If you want to be an Ohio State running back, you’ve gotta go fast.
That’s the plan for the Buckeyes’ top tandem in 2025, anyway. James Peoples believes he and CJ Donaldson will play in the mold of two video game characters known for doing exactly that.
“I think it's going to be Sonic and Knuckles,” Peoples said. “We both run hard. He's, what, 6-2, 230? I'm excited to see what he's going to bring and how we're going to be able to feed off each other.”
As two 1,000-yard rushers walk out the door as second-round NFL draft picks in TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, the goal for Peoples and Donaldson is to take up their reins and set the tone for Ohio State’s running back room in 2025.
“Just pushing each other,” Peoples said. “Everybody knows fall camp ain’t easy, especially at Ohio State. And you've got to feed off each other. You've got to push each other every day. We're pushing each other and just setting the standard for the running back room.”
To keep the video game allegory going, both Peoples and Donaldson have leveled up since last season. That’s the exact wording Peoples used, in fact.
“I'm totally different,” Peoples said. “Through training and the guys I sat behind, just learning from them, and what I've seen. I've gotten faster, stronger, quicker. Everything has just taken another level up.”
The jump for a player like Peoples from his freshman to sophomore year is often ready-made and apparent, not to downplay all the work that he’s putting in. Donaldson, a senior, is coming off back-to-back seasons that looked very similar as a starter at West Virginia. He rushed for between 700 and 800 yards and averaged between 4.5 and 4.7 yards per carry in both 2023 and 2024. He scored 11 touchdowns in both seasons.
Donaldson’s first goal to grow this offseason was to shed some weight. He’s dropped more than 10 pounds from his listed 238 with the Mountaineers in 2024 and doesn’t feel as though he’s lost any of his power.
“It definitely helps a lot,” Donaldson said. “I can accelerate a lot faster right now. I think I weighed in today at like 227. It feels great not having all that body fat on me. It allows me to play more downs and be more explosive.”
Donaldson only “officially” became a Buckeye in the team’s tradition on Wednesday when he shed his black stripe. He called the moment “very special,” and like everything in the position room of the intense Carlos Locklyn, it’s something he only earned after a lot of work.
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) August 6, 2025
Lock Boyz adding a baller in the backfield, welcome @Sp3Cj pic.twitter.com/bthYluy3v5
One of the things that first stood out to Locklyn when approaching Donaldson in the portal was that the youngster wanted to be coached hard. It’s one of the main factors that attracted him to Ohio State, alongside the camaraderie he saw in the Buckeyes’ locker room.
“When I transferred, it was during a rough time,” Donaldson said. “It wasn't as how people seem. It wasn't like that. I came here mostly because of the familyhood and the type of coach I knew I was going to get. The first thing Coach Lock told me was, everything I'm going to get here, I'm going to have to earn it. So that was like one of the main factors. He told me he was going to challenge me. He's going to bring a different personality and a different animal out of me, which I'm like, I need that challenge. It's important to be challenged.”
Donaldson bought into Peoples’ description of their partnership.
“We’re gonna run hard, we’re gonna definitely be physical and we’re gonna run fast,” Donaldson said. “That's just our motto. We’re gonna run hard, be fast and be physical.”
And when Peoples said he’s Sonic, Donaldson agreed.
“I’m definitely Knuckles. I gotta do the dirty work,” Donaldson said with a laugh. “I’m cool, I’m definitely cool with doing the dirty work. I like to see James as Sonic, he's more of the personality guy and I'm cool with being the bad cop.”
Peoples and Donaldson are replacing one of the best backfield pairings in Ohio State history, as TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins each rushed for 1,000 yards in 2024 before each getting selected in the second round of the 2025 NFL draft. Then again, Locklyn isn’t making any guarantees about who will and won’t get playing time. And he doesn’t want any of his players comparing themselves to Henderson or Judkins.
“They’ve got to fill their own shoes,” Locklyn said. “Those things will settle themselves. We’re competing out there every day. If you think you have arrived in that room, you're going to get your feelings hurt. Because I'm going to make sure I hurt them. You got to come to work every day. If you don't humble yourself, I will.”
Locklyn added that, if all six of Ohio State’s running backs earn the right to play, they will play.
The Sonic and Knuckles nickname is already occupied by Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery of the NFL’s Detroit Lions, but if Peoples and Donaldson click atop the depth chart, Ohio State’s running back room will be going fast in 2025.
“The one thing he really stresses is that we play as one in the running back room,” Peoples said. “So you’ve got to put yourself aside. You got to trust he's a great coach. He's done this for a long time. He's been in rooms with two great running backs, or even great running back rooms in total. And those guys, I've got to learn to play as one and take what Coach Lock is telling me.”
