Predicting the Depth Chart - Offense

We are inside 100 days to the start of the football season and decided there was no better time than now to release our projected depth charts. We wanted to wait for the transfer season to come to a close as players like Joe Burrow, Wayne Davis, Matt Burrell and a handful of others would leave the Ohio State program to look for new homes and give a little more clarity on an Ohio State depth chart that seems to be largely in flux.

The remainder of Urban Meyer's talented recruiting class of 2018 will be enrolling soon and going through some of the paces of the summer as they learn what it takes not only to be a college football player but also that first taste of being away from home. There is opportunity for some of these true freshmen to find their way into the two-deep and press veterans for key playing time.

RELATED: Ohio State Scholarship breakdown - 2018

For the purposes of our depth chart, there will be a few players that make the cut that were not in Columbus for spring practice and we are basing our picks on either just an incredible talent coming into the program and/or nobody else seeming to have locked down a spot.

We reserve the right to change any of these picks (and we expect our pre-season depth chart in late-August to look different in some ways) along the way but this is our best prediction at this point.

The first team line is pretty simple, even if we believe that the Buckeyes truly have three starters at end with Jonathon Cooper joining Nick Bosa and Chase Young. There won't be the depth of the last two seasons but that might not be a bad thing as it will keep these guys on the field more and not as much worry about getting everyone their 'snaps'. Dre'mont Jones has been getting his mentions but even that is not enough for a player that will have a very, very good year in 2018. BB Landers will lock up the one-technique and has proven that you don't have to be the tallest player on the field to make a major impact.

We debated who might be the other second team defensive end and We gave Tyreke Smith the nod over Jashon Cornell and Tyler Friday. Smith may not be there on day one and Cornell may get the nod early in the season but Smith checks off all the boxes. The good news is that Ohio State has a lot of depth for the future and will need to get some of the young guys some reps with Bosa playing in his final season.

Davon Hamilton looks to be in good position to be the second team NT while we give the nod to Haskell Garrett for the three-technique spot but don't sleep on Tommy Togiai and the Buckeyes will expect a lot out of JUCO transfer Antwuan Jackson. He would have been higher on our list if he would have been healthy for the spring but injury really kept him shut down. If he has a strong fall camp, he could move up some while Togiai is going be a problem for opposing offenses for years to come.

While offensive line lacked clarity on the offensive side of the ball, linebacker is right there on defense. There are several players who have shown that they have what it takes to be there at linebacker but in a 4-3 scheme, you can only play three and Bill Davis, Greg Schiano and Urban Meyer will have to figure out who fits the best in their roles. Ohio State took a significant hit with the loss of Tuf Borland (there is debate as to how long he will be out). Baron Browning may be the most athletic of all of Ohio State's linebackers and putting him at the MLB may not be the best use of his talents but he appears to be destined to play inside, at least for now. Malik Harrison and Keandre Jones seem to be the top candidates for the OLB positions, there is some debate as to who is the better Will and who is the better Sam, but those two both seem to be at the top of the list to get starting nods.

Now things get even more confusing. You have elder statesmen in Dante Booker and Justin Hilliard. Booker lost his starting spot and now is looking to get back to where he was while Hilliard has never been healthy long enough to see any time at linebacker. He watched Johnnie Dixon put a strong season together after an oft-injured career with the Buckeyes. Pete Werner is someone that Meyer raves about and we could not leave him off the list of the two-deep. Watch out, Ohio State inked a strong class at linebacker in 2018 and Dallas Gant et al are coming.

The Buckeyes will need to replace some key positions in the secondary in 2018. What is known is that Jordan Fuller will lock down one of the safety positions while the three-headed monster of Kendall Sheffield, Damon Arnette and Jeffrey Okudah will all be there at corner. It should be a three-man rotation and we could see all three out there during a nickel situation. Sheffield has shown that he has speed and more speed at corner but still has a little technique work to prove while Arnette has quietly become one of the craft veterans of this team. Okudah is going into year two and could have the highest ceiling. Who is going to be the other safety? We like Isaiah Pryor to hold off the field.

The second team? We threw Arnette in one of the spots even though we feel he is a starter and have him in the Nickel spot. Shaun Wade would have been playing as a true freshman if he had not been injured. The second team safeties? That is where we have to do a lot of speculation. Brendon White has practiced on both sides of the ball and is probably back home in the secondary and we like him to just edge out Amir Riep. Incoming freshman Josh Proctor may be one of the best safety recruits the Buckeyes have brought in for quite some time (and the bar is already very high). Marcus Williamson will get the nod as the backup Nickel. There are a lot of talented players we did not mention including Tyreke Johnson and others, there just is a lot of talent in the secondary to carry the flag that players have taken to the NFL from previous seasons.

There really is not much to say when it comes to the secondary. When they are not being mentioned, things generally are going well, when their names are being splashed across headlines, it usually is not a good thing.

Sean Nuernberger bounced back last season with a strong year after an erratic start to his career. he is backed up by Blake Haubeil, so we know how the position will move on in 2019 when 'The German' has moved on.

Drue Chrisman will hold down the punting duties as he is backed up by walk-on Jake Metzer. Obviously, the goal is not to see much of the punter and if the Ohio State offense is clicking, fans hope that Drue brings a good book to the sidelines.