By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland.com) —
Columbus- Ohio State running back Chris “Beanie” Wells leaves Ohio State as the Buckeyes’ fourth-leading rusher, with two of the 10 greatest single-game rushing efforts in OSU history. He’s a player, like receiver Ted Ginn Jr., who should be appreciated even more when he’s gone, when “the next Wells” doesn’t perform quite the way Beanie did.

But his announcement issued through Ohio State on Thursday that he’s giving up his final year of eligibility to declare for the NFL draft “in the best interest of his family,” which includes 10 brothers and sisters, clears the way for the next evolution of the Ohio State offense.

Coach Jim Tressel adapts his plan to his personnel, and as long as that personnel in cluded the best combination of power and speed of any back in the country, the Buckeyes had to maintain enough of the I-formation to take advantage of it.
Here’s what tight end Rory Nicol, the most logical and honest observer of the offense among the players, said before the Fiesta Bowl loss to Texas:

“I don’t think we’re the zone-stretch type of offense that at times we thought maybe we could be. With a guy like Chris, it’s better to keep it up the middle, in between the tackles, which is what he likes to do.”

While breaking in a freshman quarterback, that made sense. But next season, this will be quarterback Terrelle Pryor’s offense. And if he isn’t running a version of the spread where the zone read and the option are the primary run plays, then he isn’t being used correctly. The Buckeyes may never abandon the I-formation, but without Wells, they don’t have to feature it as much.

Dan Herron, who will be a sophomore next season, should be the primary back to begin the season. Incoming freshmen Jamaal Berry and Carlos Hyde should also join the mix. Herron, who gained 439 yards and scored six touchdowns this season, likes to run between the tackles, too. But he’s not Wells.

And there won’t be a doubt – Pryor will be the best runner on the field.

That’s not to say Wells won’t be missed, who was also a locker-room leader and the emotional spark of this team. Every running play leaves at least one defender that the running back has to account for himself, and no one could do as many things to that defender – stiff-arm him, break his tackle, run away from him, or hurdle him – as Wells could. If a linebacker or safety was the first man to touch him, they never brought him down, even though, throughout his injury-riddled career, we seldom saw Wells at his best.

At what he considered his best, he ran for 222 yards against Michigan in 2007, more than any OSU back in the history of the series.

Just before this season’s Michigan game, scouts and analysts saw Wells as a top-10 pick, the first back off the board. Given his nagging hamstring and foot issues, and the concussion that knocked him out of the Fiesta Bowl, he could slip a bit. Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno, who also declared for the draft, could be preferred by some teams. The NFL draft is April 25-26.

But Wells will be a first-round pick buy medicine online without prescription for sure. And whenever an OSU running back gets tackled by the first defender he reaches next season, Wells will be missed.

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