Whether they have been committed for a couple years or a couple months, the entire recruiting process will officially come to an end for those in Ohio State’s 2021 class who are putting pen to paper during the early signing period that runs from December 16-18.
We got the opportunity to speak with several of those future Buckeyes, and over the next two weeks we will be previewing those players’ journeys as they fax their national letters of intent to Mark Pantoni and Co. and officially join the program.
- Jack Sawyer: “I'm more explosive and faster than I've ever been in my life.”
Henderson shakes off Zeke comparisons, preps to make impact as freshman
TreVeyon Henderson has heard the expectations. He’s seen the analysis and the Twitter talk.
Ever since becoming Ohio State’s third-highest ranked running back commit – trailing Beanie Wells (2009) and Sam Maldonado (2000) – the weight has been thrown on Henderson’s shoulders by many that he could become the Buckeyes’ best running back since All-American Ezekiel Elliott ran 85 yards through the heart of the south.
He’s been hailed as a generational running back and the best, most complete running back prospect to come along in many years. But Henderson – who on Wednesday moved back into the No. 1 running back slot in the 2021 composite rankings – is doing his best to duck those labels and duck the comparisons to one of the best running backs Columbus has seen.
“I see things like that,” Henderson told Eleven Warriors of the expectations of being the next Elliott, who was his favorite Ohio State player to watch growing up. “Those are just peoples’ opinions, and I don’t really let those things get ahead of me and get too big-headed from what they say. I think I handle it well. I’m pretty humble so I don’t really let those things get to me.”
The Henderson File
- Class: 2021
- Size: 5-foot-11/195 lbs
- Pos: RB
- School: Hopewell (Hopewell, Virginia)
- Composite Rating: ★★★★★
- Composite Rank: 24
There’s been a ton of talk. But soon enough, when Elliott – oops, I mean, Henderson – signs on the dotted line next Wednesday, officially joining the program, the real work begins as he moves toward his early enrollment.
All those conversations will be thrown out the window, and Henderson has been prepping for that over the past several months – a time period in which he’s been out of live football with Virginia having pushed high school football back to the spring – by working out in gyms and on fields and taking care of his body, which we’ve covered extensively.
He’s also putting in time in the film room by getting a gauge of players like Alvin Kamara, Dalvin Cook and players from years past such as as Chris Johnson, Walter Payton and the greatest running back of all-time (in at least one writer’s mind), Barry Sanders.
“I don’t really try to model my game after nobody,” Henderson said. “I just try to be the best I can be and show people how versatile I am and how I’m a threat all over the field. But I watch a lot of film of college running backs and NFL running backs, and a lot of running backs who played back in the days. I just take notes. Just gotta take notes on what they do.”
Probably the No. 1 player he watches game film of, though, is the running back who Ohio State’s coaches see him eventually molding himself into over his three- or four-year career in Columbus: J.K. Dobbins.
“(Ryan Day’s) vision, the main thing is that he wants me to be an every-down back like the role J.K. Dobbins played,” Henderson said. “They believe I can come in and play the same role that he played, and I believe I can too.
“Running through tackles, running aggressive, I have that speed where I can break away long runs and things like that. I can catch out of the backfield, I can move out to receiver out of the backfield. … They see me doing pretty much everything.”
That includes being used as a slot receiver or even on the outside. And when he teams up with fellow blue-chip running back commit Evan Pryor, there are some dangerous possibilities there – even if history tells us that there’s absolutely no way Ohio State uses two running backs on the field at the same time.
“I watched Evan’s highlights, and he’s a pretty good player. He’s fast, and he can make a man miss. He’s a big threat coming out of the backfield,” Henderson said. “They haven’t really talked to us about (using two backs on the field at the same time). If they do something like that, that’ll be great, and it’ll be hard for teams to stop a formation like that with both of us in the backfield.”
#Crafting pic.twitter.com/1qxfwZh12c
— TreVeyon Henderson (@TreVeyonH4) December 8, 2020
When he arrives on campus in January, Henderson says that his focus will be on school, workouts, getting the playbook down as quickly as he can and “coming in to compete, work hard and show them what I came here to do.”
And what did he come here to do? Well, Henderson has what we can only expect are massive goals for his freshman season. But he’s not wanting to put those out there for public consumption right now. Just wants to go in there and work hard.
But does he believe he has the talent to start next fall as a true freshman as the Buckeyes hunt for a national championship?
“Oh, yeah. I do,” Henderson said. “I really do.”
Johnson to visit this weekend
As first reported by 247Sports’ Bill Kurelic on Wednesday, five-star Detroit cornerback Will Johnson is set to visit Ohio State on Saturday afternoon.
Johnson's father, Deon Johnson, confirmed with Eleven Warriors that they will be coming down that day for a one-day trip with plans to check out campus and the facilities (from the outside, of course) and possibly take a trip down High Street before they head out of town.
Johnson, the No. 8 overall player and No. 4 cornerback in the 2022 class, has the Buckeyes in a final five that features Arizona State, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USC.
Johnson’s most recent visit came when he and fellow five-star cornerback and high-priority Ohio State target Domani Jackson made a trip to Ann Arbor for Michigan’s game against Wisconsin in November.
Johnson and Jackson have talked about wanting to make another visit together, but that will not happen this weekend. Jackson’s father told Eleven Warriors that they are not going to be visiting Ohio State this weekend.
