Published Aug 27, 2018
Hot 11: Preseason
Staff
Staff

Game week is here and it could not come a moment too soon for Ohio State fans. There will be plenty of chatter around college football about what occurred during the off-season at Ohio State but we are diving in to the season, head first.

One of our favorite series of the season is our Hot 11 list. There are plenty of returning faces and a bunch of new ones on this 2018 Ohio State team and it was an interesting exercise to see which players might carry over from last season and which new faces we would see, especially with so many departures from key positions.

Linebacker Tuf Borland received a lot of consideration for this first list but with his status being unknown to start the season, we decided to not put him on the list since it is likely he will miss some time but we felt it was important to mention him as someone who would have made the list under different circumstances.

New to BuckeyeGrove or just unfamiliar with the Hot 11? What exactly is it? This is a feature that we run weekly and there is always movement on this list after each game is played. What we don't do is overcorrect from game-to-game. If a player comes out of nowhere to have a big game, he won't move up to the top-four of the list and conversely, one bad game won't drop a player off the list entirely if he was ranked highly just a week before.

There will be big moves made if a player goes down for injury and other special circumstances and everyone will get the hang of this piece within a few weeks.

And the best part of it is once we get into the season, we allow our great members in The Horseshoe Lounge to take part and cast a vote in this weekly feature.

So, without further ado, let's take a look at the benchmark preseason rankings as the Buckeyes get ready for their season opener against Oregon State on September 1st at Ohio Stadium.

Hot 11 - Preseason
RankWhoWhy

1.

Nick Bosa

You better get your fill of watching Bosa in an Ohio State uniform because this will be the last season as he is entering his junior season and will be draft eligible after this year. With a shorter defensive end rotation in 2018, Bosa's numbers should be higher than last year with more opportunity to stay on the field.

2.

J.K. Dobbins

Dobbins is coming off of a 1,403-yard freshman season and is only going to be better this year after spending the offseason working on his speed after he got caught from behind on several long runs last season. Dobbins is not the only running back on the list, which just goes to show how deep Ohio State is at the position.

3.

Dre'mont Jones

Many people did not expect to see Jones in an Ohio State uniform in 2018 with some positive reviews from the NFL but he wanted to come back for a final season to accomplish a few more goals. It is hard to imagine how much better Jones could be in 2018, but he will lead a deep position group into the season as Ohio State should have a top-2 line in the nation.

4.

Dwayne Haskins

Fans had the opportunity to see a small dose of Haskins in the win at Michigan and now they are going to get to see him as 'the man' when he takes the field for the first series of the first game of the season. He is much more of a pass-first type of quarterback but don't think he can't run to gain yardage too.

5.

Michael Jordan

Guard or Center? We might not know until Jordan lines up for the first snap of the game. What we do know is that Jordan is going into his third year as a starter for the Buckeyes and is a valuable piece to a line that will be looking to replace two players who are off to the NFL.

6.

Chase Young

We had the chance to see a decent amount of Young last season but there will be a lot more opportunity this year and that is bad news for opposing teams as Young already has the look of a NFL player. Can he play like one? It might be a little soon for that but he is as good of a defensive end as there is in the league and he will benefit when teams pay too much attention to Bosa.

7.

Mike Weber

Weber had seven carries in the first four games of the season in 2017 (only playing in two of those games) but started to come along as the season progressed. He finished the year with a 6.2 YPC average and showed some speed that many fans had never seen. He will get a lot of carries this year as the 1B to Dobbins as the 1A.

8.

Jordan Fuller

Fuller will be a steady force in the secondary and really is set to be the next Ohio State great defensive back at his safety position. Ohio State does lose a top-five pick in Denzel Ward from last year at corner but is deep in the position and with Fuller locking down his position, the Ohio State secondary should stay among the top in the nation.

9.

Isaiah Prince

Prince has come a long way from his first year as a starter with the Buckeyes. He should start at right tackle and lock that position down. There are some concerns about Ohio State starting a true sophomore at the left tackle position with the Prince-to-LT experiment not having immediate success but even with that, Prince is definitely a top player on this team.

10.

Parris Campbell

There was no player in the Big Ten that was more scary on the short pass than Campbell as he had the chance to take any reception to the endzone. What Campbell needed to work on is the ability to make the play in the 2nd and 3rd levels. If that is there with a more accurate passer in Haskins, Campbell will absolutely find the endzone more than the three times he did in 2017.

11.

K.J. Hill

There are other receivers who are faster or taller or found the endzone more times than Hill but K.J. is most likely the best all-around receiver that the Buckeyes have in 2018. Fans would like to see more of Hill's 12-reception game against Penn State than his one-reception game against USC to end the season. We are expecting big things from Hill this year.