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Re: 2010 Ohio State Buckeyes
QB: TP is the unquestioned starter, but I believe Bauserman will be the backup, purely because he's been here longer and paid his dues. I see TP having a pretty good junior year, not a Heisman caliber one like many are expecting but a very good one.
HB: Saine is a good back out of the I and out of the gun. He's a great weapon out of the backfield and gives the defense someone else to account for. Boom should get a decent amount of carries because he's been here and he's consistent (I'm not a big fan of Herron), but I expect Berry, or even Hall to step up right here. I wouldn't rule out Rod Smith or Carlos Hyde making some noise either.
FB: Boren is more than capable here, he should continue to improve.
WR: Posey had a fantastic finish to the season and established himself as a #1 receiver. Dane is the perfect guy to play in the slot and he is smart, has good hands, and can block the hell out of someone. Taurian Washington and Duron Carter should battle it out for the 3rd spot, but keep an eye on Chris Fields, whom Tressel compared to Santonio Holmes and had a tough time keeping a redshirt on.
TE: I'm concerned here... Stoneburner is a liability as an inline blocker and the staff was looking to find a JUCO TE to offset that but couldn't. Look for Reid Fragel to be pressed into duty this year to try and replace Ballard, who was the most underrated player on the team last year. Stoneburner is a TE in the mold of a Travis Beckum, and with the offense beginning to open up as TP matures I'd expect him to finally get thrown to.
OL: I'm only concerned about left tackle. Michael Brewster and Justin Boren are going to be playing on Sundays for a long time, J.B. Shugarts really came on late at RT last year and Bryant Browning is a solid guy who really shined after being moved inside after a disaster of a season at RT in 2008. But left tackle... my oh my. Mike Adams was the #3 player in the nation, but his own teammates are calling him a bust behind the scenes, and it'll take a turnaround of epic proportions for him to ever make an impact. Andy Miller is a lot like Jim Cordle, a hard nosed kid that will give you his all but he's not the most talented, and he saw the field a lot last year at LT before succombing to the flu. If Seantrel Henderson becomes a Buckeye I wouldn't rule him out of this competition. We have some depth now, with Marcus Hall behind Shugarts, and then guys like Jack Mewhort, Corey Linsley, Sam Longo, and incoming frosh Andrew Norwell waiting in the wings.
DL: Losing Thad Gibson and Doug Worthington concerns me. Worthington was very underrated and he had an excellent game in the Rose Bowl. Thad is a loss, but outside edge rushers with the way we recruit and play are much easier to replace than a defensive tackle like Doug. Heyward should anchor the line from the strong side at end, sliding inside and moving all around the line at times as well. Dexter Larimore had a great first half of the year at the nose before he got hurt, and John Simon came on strong when that injury occured. Look for Garrett Goebel to make some nois here as well. Nathan Williams should slide into Thad's spot, he's not as athletic as Cam but, this is stereotypical, he's got a great motor. Melvin Fellows and a few others are waiting in the wings.
LB: Rolle and Homan return, and they had outstanding years last year. Spitler is gone, and he had a solid senior year but he was nothing spectacular. Sabino was excellent in practices all year and he is finally starting to play disciplined (In HS he basically ran around making plays, no real responsibilities). If Tyler Moeller is healthy after missing all year with a brain injury from a sucker punch, he'll play the star. We have a ton of depth here, I mean Dorian Bell was a 5* and he redshirted last year, so we're pretty good at this position.
DB: Now onto the weakest part of the team. Devon Torrence is our best corner, he's back. Chekwa has gotten picked on a lot over the past two years, but if he'd just turn his head around he'd be a much better player. Jermale Hines will likely slide into one of the safeties spots, he stepped in when Russell played terrible early in the year and played fantastic. At the other spot its up in the air... Orhian Johnson has barely touched the field and beyond that its not much better. We've got a lot of young talent waiting in the wings at corner (So much so that '09 Corey Brown was moved to WR), so its possible that one of them could be moved to S, but I have a feeling the safeties cost us a game this year.
Special Teams: Devin Barclay likely takes over the kicking duties for good and he was very good when he came in last year. Jon Thoma is gone after being horribly inconsistent in '09, and Ben Buchanon will likely take his spot. Ray Small is gone, which means we'll probably have less electric returns but also less muffed punts. We have to find someone to return kicks as well considering Lamaar Thomas transferred. Kickoff and punt coverage was a disaster last year... needs to be addressed big time in the off-season.
Schedule
Marshall W
Miami (FL) toss up
Ohio W
Eastern Michigan W
@ Illinois W
Indiana W
@ Wisconsin toss up
Purdue W
@Minnesota W
Penn State W
@ Iowa toss up
Michigan W
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01-29-2010, 10:47 PM
