OZone
4/19
Football
Backfield Talent Bountiful for Buckeyes
By John Porentas
When fall camp opens for the football Buckeyes next August Antonio Pittman will be at the top of the depth chart. (see the-Ozone related story). His problem will be, however, that there isn't much distance between the top of the depth chart and the bottom.
The Buckeyes will be blessed with much-needed depth and talent in the offensive backfield in 2006, the best collection of talent there in quite some time.
"I expect the running game to be the best it has been since 2002," said OSU fullback Stan White Jr.
"Just watching the guys we have, we have depth that we haven't had here in a while."
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Maurice Wells [/FONT] </caption> <tbody><tr> <td>
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The Buckeyes will have talent at tailback, but they will also have some experience as well. Maurice Wells saw playing time last season as a freshman and is poised to have a breakout season in his sophomore year, much the same way that Pittman did last year.
"Just to see Mo Wells and how he has developed since last year this spring, I really see an improvement. I'm really excited to see his development," said White.
"Mo Wells is very comfortable with what he has been asked to do," said OSU running backs coach Dick Tressel.
"He's super on all the aspects of catching it, running it and blocking, and he's able to go fast because he knows what to do, and he's an elusive guy.
"He will make you miss. When we have a spread out formation to take advantage of Troy Smith, we're setting it up for Mo Wells also.
"He's got a start now, he's got a burst. You give him a draw or delay kind of handoff or get him outside with a swing pass, he's very impressive. He does a great job for us."
With Pittman nursing a hamstring this spring, Wells has gotten more reps than he would have had he been sharing them with Pittman, and that has been a good thing for the speedster from Florida as well as all the other running backs competing for playing time.
"With Antonio not in the lineup the other guys have been getting a lot of reps and have been doing a lot of growing," said Tressel.
"Right now I'm getting the majority of the time with the ones," confirmed Wells.
"Chris (Wells) gets some of the time with the ones, but for the majority I get them."
Maurice Wells' development between his freshman and sophomore seasons has closely paralleled that of Pittman between those same seasons.
"I'm reading defenses now, I know how the offensive line is blocking certain plays and certain schemes," said Wells.
"I'm learning what plays I like to run. Before I just said give me the ball and I'll run whatever, but now I'm seeing that there are certain plays that I'm more comfortable with."
Wells said his playing time last season, though limited, has helped him immensely this spring.
"It's a lot different having that year. My carries, my footwork, my understanding of the offense is a whole lot deeper now, so I think I'll be able to help the offense a whole lot more."
His teammate, Stan White, says there is a noticeable difference in Wells this spring, that he has made the leap from outstanding high school tailback to competent college tailback.
"I think as a high school running back when you have that much ability if you don't see anything in the middle you just want to bounce outside," said White.
"I think sometimes his default mode if he don't see anything was to bounce outside, but now he's seeing the holes and he realizes that even though he's a small, quick back he can get four or five yards by lowering his shoulders and get four or five yards up the middle, and he realizes that he can cut back and make those big plays over the middle and doesn't always have to bounce it outside."
Wells agreed.
"In high school you can bounce it outside because you have the speed to get around the corner, but in the Big Ten and in college a lot of the linebackers and defensive ends are real fast and you can't do that," said Wells.
"Between the tackles is where a lot of yardage is at, where a lot of our plays are designed to go."
Wells has learned that lesson, and is a better back this spring for it much like Pittman between his first two Buckeye seasons.
According to his coach, one of the thing that has separated Wells from the other competitors for playing time behind Pittman is his willingness and ability to do the things a tailback has to do when he's not carrying the football.
"He's not 6-3, 230, but if we go back and clip all the passing protection together, Mo Wells would be, if not 100 per cent, 98 per cent. He can play," said Tressel.
Like Pittman, Wells says that the knowledge he has gained about the college game has helped him be a better back.
"If you know how certain guys are going to block certain plays and how defenses are going to react to it, then you know what cuts to make beforehand and you can have them in mind and set already. It looks like you got better, but really you got better knowledge of the offense," Wells said.
Joining Wells at tailback are incoming freshman Chris "Beanie" Wells and Eric Haw. According to Tressel, each of those players will have a role next fall, but each have things to work on. For Wells, he simply has to become more familiar with the offense so he can make those cuts based on knowledge as Maurice Wells has learned to do.
"I'm very satisfied that Beanie has done the things that he needs to do and he's where he should be," said Tressel.
"He's definitely not behind, but he's not beyond expectations, but we had high expectations for him, but he has learned a lot.
"I think if you were to ask him he would tell you that he is surprised by how much there is to know, but that's to be expected. There is no shortcut to learning the position. You have to go out there and take the reps before you can really understand, no matter how much you try to just study. It's a process he has to go through, but he'll be fine."
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Eric Haw [/FONT] </caption> <tbody><tr> <td>
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For Haw, the challenge is to be more consistent when he is not carrying the ball, like in blocking situations or pass receiving situations.
"His forte in his mind and in his heart is carrying the leather," said Tressel.
"That's where running backs all start, and then they have to grow from there to be a great pass blocker and a get-one-more-yard guy as well as a get-a-touchdown guy. There's all those kind of things that make a coaching staff and a team really confident that he can help you win the game," Tressel said.
There isn't just an abundance of talent at tailback. There is also an abundance of styles. Each of the backs brings his own style to the field, and the OSU offensive brain trust is hoping that will bring headaches for opposing defenses.
"We're certainly excited about this talent," said Tressel.
"We have guys that are all shapes, sizes and skills. That makes you smile. It puts us in the situation that whatever the team needs at that position we can do it a couple of different ways. We can bring them in waves, and our hope is that they'll be healthy and do the things that they can do," Tressel said.
In Chris Wells and Haw, the Buckeyes have fast, big backs. In Pittman they have a slasher, and in Maurice Wells a darter.
"To be honest, I don't think we're at all alike," said Pittman of the running styles in the OSU backfield.
"We all have our own style of running, and its so different. I'm not the biggest back but I like to run inside. Eric is a bigger back but he'll take it outside and show his speed. Mo is like a little Warrick Dunn, and Beanie is a straight-ahead runner. He reminds me of Corey Dillon," Pittman said.
Tressel said the variety of talent gives OSU options galore.
"There are a lot of roles," he said, including an obvious one for Chris Wells.
"Certainly at 6-2, 238, you think right away about short yardage, but he can catch it," said Tressel.
Tressel says the combinations are endless.
"I can see Pitt and Mo, I can see Mo and Beanie, I can see Eric Haw and Stan White and Dionte Johnson, all of them in there at the same time as far as I'm concerned," he said.
The one thing for certain is that more-than one back will get playing time this season.
"There's no question that in a couple of games (last season) Pitt was tired," said Tressel.
"That's never best, to be tired, and now we can keep him out of that situation. We're going to get everything out of Antonio Pittman. We're going to have him fresh going full speed and we're going to have the other guys going full speed doing what they do best," Tressel said.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Stan White [/FONT] </caption> <tbody><tr> <td>
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White agreed, and added that the depth at tailback will a real plus for the entire OSU offense.
"On second or third down if we need to get a blow for a buy the next guy can come in and do the same thing. I think we're going to have different styles of backs. We're going to have speed backs, we're going to have powerful backs, I think we're going to take some pressure off Troy and let the wide receivers do great things when they have guys down in the box trying to stop the run."
The story doesn't end with tailbacks. White is back at fullback, as is Dionte Johnson. With the new emphasis on the running game, White and Johnson will be on the field more in 2006 than they were in 2005 when the Buckeyes were in four and five receiver alignments.
"Compared to last year we're doing a lot more regular (three or less receivers)," said White.
"Dionte and myself, we have some experience at the position. We want to be a part of what the offense is doing."
"We have a lot of talent in the backfield this year," added Johnson.
"This year with the addition of Chris I think our coaching staff is very confident in the running game."
