Favour Akih

Physical Profile

Listed at 6-0, 190 at commitment and 5-11, 197 on 247Sports entering college, Akih has a compact, dense build with room to carry 205-210 without losing burst. The standout trait is verified track speed: 10.90 in the 100m and 22.03 in the 200m in spring 2025, which is legitimate breakaway speed for a back with his contact balance. He runs with a long stride for his height, which shows up as a fast second gear once he clears the second level rather than sudden short-area twitch. The two-way background at middle linebacker explains the finishing physicality and the willingness to lower a shoulder. The soccer roots show in foot quickness and body control on one-cut redirects. Physically he already looks like a college back; the frame will support the three-down role Ohio State projects for him.

Play Style

Akih is a downhill, north-south runner who wins with a combination that is rare at the high school level: sprinter speed paired with a linebacker's willingness to finish through contact. On film he presses the line quickly, makes one decisive cut, and gets vertical, then relies on his long stride to separate. He does not dance in the backfield. When defenders reach him, he runs through arm tackles and uses a stiff-arm effectively. His junior season at Delaware Hayes was a workhorse profile, 236 carries in 11 games at 163 total yards per game, which shows he can carry a heavy load. In Ohio State's 2026 spring game, as one of only two healthy scholarship backs, he led the team with 16 carries for 50 yards and was described as a bruising, north-and-south runner with the speed to break away on any carry, which matches the prep evaluation.

Strengths

• Verified long speed: a 10.90 100m and 22.03 200m as a 16-year-old junior mean that once he gets through the box, defensive backs are chasing rather than closing. The 7.0 yards per carry on 236 attempts in 2024 reflects how many runs became explosives.
• Between-the-tackles physicality: 247Sports' Hudson Standish graded him as a physically imposing interior runner who plows through arm tackles and finishes with contact. His return touchdown against Worthington Kilbourne, a stiff-arm through a defender into the end zone, is the archetype.
• One-cut decisiveness and vision: he is a north-south runner who plants and goes without wasted lateral movement, which fits a zone-heavy scheme and travels well to the Big Ten level.
• Age and development runway: playing his senior season at 16 while carrying a top-250 composite gives him a full extra year of physical maturation relative to his class peers, which is the core reason evaluators attached NFL traits to his profile.
• Receiving and protection flashes: 9 catches for 142 yards and 3 touchdowns as a junior on limited targets, and 247Sports noted promise in pass protection, both of which are prerequisites for a three-down role in Columbus.

Areas to Improve

• Durability and load management after the 2025 high left ankle sprain that cost five games; his return came in a 49-14 loss where eight-man boxes limited him, so there is very little healthy senior tape to confirm he came back at full speed.
• Short-area elusiveness and lateral agility: his make-you-miss comes from foot quickness on a single cut rather than sustained wiggle, and he will need to develop a broader move repertoire against Big Ten linebackers who close faster than Ohio Division I high school defenders.
• Pass protection technique and pass-game polish: the flashes are real but the volume is thin (9 career receptions), and Ohio State will not put a back on the field on third down until protection assignments are consistent.
• Football experience: he has only played the sport since his freshman year, so instincts like pressing the hole, setting up blocks, and reading second-level flow are still being built relative to backs who have played since youth.

College Projection

Ohio State projects him as a developmental three-down back, and the 2026 season is a redshirt-or-development year. The room ahead of him includes sophomores Bo Jackson and Isaiah West, transfer Ja'Kobi Jackson, and fellow freshman Legend Bey, with Anthony Rogers also in the mix; the two-deep is expected to be Bo Jackson and West. Realistic 2026 usage is situational carries, garbage-time reps, and special teams, likely within a four-game redshirt window. Given that he will only be 17 for most of his freshman season, the timeline is a 2027 rotational role and a 2028 push for lead-back carries once the sophomores ahead of him move on. Health of the ankle and progress in pass protection are the two variables that would accelerate that path.

NFL Outlook

Legitimate draft-eligible prospect profile, but on a longer runway than most four-star backs. The combination of 10.90 speed, contact balance, and a frame that will play at 205-plus is the trait set NFL teams draft on Day 2 at running back. His extreme youth means he will reach draft eligibility (2029 at the earliest) at a physically ideal age of 20, which is a real asset for a position with a short career window. The risks are a thin film library, a soft-tissue ankle history, and the reality that Ohio State's running back room rarely gives freshmen volume, so his draft case will depend on winning a starting job by his third year and proving the receiving and protection value that separates every-down NFL backs from rotational ones.

Best Fit

He is in the right place. A zone-run, pro-style offense that asks the back to press, make one cut, and get downhill maximizes his stride length and speed while hiding the still-developing lateral elusiveness. Programs that funnel runners through a physical, patient development model with a strong strength staff fit a 16-year-old with a linebacker's mentality, and Ohio State under running backs coach Carlos Locklyn is exactly that. He would be miscast in a spread offense that wants a back to win primarily in space on jet motion and option routes.