Ryan Day Pours Cold Water on Legend Bey’s Progress at Ohio State

It’s still tremendously early.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have only had three weeks of spring practice as they’ve started preparations for the 2026 college football season.

While Buckeyes freshman wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. has been as advertised, fellow incoming freshman Legend Bey might be a little bit further behind as he deals with an undisclosed injury.

According to Ohio State head coach Ryan Day on Tuesday, Bey has been in and out of practice with the Buckeyes. Day hopes he’ll be back on the field soon, and said that he has “certainly flashed” before his injury.

Bey flipped his recruitment from Tennessee to Ohio State as a four-star recruit from Texas. A versatile athlete on the high school football field, Bey has skills to play running back or wide receiver.

The Buckeyes decided to start his college football journey with the running backs in Columbus.

Day said Ohio State still has “a long way to go” at running back with Bo Jackson and Isaiah West out this spring.

Jackson and West are both nursing shoulder injuries. That opened the door for Bey to make an immediate impact in a split backfield this spring. Now dealing with an injury of his own, the Buckeyes find themselves extremely thin at running back early this preseason.

In March, Day raved about Bey’s raw athletic abilities. He compared him to Curtis Samuel, who is an Ohio State legend currently enjoying a comfortable NFL career.

“…He’s dynamic when the ball is in his hands,” Day told media members before spring practices got rolling. “We see him as somebody that could play running back and also move out to wide receiver.”

Without Bey, Jackson and West, the Buckeyes will continue to churn depth at running back. Florida transfer Ja’Kobi Jackson has picked up reps, as well as redshirt freshman Turbo Rogers and true freshman Favour Akih.

The Buckeyes fought a tough battle to land Bey in Columbus. They believed in the former high school quarterback’s raw athleticism and wanted him because of what his future could hold.

The good news is that it’s still tremendously early in Ohio State’s offseason. Even though these spring practices are valuable teaching moments for young players, Bey will still have some opportunities once he regains health.

Ohio State’s coaching staff will likely be eager for him to return to the running back room so they can continue to sort out his long-term projection in Columbus – whether that be out of the backfield or split out wide as a receiver.