OSU’s Day Says Star Safety Could Have Travis Hunter-Like Role

INDIANAPOLIS — Ohio State has the strongest one-two punch at running back in the country, with Buckeyes veteran TreVeyon Henderson joined by Ole Miss transfer Quinshod Judkins. Both players are Athlon preseason All-Americans. The team lost junior T.C. Caffey to injury earlier this month, and will likely be without him for the season, leaving the team’s backfield depth incredibly thin. One possible solution? A Travis Hunter-esque two-way role for safety Caleb Downs, who joined the Buckeyes from Alabama as arguably the top transfer in the country this offseason.

After previously mentioning that Downs has attended some running back meetings, coach Ryan Day opened up about the possibility of his newest defensive back also serving as one of his new running backs during the upcoming season.

“I watched him play against Buford in a high school game, one of the best games I’ve ever seen,” Day said at Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday. “He was on both sides of the ball, he was returning kicks, he was running the ball. I thought, ‘This guy could play running back at Ohio State now .’ So he has the ability.”

In the game against Buford that Day cited— a 39–27 loss for Downs’ team (it’s only loss that year), Downs accounted for 170 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, adding 10 tackles on defense. He immediately became one of the top defensive backs in the country in 2023 under Nick Saban at Alabama . He also flashed his potential with the ball in his hands, returning four punts during the year including an 85-yard touchdown against Chattanooga. Downs enters the ’24 season with Ohio State as an Athlon preseason first-team All-American .

Day urged that the team wants to make sure Downs is set to play safety under defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and position coach Matt Guerrieri first and foremost. However, he made clear that Downs could find himself in the mix on offense as the year goes on, especially with the potential for teams in the College Football Playoff to play in up to 17 games this year.

“Now, do we want to put that all on his plate right away? I think he has interest in doing it, I think he wants do some returning,” Day said. “I think we want to start him at safety and go from there. Since we lost T.C. for the year, it’s something that we have to make sure we’re on top of and make sure we have contingency plans.”

With the lost of Caffey, the Buckeyes running back room has a pair of true freshmen behind Henderson and Judkins—former four-star recruit James Peoples and three-star Sam Williams-Dixon.

Downs, a former five-star recruit, was a dynamic running back as well as defensive back at Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, Ga. He recorded 93 total touches for 811 yards from scrimmage and 23 offensive touchdowns , and even threw for 39 yards and a score, leading Mill Creek to a state championship.

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