Conclusion of Ohio State's Spring Practice

In front of 100,189 on a picture-perfect early spring day, the Ohio State Buckeyes wound up spring practice in the ‘Shoe with the Gray pulling out a 28-17 victory.  Ohio State didn’t win a title last year and lost 95% of its most-recognized players, and yet Buckeye fans showed up in droves to watch a rudimentary intrasquad scrimmage, braking OSU’s own national record.  Though the atmosphere was more relaxed than it will be in Norman on September 17, it’s still crucial experience for a young team with many contributors that haven’t yet played in a college game.

            The one who impressed me the most has got to be QB Joe Burrow, who has solidified his position as J.T. Barrett’s backup.  Burrow showed surprising mobility and also seems to have built a repertoire with WR Torrance Gibson.  Burrow dazzled with his 14-for-23 passing for 196 yards and three touchdowns with one interception and showed if Ohio State should need him at any point during the upcoming season, he’ll be ready to go.  Fifth-year senior Bri’onte Dunn and redshirt freshman Mike Weber were the two prime candidates at running back.  Dunn did not play due to a minor ankle sprain and Weber carried eight times for 38 yards and two touchdowns, showing a good blend of power and speed.  Antonio Williams also looked to have a good blend of power and speed when he touched the ball and he heads out of spring practice as the team’s number three back.

            Ohio State lost Michael Thomas, Jalin Marshall, and Braxton Miller following last season and Noah Brown, Corey Smith, Curtis Samuel, and Dontre Wilson were out, so there were inconsistencies to be expected.  However, I saw Parris Campbell and Terry McLaurin step up and make several nice catches in traffic.  Torrence Gibson hauled in a pair of touchdown catches and I saw Austin Mack and Johnnie Dixon make a couple of nice grabs over the middle as well as perform well in downfield blocking. 

            Coach Meyer says he wants the Buckeyes’ offense to be a bit more balanced this year than it was one season ago, but make no mistake about it: Ohio State is anchored by its running game and a large part of that success hinders on the play of the Buckeyes’ offensive line, which is going through a bit of transition after returning four starters prior to the 2015 season. Pat Elflein and Billy Price are the only returning guys this year, and Ohio State was hoping to find its other three starters up front during spring ball. Jamarco Jones and Isaiah Prince ran with the first-team offensive line all spring — Jones at left tackle, Prince at right tackle — and for the second half of spring practice true freshman early enrollee Michael Jordan spent the majority of the snaps working with the first team at guard. Those, right now, appear to be the frontrunners heading out of spring ball.
After a strong spring, Jones seems to have solidified himself as a starting tackle for the Buckeyes. Meyer said he “needed to see more” from Prince during the spring game to earn the same status. Ohio State has a junior college tackle coming in June, Malcolm Pridgeon, and he is expected to compete for a starting job right away. As of now, it appears it will be Prince who will be involved in that battle with Pridgeon.   These guys seemed to perform much better in the run blocking rather than the pass blocking mode.  Coach Meyer won’t expect any drop off from last year, even though the pass blocking schemes still need work and there will still be jobs up for grabs in the two-deep when the Buckeyes resume practice in August.
Despite the departure of Joey Bosa, Ohio State is still pretty set at defensive end. Tyquan Lewis should be full-go shortly after his off-season surgery.  He led the Buckeyes in sacks one season ago with eight and has a chance to be an All-Big Ten performer in the fall. But Ohio State also has Sam Hubbard returning and Hubbard is slated to replace Bosa as the other starting defensive end. Jalyn Holmes will be the third defensive end, and he’ll likely fill a role similar to the one Hubbard had a year ago.
Rashod Berry, who moved from tight end to defensive end, and Darius Slade could be options for the rotation at the end position, as well.  Redshirt juniors Tracy Sprinkle and Michael Hill practiced all spring as the first-team defensive tackles, while Ohio State rotated quite a few younger guys behind those two. Redshirt freshmen Jashon Cornell and Dre’Mont Jones were both moved inside from their defensive end positions and both, by all accounts, had great springs and figure to be in the rotation come fall. DaVon Hamilton and Robert Landers, another pair of redshirt freshmen, also impressed and will battle for playing time.  I was impressed by Hubbard, who picked up where he left off from last year, as well as Sprinkle and Michael Hill, each having a tackle for loss.  I also saw very good play at the linebacker position, especially from sophomore Jerome Baker and junior Dante Booker.  Baker turned in a spectacular one-handed interception and Booker seemed to be everywhere, adept at pressuring quarterbacks as he is running down running backs out of the backfield.

The young secondary, as I expected, showed some growing pains.  Eric Glover-Williams, Damon Arnette, and Joshua Norwood all showed quickness and ability to flow to the ball on plays run to their side, but Gibson and McLaurin toasted them on the deep routes.  Cam Burrows also bit on a play fake, allowing McLaurin to toast him on a 52-yard touchdown reception as well.  The experienced Gareon Conley didn’t play; he was obviously sorely missed.
Next up for Ohio State is the beginning of pre season practice in early August where they will put in close to a month of drills before they take the field for the opener September 3 against Bowling Green.  This blog will break until July 5, when my 2016 B1G Conference previews will begin.