Ohio State gets commitment from running back prospect Dallan Hayden

Ohio State added a running back to its 2022 recruiting class on Tuesday when Dallan Hayden announced a verbal commitment to join the Buckeyes.

Hayden, a four-star from Memphis, Tennessee, revealed his decision in a two-minute video released on Twitter.

In the clip, he highlighted his football bloodlines as his father, Aaron, was a running back at Tennessee before playing in the NFL for four seasons, and his older brother, Chase, is a running back at Illinois after transferring from East Carolina this offseason.

Their success raised expectations for him as a budding prospect at Christian Brothers High School.

“I never ran away from my last name,” he said in his commitment video. “It’s only made me run harder.”

Hayden made his decision after he visited Ohio State this past weekend. The other finalists included Illinois, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Utah.

Since the expiration of the NCAA’s recruiting dead period at the start of this month, he had also taken trips to Illinois and Notre Dame.  

The composite rankings from 247Sports list Hayden as the 24th-best running back in his class, and he has been a productive runner in his high school career.

In nine games for the Purple Wave as a junior last fall, he rushed for 2,010 yards and 24 touchdowns with an average of 8.7 yards per carry.

Depth in the backfield is not a pressing issue for the Buckeyes, who have six running backs on scholarship, including TreVeyon Henderson and Evan Pryor who were top prospects to sign last December.

But it’s common for Ohio State to add at least one running back in each recruiting class. The last class without a running back signee was 2011.

With 14 commits in the fold, the Buckeyes continue to hold the nation's top-ranked recruiting class for 2022.

jkaufman@dispatch.com

@joeyrkaufman