Ohio State is temporarily down a freshman who generated buzz upon his arrival to campus earlier this year.
After Legend Bey was absent from the first day of preseason camp, Ryan Day announced that the freshman running back was suspended for a violation of team rules and will miss “the first couple of days” of practice.
“He’s learning, but he’ll be back on the field soon,” Day said.
Bey, who initially signed with Tennessee in December due to coercion from family members but signed with Ohio State after being released from his scholarship agreement with Tennessee three weeks later, generated buzz quickly after arriving on campus in January, with Ryan Day comparing him to a longtime playmaker in the NFL.
“Legend Bey is a guy who is dynamite,” Ryan Day said on the Ryan Day Show in January. “I kinda call him maybe the poor man's Tyreek Hill. I mean, he can go. And when you watch him last year play quarterback in Texas – five-touchdown games, six-touchdown games, just running around, making guys miss – he's lightning in a bottle. So he can do a bunch of different things for us.”
That buzz continued into the start of spring, but he missed the end of spring practices and didn't play in the spring game due to a hamstring injury. Now, he’s started preseason camp on the sidelines, giving him ground to make up to climb the depth chart in a running back room led by Bo Jackson, Isaiah West and Ja’Kobi Jackson.
While Jackson is Ohio State’s returning starter, West took many of the first-team reps on Thursday and drew praise from Day, who said West had a “tremendous offseason” and is the healthiest he's been following a torn ACL in high school.
“We want him to take the next step,” Day said.
Bey’s suspension to start camp is a setback he’ll have to quickly overcome to play a significant role in Ohio State’s offense this year, but he remains a player to watch once he returns to action because of his potential to be a dynamic playmaker for the Buckeyes right away.
“His ability to make people miss, the short-area burst, it looks like art when he's out there running,” running backs coach Carlos Locklyn said in the spring.
