Running back Demario McCall is heading into his fourth season as a Buckeye. He has spent much of his time putting on weight or moving from position to position or being injured, and sometimes he’s been busy with all three. McCall was out this spring after moving back to running back from H-back. It wasn’t a serious injury, but most of his…
There is a bit of irony to one of Ohio State’s deepest positions also being one of its biggest question marks. The Buckeyes will take the field this season having five safeties with starting experience, which wouldn’t include sophomore Josh Proctor, who may have the most potential of any safety on the OSU roster. Senior Jordan Fuller returns…
Last year, the Buckeyes had a star emerge at quarterback as Dwayne Haskins set all kinds of Ohio State passing records. The year before, it was freshman running back JK Dobbins. In 2016, you saw Malik Hooker, Curtis Samuel, Marshon Lattimore, Nick Bosa and I can’t even remember who else become stars. It happens every year. New stars take over…
In football — in general — the free safety is the centerfielder of a defense. He is the deepest guy on the field because he is tasked with covering so much ground. The strong safety then plays closer to the line of scrimmage to help out with the run game if needed. Over the last five years or so, that’s been the opposite of OSU’s safety duties.
Shaun Wade came to Ohio State as a 5-star cornerback who was known for giving offenses very bad odds on 50/50 balls. He has spent most of his Ohio State career playing nickel and safety, but never getting completely away from the kind of man coverage that he was brought to OSU to play. Brendon White came to Ohio State…
The Buckeyes are one of those rare teams that lost a starting cornerback early to the NFL over the offseason, yet still return two cornerbacks who are also considered starters. Fifth-year senior Damon Arnette and junior Jeff Okudah are back, and bring with them three seasons of experience in OSU’s starting rotation. Three second-year corners…
The Buckeyes return all five safeties who started at least one game last season, though Jordan Fuller was held out this spring with a “lower extremity injury. “Isaiah Pryor started seven games last season, Jahsen Wint started once, Shaun Wade started twice, and Brendon White started the final five games, earning the Rose Bowl Defensive MVP trophy…
Spring practices are a lot like bowl practices in that young players get more reps than they do in fall camp or during the season. With more opportunities come more results, and this spring has been no different. On Wednesday, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was asked to name a couple of young players who have made big strides…
Every year, new Buckeyes emerge and climb the depth charts of the Ohio State offense and defense. It is a necessary progression which then allows the program to replace departed stars and reestablish any loss of depth. This year on the OSU defense, nine starters return from last season, which makes climbing the depth chart quite a…
For the third year in a row, the members of the Ohio State secondary are getting used to new coaches and new techniques. The safeties have gone from Greg Schiano to Alex Grinch to now the collective conscience of Jeff Hafley and Matt Barnes. The cornerbacks, meanwhile, have seen Kerry Coombs and Taver Johnson come and go…
This is something that I have been wanting to write about, but it seems daunting to tackle because of all of the variables. Though when the boss sends in a reader mail request, I guess I have to stop putting it off and just get it done. Rather than heading off into 16 different tangents, let’s take the questions one at a time and try to remain…
