Today’s Topic: Who Will Be the Buckeyes’ New Captains in 2019?
Ohio State had seven captains last season and lost five of them to the NFL.
All four captains on offense — Parris Campbell, Johnnie Dixon, Terry McLaurin, and Isaiah Prince — are gone, as is Nick Bosa on defense. Returning are safety Jordan Fuller and linebacker Tuf Borland.
All of this means that Ryan Day is going to need a new crop of captains this year for the Buckeyes.
We can assume that Fuller and Borland will both be voted captain once again, but how many others will join them?
Urban Meyer had large numbers of captains his final couple of seasons at Ohio State, but for the purposes of this exercise, Ryan Day is going to dial it back by one from a season ago.
That means he’ll be looking for four more captains, including a whole new batch on offense.
The most obvious newcomer is old-timer KJ Hill. Hill even mentioned the possibility of being a captain as one of the reasons he decided to come back. Given what he has meant to the team over the previous three seasons at receiver, he seems like a no-brainer.
Looking over the rest of the offense, there are names on the offensive line like Branden Bowen or Josh Alabi, and maybe running back JK Dobbins can get a nod as a junior, but I’m going with Austin Mack instead.
Mack established himself as the team’s top X receiver last season before getting injured. I expect him to pick up right where he left off as a senior, which could coincide with him receiving a captain’s nod.
It’s a bit easier to find guys on defense to fill out this list. In fact, the difficulty is in limiting it to four total.
When looking at new captains this year, KJ Hill was the first name that I thought of. The second name was nose tackle Robert Landers.
Landers has grown as a leader and was as much a leader for the Buckeyes last season as anybody else. There are few better spokesmen available for the 2019 edition of the Ohio State football team.
Other possibilities include cornerback Damon Arnette in his final season, or defensive lineman Jashon Cornell. Senior nose tackle Davon Hamilton would make sense, as would senior linebacker Malik Harrison. Another senior linebacker in Justin Hilliard is also highly respected by his teammates.
Perhaps a junior like cornerback Jeff Okudah or linebacker Pete Werner or safety Brendon White could make the call as well.
As my sixth captain, however, I’m thinking senior defensive end Jonathon Cooper.
Cooper came to Ohio State in the 2016 class and stayed patient playing behind Jalyn Holmes, Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis, and Nick Bosa. He emerged as a starter with Bosa last season before Bosa was lost for the season with a core muscle injury.
Cooper has been a leader for his defensive line teammates — including all four freshman defensive ends the Buckeyes added in 2018 — and that won’t go unnoticed by the rest of the team.
So that’s six captains for you, but I won’t be surprised if it’s actually one or two more than that. There are certainly more than the six I mentioned who are deserving of the honor this coming season.