40 best Ohio State football players this century, ranked

Running back Ezekiel Elliott #15 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrates after defeating the Oregon Ducks 42 to 20 in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at AT&T Stadium on January 12, 2015 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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Chris Wells #28 of the Ohio State Buckeyes (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Best Ohio State football players this century 28. Chris Wells – Running Back 2006-08

Ohio State has a long history of great running backs. From Archie Griffin to Ezekiel Elliott, some of the greatest runners in history have gone to Columbus for their collegiate performances. Somewhere in between, Chris Wells was tearing up the Big Ten. He made an impact from his freshman season when he was sharing carries with Antonio Pittman. One of the biggest plays of the Buckeyes’ season was when Wells broke a 52-yard touchdown against the Wolverines.

Wells, who would eventually be better known as “Beanie” Wells, was always an incredibly efficient runner at Ohio State. He always averaged more than 5.5 yards per carry during his Ohio State tenure. His sophomore year is when he started to look like he was something special. He finished the season with north of 1,600 yards on just 274 carries.

Wells had 222 yards in the 2007 Michigan game. He always seemed to get up for The Big Game. He also got to play in back-to-back national championship games in the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

His injury in his senior season really put the Buckeyes behind the eight-ball. He injured his foot in the team’s first game against Youngstown State. He ended up missing the big matchup with USC, and Ohio State ended up losing that game 35-3 without him. Not saying they win that game with him, but they wouldn’t have lost by more than four touchdowns, that’s for sure. Wells was the glue to hold together two different eras, and Ohio State knew he was very reliable every time he carried the ball.

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