COLUMBUS, Ohio - The start of Ohio State's first spring practice under new head coach Ryan Day is still several weeks away but it is never too early to speculate about what the first pre-spring two-deep may look like under the first-year head coach. While the Buckeyes will return a lot of talent from a 13-1 team in 2018, several key performers will be gone, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
Even with the losses of Dwayne Haskins, Mike Weber, Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin, Johnnie Dixon and most of the offensive line, there still will be a lot of players looking to step into those roles on the offensive side.
On the defensive side of the ball, there are not as many major holes to fill but that does not mean it will be easy to replace guys like Nick Bosa, Dre'mont Jones and Kendall Sheffield.
Not all of Ohio State's signing class will be able to take part in spring ball 2019 but a good share of the class is already on campus and chomping at the bit to get their first taste of college football, even if the season opener is still months away.
What do we think the pre-spring depth chart will look like? We asked that question internally and came up with this list. We started on Monday with the defense and now we turn our attention to the offense, a side of the ball where the Buckeyes will have to replace several more positions.
Let's address the elephant in the room, right now. We don't know how the NCAA is going to rule in the Justin Fields case here in the first week of February, but we should have a pretty good idea by spring practice, at least by the end of it. At this point we have to give Ohio State the benefit of the doubt when it comes to them feeling good about his case for immediate eligibility and because of that, we are going to name him the starter as he is going to have to learn the Ohio State system. Matt Baldwin has had a year within the system but honestly as a back-up, nursing an injury for much of the year, this spring is going to be crucial for his development as well. So we would expect both quarterbacks to get these snaps as Ryan Day and Mike Yurcich both look to shape the identity of this team. There will be some that feel that Baldwin should be the de facto first string player at this point with there being no questions as to what his eligibility is for 2019 but we are really just splitting hairs here, both will see ample snaps. Beyond those two, the room is pretty empty with only Chris Chugunov behind them. Don't look for anyone quarterback to see a 'contact jersey' at any point this spring period. Ohio State is still linked to a potential transfer quarterback or two, but so much of that is going to be predicated by what happens with Fields that it is all speculation at this point.
As for running back and halfback, the Buckeyes know where they stand. JK Dobbins led the Buckeyes with more than 1,300 all-purpose yards last season and had his second consecutive 1,000-yard season as a running back but maybe did not seem as explosive as he did as a true freshman. That will be something that the Buckeyes will work on during the offseason as they would like to find more of a run-pass balance in 2019. At this point, we have Master Teague as the back-up going into spring as we expect Demario McCall to still be focused at his halfback position behind KJ Hill. That does not mean that we would not expect to see McCall get some reps at running back as the Buckeyes and Brian Snead went their separate ways and depth is a little thin. Marcus Crowley was an early enrollee however and will gain some valuable reps during his first spring practice. As for the H-back position, look for Jaelen Gill to really make a push to get on the field with another year in the program.
The Buckeyes had a ridiculous amount of depth at receiver last season and the losses of McLaurin, Dixon and Campbell will not be easily replaced. It certainly helps having Hill (H-back) back along with Austin Mack and Bin Victor at the X receiver position. Mack saw his season cut short due to injury but he gives the Buckeyes a key returning starter who has nearly 700 career receiving yards and has been part of the 'Zone-6' culture for several years under (interim tag removed) receivers coach Brian Hartline. Victor has close to 800 career receiving yards and made one of the biggest plays of the season at Penn State as the Buckeyes were able to sneak out of Happy Valley with a win.
The injury to Mack did have a major silver lining to the team overall with the emergence of Chris Olave. The true freshman receiver had a pair of touchdowns against Michigan and one in the B1G Championship Game against Northwestern and has put himself in position to be the starter at the Z receiver position. As for his backup? That will be a good question as Kam Babb is coming off of an injury season and we really are not sure how quickly he will be able to step back into that type of role while true freshman receiver Garrett Wilson is coming back home with all of the tools to be a first-year contributor. At this point we are going to give the nod to Wilson just because of him coming in healthy but we are not going to sell on Babb, who actually came in rated higher than Olave and we saw what Olave did last season. Look for guys like Jaylen Harris to push to see playing time this year as well as Ohio State would love to have that big-bodied wide receiver in the arsenal.
Gone are guys like Isaiah Prince, Michael Jordan, Malcolm Pridgeon and Demetrius Knox. It is not often that you can lose four linemen and look forward to the next season. Ohio State may be really thin in terms of number of players in the lineman room at this point but they potentially could put a lineup out there that would consist of five players who have started games if things work out right. The Buckeyes could land a transfer lineman in Jonah Jackson out of Rutgers but since no decision has been made there, we are keeping him off of our list, but he theoretically could step in and play center while everyone else on the first team will have started at least one game for the Buckeyes. Now, there is no certainty that Jackson would play center over guard but it would be an interesting camp as the Buckeyes look to fill in some needs.
Thayer Munford made a huge step forward last season as he was put in a position where he had to sink-or-swim at the Cadillac spot on the line, the left tackle spot. Nick Petit-Frere will be the tackle of the future for the Buckeyes and really just needs to work on putting on some weight as he is still on the 'slight' side to be a truly effective Big Ten lineman. Joshua Alabi is a veteran lineman who should get the first look at the right tackle position vacated by Prince but NPF among others will push to unseat him.
As for guard, Wyatt Davis made the most out of a bad situation when Knox was injured at the end of the Michigan game and started in both the B1G Champ Game along with the Rose Bowl. It will be hard to get him out of the starting lineup as he is really starting to spread his wings. At the other guard position, Branden Bowen has missed more than a year with a leg injury and there were questions if he would return or not to the team having been in the program for four full years. He is back and could return to a familiar guard position in the lineup. The backup guards could really be up for grabs and a lot will be determined by what happens not only with Jackson's decision but with who steps up going into the spring. For now we like Matthew Jones and Gavin Cupp to hold those positions but there will be a push from true and redshirt freshmen looking to make their mark.
Center will be a key position, as it always is. Josh Myers has been the center of the future for some time now but will Jackson come in and push things around? Will Myers move to guard if that happens or remain as the back-up center? Harry Miller is an early enrollee and also has the title of being the center of the future. If Jackson does not come to Ohio State or does not play center, we like Miller to immediately make the depth chart.
