Bo Jackson is recovering from shoulder surgery this spring, but he’s grown in the weight room. Last year as a true freshman he gained over 1,000 yards. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
No Ohio State position group is under more pressure to improve this spring than the running backs, but their leader is confident they will come through.
By Marcus Hartman for Press Pros
Columbus, OH — In many Ohio State position group rooms, the aim is to make good great (quarterback, defensive back, defensive line) or even perfect greatness (wide receiver).
That is not the aim for the running backs this spring.
Even with Bo Jackson running for 1,090 yards as a true freshman, the group overall left a lot to be desired in 2025 — particularly in the context of a team trying to repeat as national champions.
Wilson Health/Orthopedics proudly sponsors the best in area sports and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Press Pros.
Jackson himself — who is, to say the least, a man of few words — did not dispute that.
“I feel like it went pretty good, but obviously, it could have been better,” the sophomore from Cleveland said Friday.
Veteran columnist Marcus Hartman writes the Buckeyes and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.
The Buckeyes fell short in their bid to claim a 10th national title in no small part because the running game regressed. The numbers bear that out (fewer yards per game and per carry than 2024), but they did not really pass the look test, either.
Jackson had his moments, especially a game-breaking 36-yard run at Michigan that kickstarted the offense to a 27-9 victory.
A week after picking up 117 yards against the Wolverines, Jackson ran for 83 yards on 17 carries in the Big Ten Championship Game, but more than once he looked to be one step away from breaking free for a touchdown only to go down without much contact. That could have been the difference in a 13-10 Hoosiers victory that sent the Buckeyes to the Cotton Bowl against underrated Miami instead of the Rose Bowl against overrated Alabama.
Watching the Hurricanes and the Hoosiers in the National Championship Game was also instructive as both teams had multiple mature backs who were able to exploit cracks and run through arm tackles more consistently than Ohio State’s young rushers, who typically got what was blocked but not much else.
Lefeld Welding Supplies proudly sponsors high school sports and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Another Ohio State freshman — Isaiah West — showed flashes of being a dynamic back, too, but he only ended up with 310 yards on 59 carries. He was a year removed from a torn ACL ending his senior season at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia.
Jackson and West say they have put on about 10-12 pounds to get into the low 220s, the type of physical progression to be expected from youngsters in their first full year in a college weight room. That is about all the physical progress they can make this spring, though, because both are limited as they recover from shoulder surgeries. Both are expected to be full-go when preseason practice begins in July, but for now they are limited to getting mental reps.
Isaiah West is also recovering from shoulder surgery and missing the bulk of spring practice.
That news dropping caused some consternation in Buckeye Nation in March, and a certain “When it rains, it pours” feeling was understandable.
Unless you are Carlos Locklyn, apparently.
“I hear all the concerns,” Locklyn said Friday as he leaned back in his chair on the indoor field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. “I have no concerns. I just smile every day I come into this building because I know what the room is.”
His attitude trumps most others since he happens to be the running backs coach at Ohio State. Entering his third season in that role, Locklyn could be feeling the heat to turn up the production.
He helped Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson turn in twin 1,000-yard seasons in 2024, but he also inherited those two as experienced, productive college players.
Now what can he do with his own guys?
Head coach Ryan Day declared more explosiveness in the running game to be a goal for 2026, but it sounds like no one is able to exert more pressure on Locklyn than he does himself.
The Arbogast family of dealerships proudly sponsors coverage of Ohio State football on Press Pros Magazine.com.
“Well No. 1, Coach Day is hard on everybody. You hear me? Everybody. And one thing that me and him talked about was Isaiah and Bo improving on the second and third level,” Locklyn said. “I believe in every guy in that room. You know why? Because I believe in myself, and I’m going to pour into them. So we ain’t skipped a beat.”
Locklyn’s cheeriness belied a situation in need of some work. Ohio State finished 72nd in the nation in rushing last season, dropping from 166 yards per game to 154 (and change), and the Buckeyes averaged 4.5 yards per carry, down from 5.0 the year before.
Favour Akih, a freshman from Delaware Hayes, is fighting for backup carries in a crowded backfield of prospects.
Now he is dealing with his two best players being unable to fully take advantage of the 15 days allotted for spring practice, but Locklyn said that is no big deal. Their growth in the weight room trumps a few opportunities to get tackled in April, and their availability for the fall is what really matters.
In the meantime, he’s working to develop the rest of the room. It contains Ja’Kobi Jackson, a senior transfer from Florida, redshirt freshman Turbo Rogers and true freshmen Legend Bey and Favour Akih.
Locklyn joined the chorus of people who have said Bey, a shifty Texas native, could be the next great offensive weapon for the Buckeyes, but he also gave a shoutout to junior walk-on Stanley Jackson Jr. (son of the mid-90s Ohio State quarterback) for setting an example for how he wants his players to conduct themselves.
“He comes out and does his job every day,” Locklyn said of Jackson, whose father shared No 1 QB duties with Joe Germaine in 1996 and ’97. “But I’m excited about this room. You’re talking about Bo and Isaiah should be better in year two. And then Turbo getting healthy, and Legend is Legend.”
Minster Bank proudly sponsors the best in area sports coverage on Press Pros Magazine.com.
So there is no lack of bodies, but what will they be able to do when the season comes around? It’s a question that can’t be answered a moment sooner, but also not one that seems to be keeping Locklyn awake at night.
He has plenty of pithy sayings — delivered with feeling in his deep northern Alabama accent — to help keep doubts at bay, too.
“Adversity introduces a man to himself, all right? Every player, every coach is going to have some adversity in the spring,” Locklyn said. “You expect that.”
Or how about this one?
Legend Bay projects as a future playmaker in a hybrid role more than a traditional running back role.
“I tell the kids all the time: Make knowledge your greatest talent, so now they’re getting the mental part because they know what’s going to happen,” he said of Bo Jackson and West. “They’ve been in those situations, so having them banging in the spring — for what?”
Though he was jovial with the media, that is not the approach Locklyn takes on the field.
He’s old school there, not afraid to ride a young man in need of direction as he figures out how to find his best self on the football field.
“I am not easy to play for — I am not,” Locklyn said. “I tell them, ‘It looks like I’m throwing dirt on you. Don’t take it that way: Take it as I’m puttin soil on you so you can grow — because the only way you’re going to grow is by having stress, having to deal with adversity. That’s true. That’s having a true growth mindset.”
That is strong use of the language both in its accuracy and imagery, but perhaps his best aphorism he actually borrowed from another native of the Deep South: Martin Luther King Jr.
“You have two types of faith,” Locklyn said. “You have an ‘if’ faith and you have a ‘though’ faith. Coach Lock got a ‘though’ faith. Bo might be out. Guess what? I got faith in the other guys room, but I can see it every day so I don’t say, ‘Well, if Bo was here, if Isaiah was here.’ That ain’t the type of faith I got.
“I got a ‘though’ faith. Though they’re out, we’re going to be just fine. And when they come back, it’s even better. Instead of having those two guys, now you got five or six.”
Logan Services, with locations in Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus, proudly sponsors your favorite area sports stories on Press Pros Magazine.com.