Ohio State dismisses potential starting RB Bri’onte Dunn
Ohio State has dismissed senior running back Bri’onte Dunn.
The Ohio State Buckeyes face a big question at the running back position after Ezekiel Elliott left Columbus one year early and was the No. 4 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Now, that question will be even harder to solve with the dismissal of senior back Bri’onte Dunn for a violation of team rules, head coach Urban Meyer said in a statement Monday evening.
He had 91 yards on 14 carries last year and 287 career rushing yards.
Dunn was a former four-star recruit out of Canton, Ohio had been relegated to a reserve role and special teams duties for his career with the Buckeyes. He was competing with redshirt freshman Mike Weber for the starting job but now that job falls on the freshman’s shoulders to replace arguably the greatest running back in Ohio State history.
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It is unclear what the team rule was that Dunn broke, but it takes a lot for Meyer to dismiss a player, especially a senior at a key position.
Moving forward, this is an opportunity for Weber to develop quickly and this should serve as a motivating factor for him to seize the role and hold onto it for the next three years.
With quarterback J.T. Barrett the unquestioned starter heading into the season, the dual-threat quarterback should be able to rush for 1,000 yards this season and lighten the load for the presumptive first-year starter. But the loss of Dunn is still a blow to the Buckeyes who are breaking in a number of new starters on both sides of the ball.
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Don’t worry too much about Meyer and Ohio State because they’ve recruited as well as anyone not named Alabama since he’s taken over the program and should have a number of underclassmen ready to make an impression.