Thursday, August 31, 2017

Ohio State Football Preview

The 2016 season was supposed to be the bridge between the powerhouse 2015 squad and the expected to be powerhouse 2017 team.
Instead,Urban Meyer's team lost one fluky game in the regular season to Penn State and made to the college football playoff,where they were exposed for the weak passing game that they possessed in a pasting at the hands of the Clemson Tigers...

The quarterback position features the return of J.T. Barrett for his final year.
Barrett is a polarizing figure among Buckeye fans with some loving his running ability and leadership ability with others groaning about the lack of accuracy in the passing game,especially the intermediate to long passing game.
J.T. Barrett might be the player that determines just how good this team can be and if new quarterback coach Ryan Day can do anything with Barrett through the air,this could be a long remembered year in Columbus.
Joe Burrow was looking like he was going to be the backup to Barrett before a broken hand sidelined him which will make redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins the backup.
If Burrow doesn't return,touted true freshman Tate Martell will be the third stringer.
Martell would have likely been redshirted before Burrow's injury...

The running backs are led by the returning Mike Weber.who ran for over 1,000 yards as a freshman.
Weber still needs to show more breakaway ability,but he will be the starter over freshman J.K.Dobbins,who has turned a lot of heads in practice.
Demario McCall will see lots of time as he will try to replace Curtis Samuel as the jack of all trades back.
Sophomore Antonio Williams rounds up a promising running back group that could be the best all around group in a while at Ohio State.
Parris Campbell will start at H-Back,which is where Samuel spent much of his time.
Campbell has the speed to make an impact,but he does has some questions about his hands.

The receivers were a weak point last year and the Buckeyes are hoping that sophomores and freshmen can make improvements and impacts in order to improve the passing game.
Sophomore Austin Mack will start at one wideout with a surprising comeback from Johnnie Dixon,who was rumored to be on his way after 2016 starting on the other side.
Binjimen Victor is sitting on a breakout sophomore year and junior Terry McLaurin will see his share of action as well.
Three true freshman will be part of the revamp of the wideout position to make the receivers bigger and faster as 6'5 Jaylen Harris and 6'4 Elijah Gardiner and Trevon Grimes enter the season.
If one of the bunch breaks out,this could be a much improved bunch of pass catchers.

The tight ends return Mackey Award nominee Marcus Baugh and behind Baugh there are a whole bunch of questions with sophomore Rashod Berry holding off redshirt freshman Luke Farrell for the first spot off the bench.
Either way,Ohio State needs to keep Marcus Baugh healthy or things could get a little murky..

The offensive line features two seniors that might threaten to make All-America teams in left tackle Jamarco Jones and center Billy Price.
Price started at guard last season,but shifts to center to replace the graduated Pat Elflein.
Sophomore Michael Jordan impressed in a starting role last year,Branden Bowen is battling freshman Wyatt Davis and massive Malcolm Pridgen,who was impressing the staff last year before a injury ended his season.
The question mark is at right tackle where Isaiah Prince struggled last season.
Prince is being pushed by true freshman Thayer Munford and will need to pick up his play...

On defense,the defensive line is incredibly deep.
The defensive ends have three strong pass rushers in returning Big 10 defensive lineman of the year Tyquan Lewis,Sam Hubbard and Nick Bosa.
The three will rotate among themselves and each are a threat to hit double digit sacks.
Senior Jaylen Holmes would start on most teams and freshman Chase Young will be a name that most know in 2018.
The tackles are strong with the starters with Tracy Sprinkle returning from injury and Dre'Mont Jones returning as a starter.
The depth behind them is talented,but unproven as none of the backups are more than a sophomore.

The linebackers lose Raekwon McMillan to the NFL,but Chris Worley shifts over from the outside to the middle in what should be a seamless transition.
Jerome Baker returns as a starter and in an interesting note has the person that beat him out for a starting role,starting on the other side in Dante Booker.
Baker replaced Booker after a season ending knee injury in the opener against Bowling Green and was one of 2016's pleasant surprises.
Malik Harrison will be the main backup,but look for sophomores Tuf Borland and Keandre Jones to see plenty of time and freshman Baron Browning will make his presence known as well...

The secondary at Ohio State usually reloads and they'll do so again after losing Malik Hooker,Gareon Conley and Marshon Lattimore as first round picks in the NFL draft.
Denzel Ward is the cornerback returning with the most experience and he might be the next OSU secondary player to be a first round pick.
Sophomore Damon Arnette slightly leads heralded Juco transfer Kendall Sheffield for the other corner spot,Sheffield and fellow freshmen Jeffrey Okudah and Shaun Wade will see time as well.
Damon Webb starts at one safety and senior Erick Smith gets a chance to start at the other.
Webb is entrenched there,but Smith is being battled to the wire against sophomore Jordan Fuller in a competition that might not be decided until just before the opener.
Freshman Isaiah Pryor will play a lot as well..

Sean Nuernberger has a narrow lead over freshman Blake Haubeil as the placekicker while Drue Chrisman will be the punter as a freshman.
The Buckeyes will use many players as returners with Parris Campbell and K.J.Hill getting the most work...

This looks like a good year for Ohio State.
I think they have a chance to run the table with getting Oklahoma in Columbus in their biggest non-conference test.
They have four conference games that might be issues-of course there is michigan in Ann Arbor,where the pressure is on Jim Harbaugh to avoid losing his first three games to the Buckeyes and the huge rematch with Penn State,which I expect to see a sky high bunch give a healthy helping of payback to the Nittany Lions.
Dark horse games are at Nebraska,where the Huskers might be improved and at Iowa after the Penn State could be a trap game.
I'll be optimistic and say 12-0.
With two of the three toughest games at home and not having Big 10 West favorite Wisconsin on the schedule,I think that is doable,although far from a guarantee....

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