A simple search of the name "Bri'onte Dunn" on this site yields one of two things: Stories written, typically in the spring, about how the once highly touted recruit is finally going to look the part at Ohio State or a hodgepodge of random posts about anything from an Instagram spat, his recruitment or whenever someone mentioned him earlier in his career.
We've written about how 2015 was his best chance at redemption, discussed how he had "a little momentum in his world" almost exactly a year ago and more recently how he and Mike Weber are the lead candidates to step in for Silver Football winner Ezekiel Elliott this coming season.
At the midway point of his final spring as an Ohio State football player, Dunn is suddenly the oldest guy in the running back room, someone Tony Alford and Urban Meyer expect to depend on for carries in 2016. And, someone running out of time.
Is this finally the year Dunn puts all the pieces together?
"Bri'onte Dunn, I'm so impressed with him," Meyer said Tuesday. "Because we all know a couple years ago there wasn't a whole lot of conversation about him. Just to see his family come to practice like they did on Saturday, wide-eyed, because he's doing right in the classroom and doing right everywhere."
Ohio State held its first team scrimmage of the spring a week ago, and Meyer left with the impression that both Dunn and Weber are "neck and neck" in the fight to start at tailback for Ohio State in 2016. Dunn wants to earn that right as much as anyone, but is aware of the other responsibilities that come with being a fifth-year senior and the elder statesmen in Alford's running back room.
“It's his last go-round. He's playing really hard and I've been impressed with that. He's really playing hard and trying to take some leadership in the room and own that. I've been very pleased with him as a senior in our unit room.”– Tony Alford on Bri'onte Dunn
"This year is going to be a big year for me. I just want to lead my team," Dunn said Thursday. "Mike Weber is doing real good, I want to lead him and the young guys on to be better for the future."
The oldest scholarship running back on roster—fellow 2012 commit Warren Ball is headed to Akron as a graduate transfer—young guns like Weber and early enrollee Antonio Williams look to Dunn for guidance while they all battle for carries.
There is competition between the trio this spring, but not animosity.
"We’re just like brothers," Dunn said. "Mike Weber, Antonio, myself, all the walk-ons, we push each other every day. If Mike needs help with film or Antonio needs help with film, they come to me because I’m the older guy and I know a lot. Right now it’s just fun and I’m enjoying it."
Meyer said earlier this spring he sees as many as four players getting carries this fall, adding in senior H-back Dontre Wilson and junior Curtis Samuel to the mix. The latter is out for spring as he rehabs from foot surgery, but is likely to stay at H-back like Wilson.
Alford isn't above using a by-committee approach at running back, knowing full well quarterback J.T. Barrett will be a feature of Ohio State's rushing attack in 2016. But it remains the running back coach's wish to have a lead guy at the position. The only question is, will it be Dunn, Weber or someone else?
"Mike is probably a little more of a slasher and slides off of things a little better," Alford said Thursday. "Bri'onte's more of a downhill, just a plugger. They both can do the jobs that we can do in the offense."
Alford, like Meyer, gets the impression from Dunn that the senior knows he is in the twilight of his career.
"It's his last go-round," Alford said. "He's playing really hard and I've been impressed with that. He's really playing hard and trying to take some leadership in the room and own that. I've been very pleased with him as a senior in our unit room."
Dunn knows full well that's the expectation his coaches demand from him. When he came to Ohio State, he didn't want to do the work necessary on special teams in order to earn carries. That led to a redshirt season, but he turned the page the last two years while he sat behind Elliott.
Now, he must provide leadership as one of only six scholarship seniors in the program. He also needs to produce when called upon, just like anyone else.
Doing so will lead to a wealth of different stories written about the former four-star recruit from Canton, Ohio, that was part of Meyer's first ever Ohio State recruiting class but now must be a vital part of replacing a star.
"Watching a player like Zeke, he was probably the best pass pro and blocker in the nation," Dunn said. "You see where he’s about to go first round, but looking at somebody like him I learned a lot. Filling his shoes is big, but I’m getting ready for that."
