Incoming Ohio State football freshmen are arriving on campus this weekend, readying themselves for the next chapter in their sporting lives.
Each player enrolls with hopes and expectations of playing right away, but reality doesn’t always cooperate.
Playing time depends upon a number of factors, be it the depth chart or the player himself. And even if there is a need, a freshman still has to be capable of doing the job.
One of the best ways players can help their cause is to come in ready to run.
For instance, the Buckeyes are replacing three defensive ends, so they would love for an incoming player like Tyreke Smith to come in ready to play. Until this weekend, however, he’s been working on his own. What the coaches tell the players is to worry about their conditioning, and then OSU will take care of the rest.
If Smith is going to play right away, he will have needed to heed their advice.
“He has got to come in in good shape,” defensive line coach Larry Johnson said of Smith. “What happens is guys lift, lift, lift, lift and never come in conditioned to play. That is something we tell those guys, is get in shape when you show up. Coach Mick will do the rest. But he’s done that, and he is a smart enough player where he will pick up our system. From there, it’s just how hard he works.”
Smith is one of possibly four defensive ends signed by Ohio State in the 2018 recruiting class, and they should all finally arrive this weekend.
Tyler Friday was a Top 100 player at Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey, so he has played top-level football in preparation for college. Fellow New Jersey native Javontae Jean-Baptiste signed with Ohio State over Texas A&M, Nebraska, Virginia Tech, Baylor, and others. At 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, Jean-Baptiste may get his career started at linebacker. Alex Williams, meanwhile, is already listed at 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds, so he will arrive as a defensive end, but who knows where he will go from there.
This spring, the Buckeyes had just four scholarship defensive ends. The 2018 class improved those numbers, but Larry Johnson and Urban Meyer are looking for more than just numbers. They want production this year.
“There is an urgency to make sure there are one or two guys ready to go,” Johnson said this spring. “We are doing that in everything we do to get those guys prepared. They are visiting, they are talking, and they are watching video tape. Everything we can do that allows them to get ready, we are doing right now.”
And now that they’re on campus, Ohio State will have a much better feel for what each of them needs in order to make as immediate an impact as they can.
Not everybody will be ready to play, but if they’re ready to run, then they’ve already gotten the right kind of head start.
