Ohio State sophomore running back Demario McCall figures to play a big role in 2017, as the departure of H-back Curtis Samuel presents an opportunity for the North Ridgeville graduate to see more touches this season.
Just what exactly that role will be is unclear.
“He’s certainly shown signs of great elusiveness,” Head Coach Urban Meyer said at Big Ten Media Day Monday. “Our question is how durable can he be, and how strong can he be. He’s had a very good offseason, so I’m hoping to move him around a little bit.”
Part of what makes McCall such a dynamic player is his versatility in the passing game out of the backfield and that elusiveness in special teams. He only had three punt returns in 2016, but he could get more opportunities this year.
It’s also important to note he rushed for 270 yards on 49 carries as a true freshman, averaging 5.5 yards per carry and scoring three rushing touchdowns.
He caught four passes in 2016 for 84 receiving yards, taking one of his four receptions for a 36-yard touchdown.
Granted, McCall saw most of his action in blowout games against some of the less than elite opponents last season, but every time his number was called, he went above and beyond what was expected of most true freshmen on a stacked roster. It wasn’t as simple as chalking up his production to playing cupcake opponents, however. One of his best games came in a primetime showdown against Nebraska, in which he ran for a game-high 73 yards on 16 carries in the 62-3 blowout.
While Nebraska didn’t look like it that night, the Cornhuskers entered play 7-1 on the season, ranked tenth in the nation.
Mike Weber will be Ohio State’s workhorse in the backfield and rightfully so, but Meyer has an interesting dilemma on how to use the versatile backup. McCall offers a change of pace and completely different style than Weber, and the duo could become more of a 1-2 punch than most are expecting as the season progresses.
McCall will be expected to get some work in special teams and of course he’ll see more playing time some weeks than others, but with H-back Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin, Binjimen Victor, Austin Mack, K.J. Hill and Johnnie Dixon making a formidable receiving corps, the sophomore enters the season as the clear-cut second tailback on a roster which doesn’t necessarily have as many dual threats as last year.
True freshman running back J.K. Dobbins will also see playing time this year, according to Meyer.
“He’s also proved the fact that he’s going to play,” Meyer said at Media Day.
Last season, Samuel took up a relatively significant share of the workload and J.T. Barrett finished with the most carries on the team.
With new offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson joining Ohio State after his departure from Indiana, the play calling and offense could be even more dynamic – although the roster lost some impressive weapons to the 2017 NFL Draft.
Wilson and Meyer hope to stretch the field vertically and horizontally more compared to 2016 and fifth-year star offensive lineman Billy Price expects the biggest difference to be a faster-paced offense this season.
“The tempo at which we play is a lot faster, which puts the defense in a very challenging position,” Price said. “That’s probably the biggest emphasis you’ll see.”
One of the issues Ohio State had last year was over-using Barrett in the run game. Meyer admitted it wasn’t the perfect situation after Barrett took a beating with 26 carries in a 38-17 win over Indiana. Ohio State’s offense did what it had to do with Barrett leading the way against Michigan State (24 carries in a 17-16 win on the road) and Michigan (30 carries in a double overtime thriller), but many questioned why Weber and Samuel weren’t getting as many touches near the end of the season.
Perhaps they’ll run into that area again this season, but I suspect the Buckeyes have learned in some ways from that.
It’s also worth noting the Buckeyes have all but one of their starting offensive linemen returning from last year and figure to be as strong up front as any team in the Big Ten and among the better o-lines in the nation.
Obviously that should only help the running backs and could make life a lot easier for Weber, Barrett and McCall to put up big numbers this season.
Campbell and Hill will factor into the run game this season, but this wide receiver group (on paper) doesn’t have the same type of explosiveness as guys like Noah Brown and Samuel brought last season. Star tight end Marcus Baugh will likely be even more of an impact player in the passing game, but with the wide receiver position battle “wide open,” this could be a breakout year for the backup tailback.
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