Buckeye Blogger Network
Moving Forward
Before Buckeye Nation turned it’s eyes to shootyhoops on Saturday, the 2012 football team took to the field for it’s first full-pad practice of the spring. Here’s some of the things we’ve learned after three days under Coach Meyer:
Freshmen phenoms Evan Spencer and Devin Smith. The future.
The receivers are one of the least experienced groups on the entire team. The suspension of Devier Posey compounds the issue significantly.
As young and inexperienced as they may be (and let me reiterate, they are), they are also extremely talented- as you would expect from any group at Ohio State.
It may take a few games to work out the kinks, but if the passing attack starts rolling, these players are fully capable of taking over a game.
The good news is that they don’t need to take over games; they only need to take some pressure off the running backs by giving the defense something to worry about.
At this, they should be more than capable, no matter who the quarterback ends up being.
Some players will be watched with more excitement than others, but everyone will get a chance to show what they've got.
The Buckeyes need to fill some pretty big holes on offense this year thanks to graduations and compounded by suspensions. Luckily, Ohio State always has ultra talented players waiting in the wings to show what they’ve got.
As a fan, you can only hope that one or more of these players can make a name for themselves and become the next great Buckeye at whatever position they happen to play. The spring game is a great chance to see what some of the young players can do.
Here are the players to watch on offense in the spring game on Saturday.
Football is right around the corner! Okay, not really, but spring practice is almost here!
This morning I was fortunate enough to sit in on a 6 AM winter conditioning session held by the Ohio State football team. It was a shirt and shorts affair with plenty of running and various other drills deviously put together by strength and conditioning coordinator Eric Lichter.
Since there were no actual football drills that took place, it is difficult to draw many conclusions regarding the team. At the risk of being borderline creepy, however, I can provide some insight on the highly scientific “look test” as well as who stood out in terms of effort.
There were several notable guests this morning as well.
Cameron Heyward fully participated in the conditioning drills with the defensive lineman without a brace on his elbow. Here’s hoping he can get back to 100% in time to work out for the NFL scouts at the end of the month.
Bobby Carpenter also made an appearance at the end of the practice, but did not participate in any of the drills.
A random Georgia coach (or something, he was wearing a Georgia pullover) was spotted walking around.
Read on for the players that stood out, the players that could use a little extra conditioning, and various other observations that I was fortunate enough to make.
Coach Tressel jokingly requested that tape not be shown of the players who “lost their cookies”, but I hope I can still write about it. Read More
Thankfully, Posey will be back in time to do this again.
Let’s cut right to the chase, Ohio State’s receiving corps will be extremely raw and inexperienced in 2011.
If losing Dane Sanzenbacher (55 receptions, 948 yards, 11 TDs) to graduation weren’t enough, the loss of Devier Posey (53 receptions, 848 yards, 7 TDs) to suspension leaves exactly two scholarship players with even the slightest amount of game day experience at the start of the season.
Losing Sanzenbacher’s production and consistent presence in the lineup will be particularly difficult to duplicate. Not only was he good enough to earn team MVP honors in 2010, he put together arguably one of the ten best seasons for a receiver ever at Ohio State.
Beyond his production, the intangibles Sanzenbacher brought to the field will be what the offense misses most. He was always in the right place at the right time and was the perfect security blanket for a quarterback in need of a consistent target.
His performance in the Sugar Bowl was the culminating illustration of his knack for the clutch play. Buckeye fans may look back on that performance fondly during a potentially rough start throwing the ball in 2011. Read More
Orhian Johnson closely follows Sanzo
Fall camp always seems to produce the juiciest news of the year and this year has been no different. For the next couple weeks I will be scouring the Buckeye-sphere for all the interesting tidbits to share.
So far there has been almost nothing but good news coming out of the WHAC. Obviously the loss of Duron Carter plus the confusion regarding TE Nic DiLillo’s situation stings a little, but everything else has been overwhelmingly positive thus far. Let’s take a look.
Offense
