarterback CJ Stroud leading the way. However, they were dealt a brutal offensive blow on Tuesday as it was announced redshirt freshman running back Evan Pryor will miss the entire season with a knee injury he sustained in training camp, per Austin Ward of DottingTheEyes.
Pryor's first season with the Buckeyes wasn't great, rushing for just 98 yards on 21 touches. However, he'd been showing a lot of promise and looked set to play a key part in the backfield for an Ohio State team with two absolute weapons already in backs TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams.
Running backs coach Tony Alford even said last week that all three of them are “ready to play winning football” for the Buckeyes:
“Those guys all deserve to play,” Alford said. “So, I've got to make sure they’re all ready to play — because they all have shown the capacity and the ability to play winning football.
” … Quite frankly, I hope there’s not a whole lot of separation. It means we’ve got some really good guys and not one guy who is a head above someone else. You’d like to have an opportunity to have three or four guys that you can throw in and feel comfortable throwing them in the fire.”
The Buckeyes will likely go with Henderson again as the first stringer followed by Williams. Newcomer Dallas Hayden is going to probably get some opportunities now as well with Pryor out of the picture. But, he won't make up for the loss of Pryor, who is such an athletic, strong, and quick RB. 2023 will be his year to shine.
