Ohio St. RB Henderson, DT Tuimoloau returning

Last updated: 2024/01/13 at 2:11 AM

BigP Published January 13, 2024

Adam Rittenberg
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Adam Rittenberg

ESPN Senior Writer
- College football reporter.
- Joined ESPN.com in 2008.
- Graduate of Northwestern University.
Blake Baumgartner

Jan 12, 2024, 02:56 PM ET

Ohio State got a boost Friday as starting running back TreVeyon Henderson and defensive end JT Tuimoloau announced they both plan to return for the 2024 season.

Henderson is a consensus top-four, draft-eligible running back according to ESPN analysts while Tuimoloau is Mel Kiper Jr.’s second-best defensive end in the 2024 draft.

“If it wasn’t for God, I wouldn’t be making this decision to come back for my senior year,” Henderson wrote in a social media post. “But God led me back for a great purpose, to do something much bigger than me.”

“With heartfelt gratitude to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a sense of unfinished business and an unbreakable bond with my Buckeye brothers, I am standing firm in my decision to return,” Tuimoloau wrote in his own social media post.

After struggling with injuries throughout the 2022 season, Henderson stormed back this past fall with 926 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, while adding 229 receiving yards on 11 receptions. Henderson has 2,745 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns in his three-season career with Ohio State.

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Tuimoloau played in all 13 games last season for the Buckeyes, recording 38 tackles (12 solo) with seven tackles for loss and five sacks. He was second on defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ unit with the seven TFLs and five sacks.

After beginning last season 11-0, the back-to-back losses to Michigan and Missouri provide built-in motivation for a group still seething over a third straight defeat at the hands of the rival Wolverines, who won the CFP national championship Monday with a 34-13 victory over Washington.

Tuimoloau is the third member of the Buckeyes’ defensive line to decide to run it back for another year, after Tyleik Williams and Jack Sawyer previously disclosed their intentions to come back.

Henderson rejoins a running back group that recently added Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins, an All-SEC standout who has 2,725 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns in his first two college seasons.