We continue our overview of Buckeye spring practice with Joe’s look across the positions. As always HUGE thank you to Josh Winslow for his photos- be sure check out all of his Spring Game shots.
QB’s- IMHO the position should go to Braxton Miller for the first 5 games. He finished off an up and down spring with a great showing in the spring game. He can make all the throws, has escapability and the ability to get some first downs with his legs. Obviously he is the youngest but him graduating HS early and coming in for the spring was a great decision.
Taylor Graham, Kenny Guiton, and Joe Bauserman all had their moments this spring. Bauserman makes a great backup with the ability to save a game for us if the starter goes down. Graham and Guiton will have their say come fall, but Graham lacks the ability to win with his legs, and Guiton doesn’t provide the greatest ability with his legs.
I really like what was said about Pryor and him stepping up and being a leader/coach for the 4 QB’s vying for the starting job.
RB’s- Talk about an embarrassment of riches with Hall, Berry, Smith, Hyde, and Herron.
The best thing about the news out of spring and the spring game was not the number of rushing attempts these guys got or the talent they all have running the ball, but the number of receptions they received out of the backfield. Hall and Berry split out provides the offense a lot of versatility.
Look for Berry to continue to be explosive in the return game as well.
FB’s- Zach Boren is one of the best all around fullbacks we have seen at Ohio State, and David Durham transition to the position adds a great player for the future.
WR’s-
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that Devin Smith could step up as the #1 next year- if he has the ability to pick up the offense quickly. He looked good on Friday in the North/South all-star game. He caught a TD pass, showed the ability to get separation, has great hands, body control, and is very athletic.
After turning in an all-around good performance in the game, he participated in a track meet where he ran the 100 in 10.75, won the high jump, long jump, and ran a leg of the 800M relay.
After Posey it is really open.
T.Y. Williams provides the jump ball and deep ball threat, Corey Brown has the speed and wiggle, Verlon Reed really impressed me for the first time seeing him at the position. It will be an interesting competition in the fall but there is lots of talent to go around. The question is who will step up.
TE’s– Stoneburner also provides another versatile weapon on offense with the abilty to split out at WR, block at the TE position and get up the seam.
Reid Fragel and Jeff Heurman provide solid weapons at the position as well- Fragel as more of a blocker and Jeff as a WR threat.
OL– We really only go 7 deep at this point. The top 7 are really, really good though.
Tommy Brown is a couple years away from contributing, even after he came in early for spring practice.
Look for Mike Brewster to have an all-american type season and Mike Adams could be the top Buckeye taken next year in the draft.
I like the interior guys and what I saw in the game from Linsley, Mewhort, and Hall, but the biggest star of the spring might have been Andrew Norwell!
DL– Two biggest studs on defense will probably see most of their time on the outside. John Simon and Nate Williams are beasts. They should both be first team all B16, and other awards could follow. Simon in particular just seems to be all over the place.
Inside John Hankins is a mountain to move. Garret Goebel is another guy to watch. There is lots of young talent coming in who look ready to step up. It is another postion that will be fun to watch guys step up as we rotate them in.
LB– Dorian Bell is reckless, if he can just control himself on the field, he can be a beast.
Sabino redshirting was a huge boost for our team this year. He should see lots of time at the Mike LB, and he has the ability to blitz from the position.
Sweat will be solid as well.
Overall, this is another position with plenty of young guys ready to step up behind the top 3.
DB– I could just name every player on the roster. Travis Howard is probably the top talent from the CB position. Jeremy Cash looked great at the S position for an incoming frosh. Clarke, Johnson, Roby, Barnett, Brown, Bryant will all be names we will hear come fall.
Tyler Moeller could be the blessing in disguise for this defense- he gives us a guy with a ton of game experience and versatility for the defense.
All in all it was a good spring, and it was nice to take a break from all the sanction speak and suspensions (not to mention the basketball loss). We really didn’t learn a whole lot, just that there are young guys that seem poised to step up, but there is still a lot of competition come fall. It was nice to get out of the spring with only one major injury (Donnie!) and to get lots of reps for the young guys.
Next is 7-on-7’s and summer conditioning. More good news should come from there.
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