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RB Master Teague (3rd Team All B1G)

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Ohio State: Master Teague ready to work in Buckeyes backfield

Expectations? Yeah, Master Teague is here for all of them.

In fact, like many of Ohio State’s elite freshmen, Teague welcomes the championship heritage that permeates the Horseshoe.

“It does definitely motivate, you’ve got a lot to live up to here and lots of expectations,” said Teague, a former four-star prospect out of Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Blackman High School. “The seniors and older guys, they do what they do. And this is a great example for the younger guys that they set for us.

“In the future, we aspire to be like that.”

Teague’s aspirations match those of his coaches, with head-coach-in-waiting Ryan Day saying of Teague this fall that he had “shown flashes of brilliance … with a really bright future.”

Teague is spending preparations for the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl trying to learn as much as possible from both J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber, who’s likely moving on and generating some NFL Draft buzz.

“I mean it’s really special. You can really look up to these older guys and see how you’re supposed to come prepare every day, throughout week-to-week,” Teague said after Big Ten Championship. “It’s an honor; glory to God. We’ve been through a lot this year.

“I’ve learned a lot, you know, just how you’re supposed to carry yourself through day-to-day, being a Buckeye and you really can learn a lot from them. Hopefully I’ll keep on learning as I transition. Just appreciate those guys very much.”

After appearing in six of 13 games this season for Ohio State and scoring his first career collegiate touchdown, the 5-foot-11, 215-pound Teague is focusing on maximizing the next few weeks as a springboard into 2019.

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Ohio State running back Master Teague will make a serious push for the Buckeyes No. 2 tailback spot in 2019. (Birm/Lettermen Row)

“Every practice is valuable, a chance to get better and improve yourself and also help your teammates get better,” he said. “I just keep on improving in every aspect of being a teammate, running back and anything I can do to help the team.”

Though more experience is a likely goal for just about every freshman, Teague knows well that this season’s trials and tribulations for the Buckeyes is a strong foundation for his future in the program.

“Coach is always saying, we’ve been through so much as far as off-the-field things and just the game situations where, you know, anything that comes at us now, we know how to handle it,” Teague said. “We’ve been trained for that. We’re confident and we just rely on each other, we’re family and trust is a big thing.”

Now, Teague is trusting in the championship heritage at Ohio State continuing into the future.

https://lettermenrow.com/ohio-state...buckeyes-football-master-teague-running-back/
 
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Football: Master Teague shows flashes in Ohio State Spring Game

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For the past two seasons, Ohio State had a recipe for success in the run game.

Two potential NFL running backs in J.K Dobbins and Mike Weber largely split carries, switching on and off each possession to the tune of 4,036 combined yards.

With Weber heading to the NFL, redshirt freshman running back Master Teague has the opportunity to make a significant impact making plays out out of the backfield as Dobbins’ backup.

Teague seized that opportunity at Saturday’s Spring Game, rushing for a game-high 75 yards on seven carries, including two trips to the endzone.

With a compact 5-foot-11 220 pound frame, Teague’s physical running style has won him favor with the Buckeye front line.

“Master looks great,” sophomore offensive lineman Josh Myers said. “He runs the ball really, really hard and, as an offensive lineman, I love that. I think our run game is gonna be really good.”

That running game will still be led by Dobbins, who rushed for 1,053 yards and 10 touchdowns a season ago and 1,403 yards on 7.2 per carry in 2017.

Without Weber, Dobbins figures to receive the lionshare of handoffs this season, but Weber’s production won’t be easy for one man to make up.

Nearly missing the entire 2017 season with a hamstring tear, Weber still wound up with a team-leading 10 rushing touchdowns on just 101 carries. Last year, Weber almost equalled Dobbins’ rushing yardage on 58 less attempts.

Now Teague, the Murfreesboro, Tennessee native, seems the best candidate to inherit a portion of those touches.

The former four-star recruit played in three games this past season, rushing at a 6.2 yard-per-carry average on his 17 attempts and punching in his first touchdown in Ohio State’s 77-31 demolition of Oregon State on Sept. 1.

His limited playing time behind Dobbins and Weber allowed Teague to redshirt his first year, granting him freshman eligibility for this season and the potential chance to take over the reins as the premier Ohio State tailback if Dobbins decides to go pro after his junior year.

Senior wide receiver C.J. Saunders said, for Teague, supporting teammates is just as important as getting first team reps.

“What I know about Master is that he’s a kid that works hard every single day, a phenomenal teammate,” Saunders said. “He’s always gonna be there to pick you up.”

Entire article: https://www.thelantern.com/2019/04/football-master-teague-shows-flashes-in-ohio-state-spring-game/
 
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MASTER TEAGUE ANGLING FOR BACKUP RUNNING BACK JOB AFTER PLAYING SPARINGLY AS FRESHMAN
Colin Hass-Hill on July 11, 2019 at 1:05 pm @chasshill
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J.K. Dobbins only cracked 20 carries in three games during Ohio State’s 2018 season, and his career-high 37-carry game only happened because of an injury to Mike Weber.

Otherwise, Dobbins and Weber went back-and-forth, often swapping every other series. Neither running back ever publicly complained about the situation, but after Dobbins racked up 37 carries in his team’s win against Maryland, he admitted that allowed him to get into a groove. With Weber now on the Dallas Cowboys, Dobbins won’t have to worry about an equal split with anybody.

“He's the back now,” Ryan Day said this spring.

Neither Day nor running backs Tony Alford have attempted to diminish expectations or cloud how they plan to use J.K. Dobbins, and Dobbins himself understands the deal. He needs to become the bell cow in the backfield alongside Justin Fields, even after a down season in which his yards per carry dropped from 7.2 as a freshman to 4.6 as a sophomore.

Regarding Dobbins’ role, there’s no debate. The departure of Weber eliminated the need to view him as a co-starter with any other player.

Still, though, Ohio State needs a backup running back to allow Dobbins to remain both fresh and healthy. That’s where Master Teague enters the equation.

As a freshman, Teague barely played. He had just 17 rushes for 106 yards and a touchdown, with all of his production coming in the first month of the season. In blowouts against Oregon State, Rutgers and Tulane, he played 30 combined offensive snaps. The rest of the season, he never lined up in the backfield again, only coming off the bench to play special teams versus Minnesota.

“I've developed a lot,” Teague said this spring. “Beginning of last season, I wasn't too happy with my performance. But you know, as time went on, I grew it, grew into the position, bettered my craft and improved a lot. This year, I feel a lot more comfortable on the field.”

With Dobbins and Weber complementing each other as co-starting running backs throughout the 2018 season, Ohio State had no need to force Teague on the field. It could have the starters split carries.

Also, though, Alford didn’t necessarily want to insert Teague into games. He didn’t think the 5-foot-11, 220-pound back was ready yet.

“His growth has been tremendous as well,” Alford said this spring. “His maturity levels of how he plays, he not kind of just sitting on the side taking as it comes. He's much more aggressive. There's some tenacity and toughness that comes along with that that he has shown this spring that, quite frankly, it took him a little bit of time to grow into that. And that's not a bad thing. Some guys go at a different rate.

“J.K. was at a faster rate of speed, as far as his ability to bite and attack things. He was a little faster. That's not a negative toward Master or anybody else. It's just growth maturations are different for guys and the timing that they do it.”

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After a year of developing from the sidelines, Teague could receive his first significant playing time this fall.

This spring, he competed with Demario McCall and Marcus Crowley to back up Dobbins, concluding the 15 practices with a seven-rush, 75-yard, two-touchdown performance in the spring game.

“Master looks great,” Josh Myers said after the spring game. “He runs the ball really, really hard and as an offensive lineman, I love that. I think our run game is going to be really good.”

Teague said he feels different now that as a freshman because instead of only knowing his duties as a running back, he now has begun to understand the assignments of the offensive linemen, too. He also has gained a bit of weight.

“Master Teague's a totally different guy now than what he was midseason or even toward the end of the season,” Alford said. “He know it because we've told him that. Like you watch him today, he's putting his face on people, he's running harder, he's much more aggressive. He knows exactly what's going on.”

Nobody currently behind Dobbins on the depth chart has much, if any, experience, aligning Teague’s second year in college with a wide-open opportunity to become the backup.

Unlike McCall, a much smaller option in the backfield with plenty of speed, Teague has a much more typical build of a college running back. And even though he rarely saw the field as a freshman, he already has a year of experience in the program, giving him a natural advantage over Crowley and Steele Chambers.

Teague, who was the No. 228 overall prospect and 11th-rated running back in the 2018 class, sees himself as a downhill runner in the fashion of many recent successful Ohio State backs.

“Bruiser. Fast,” Teague said. “One cut, go. I'm not going to be doing all that – I just try to get north and south as fast as I can.”

After a year of college development without playing much preceded by a senior season at Tennessee’s Blackman High School that was cut short due to an ankle injury, Teague feels plenty of eagerness to get the ball back in his hands.

Provided he hangs onto the backup spot, that’ll happen this fall.

“I started to feel really comfortable right at the end of the season, right at the start of spring and throughout offseason just learning and going in the film room, talking to coach,” Teague said. “Really just allowing everything to sink in and really just being more comfortable. Being more confident in myself. Since I've already experienced that first year, it's hard to explain, but you just feel a lot better after that first year.”

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...rlBZxRQ9mxQFAMj6je5CzlwQ3ycCN5mLlnE4u3EoKaxWE
 
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I'm excited to see what develops between Master and the remaining 210lb+ backs.

I've liked what I've seen from Master in limited action, but I also recognize this isn't Urban Meyer's offense. If he were stepping in for Hyde you could guarantee success for him. This isn't a knock on Ryan, because there are "gives and takes" but where Hyde had a season where he was never stopped for a negative run, that's not likely to happen under Day.

We will be a little less downhill going forward, IMO, and that means the RB's will face more pressure than we've seen in the past. I think last years run game reflected that (again the passing game reflects the upside of less inside power run...there are give and takes).

I expect Teague has a bigger role than many assume today. I think his physicality will be a nice change-up to Dobbins.

All this to say, I'm mostly just excited about the unknown......I feel like there's a huge question mark over this team. Everyone recognizes the talent, but nobody knows how it will exactly come together. It's what makes college football so special. Of all years, this is the one where I can't put my finger on our win total. We could win the national title or we could win 9 games and play in a secondary bowl. I just don't know.....

I do feel like if Teague's stats are on the plus side (of expectations), it means this team is closer to the CFP.
 
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