- I'll get the most Captain Obvious thing out of the way first. Don't pay too much attention to the black stripe stuff, Quinshon Judkins and Caleb Downs are everything Ohio State hoped they would be. Downs has stepped right in like he owns the room and has tremendous leadership qualities. Don't think it will be this year, but he'll be a captain next year for sure. Judkins brings a different element of physicality than Henderson but with the same type of explosiveness. It's going to be a pretty special one-two punch if they stay healthy.
- I'm getting mixed reviews on the QB play so far from the vets Devin Brown and Will Howard. Now as someone who was not as enthusiastic about Howard coming in as most, I will say that they haven't really done anything to this point with the QB run game and so judging Howard (and Brown to an extent) without that piece of the puzzle isn't being fully intellectually honest. But for now, just some inconsistencies and growing pains, highs and lows.
- Now one QB did make a big jump this week in performance and that was Julian Sayin. I've had several people rave about him to me this week and he's the guy on the roster with the most arm talent. To the point where he's been given some 'elevated opportunities' in the lineup at certain points to work with the 1s. Now before anyone goes off the rails here, I think it's *extremely* unlikely that he actually pushes for the starting job this season, but his improvement has been noticeable in a very short time and he has been rewarded for it.
- If we took a silent poll of folks inside the Woody and asked 'Who is the best receiver on the team, TODAY?' who do you think the answer would be? Egbuka? Tate? Those are great answers. They're also wrong. Jeremiah Smith would be the answer. He has absolutely torn spring ball up so far. It's hard to imagine my expectations of him could be surpassed this year, but I think they're going to be. Everyone was excited about Carnell Tate last spring, but the buzz here is different. I haven't heard buzz like this about an "unknown commodity" since Malik Hooker before his one insane season at safety for Ohio State.
- But Smith isn't the only wide receiver star of spring. Brandon Inniss has made a big second year leap both physically with his body and in terms of his consistency and knowledge of the offense. He's going to be a big part of things this year.
- None of this is to dampen expectations on Carnell Tate. I think everyone knows he's the next likely first rounder at receiver after Egbuka, but Inniss has really flashed and picked up his game. Starting to act more like a vet and Smith has turned every possible skeptic into a believer.
- Luke Montgomery has been a spring standout and is being given every opportunity to win a starting position at right guard. While I still think it's very possible that the loser of the center battle kicks over to right guard, Montgomery looks like he could be ready to handle being one of the five. I think you could see OSU go to a bit of a six-man rotation *if* Montgomery *and* the loser of the center battle both prove too good to sit.
- Continue to hear that the Buckeyes would be active in the spring portal window for a tackle prospect. The preference would be a star player, not just a guy, and one with multiple years left, not a one-year rental. We'll see if that opportunity presents itself.
- Of the other young linemen, Austin Siereveld has been brought up to me throughout the off-season as an improved player.
- A lot of angst in the fanbase about the linebacker position right now. But feedback so far has been pretty optimistic. A lot of folks don't feel this will be a weak point on the roster and that the combination of Simon/Hicks/Powers/Styles will turn out to be a pretty dynamic unit. Seeing is believing on this for many, but I don't get the same sense of skepticism from my sources about the linebackers.
- Defensive tackle room is crowded right now and the battles to get into the depth chart and be a rotational player behind Williams and Hamilton will very likely be on-going through fall camp. The expectation has been that Tywone Malone, Hero Kanu, and Kayden McDonald were pretty well set as the next guys up, but Jason Moore has taken advantage of the redshirt year in terms of getting his body close to where it needs to be. Might still be a year away, but that's a player that I wouldn't forget about moving forward. He's trending in the right direction.
- No BS from Chip Kelly in his recent presser. He's loving life right now as a guy who can just focus on football. Getting along great with the players and not having to do all of the CEO nonsense has made him more "present" as a recruiter when these kids are up on their visits.
- Talked to a couple of trusted sources about the general attitude at practice and will paraphrase what each shared but it was interesting. You always hear these glowing spring ball reports about intensity, focus, blah blah blah. You even hear it from recruits attending practices. Yes, Ohio State practices are competitive and fast paced and high energy, we know that. That's the case every year. It's not like one year everyone is walking around moping at practice and another year it's full throttle. So lets get past the clichés a bit here.
The biggest thing about practice, so far, is that the competition hasn't been one-sided. Last year, the defense dominated spring ball and we generally saw why on the field in the fall. The few years before that, the offense was consistently getting the better of the defense, which is generally alarming since the defense is usually ahead of the offense early on, and we saw why that was on the field in the fall as well.
This year hasn't been so lopsided to this point. The battles and competition are truly competitive. That has been the difference so far and why there is such a high level of optimism around the program right now.
