Morning Constitutional: Which Young Buckeyes Have Flashed This Spring Per Ryan Day?

Today’s Topic: Which Young Buckeyes Have Flashed This Spring Per Ryan Day?

It’s a question as old as time (early on during a football camp) — how are the young guys looking?

Everybody wants to know about the young guys because we all think we already know about the older guys. We want new news.

We’re not the only ones, however, because coaches love it when there are young guys to talk about, even if they don’t like overdoing it.

Ohio State is just five practices into their spring camp — and just three with pads on — so there will be significantly more flashing to come, but that doesn’t stop the question from being asked right now.

“On offense, there’s a lot of guys because we’ve lost so many seniors,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said on Saturday.

“We lost four guys on the O-line, three guys on the perimeter, Mike Weber. I think there’s a lot of young guys that have done a good job. I think they’ve all done a good job. Garrett Wilson’s flashed on the outside. Obviously, we know what Chris (Olave) can do. He’s young but he’s obviously shown how talented he is.”

The way Ohio State recruited under Urban Meyer has allowed the Buckeyes to replenish losses with young talent for years now, and that won’t be changing under Ryan Day.

On the offensive line, there are three young guys in the mix to start this season. As it pertains to spring ball, so far so good for that trio.

“Up front, Nick Petit-Frere has really grown into his body,” Day said. “We’re excited about him. Wyatt Davis, you’d say ‘Well, he’s not a young guy because he played in the last two games,’ but he is. He only played in two games. So he’s really done a good job in the offseason. Josh Myers has stepped up. I think he’s got a chance to have a really good year this year. But again, the third day in pads, so we’ve got a long way to go on offense.”

On the other side of the ball, the Buckeyes return a buffet of experience and starters, so the reliance on young players won’t be as heavy. With so few spots available for the younger players, the competition to fill those spots is going to be intense.

“Dallas Gant is somebody at the linebacker position who’s probably had five to seven knockdowns in three days of pads,” Day said. “Really, really physical play so we’ve been really excited about him. The D-line is very, very deep and loaded. So a lot of youth there and so we’re excited about that.”

Second-year players Tyreke Smith, Tyler Friday, Taron Vincent, and Tommy Togiai have been fixtures on the defensive line this spring, which is big for the Buckeyes. Ohio State will need that same kind of rejuvenation in the secondary.

And according to Day, they’ve been getting it.

“The DBs have been playing strong,” he said. “They’ve been excited about working on some new technique and they’ve been driving on the ball, getting their hands on footballs, which isn’t good for the offense, but they’ve been doing that, so creating some excitement. But overall, again a lot of excitement and energy in practice every day, which is what we want.”