Ohio State has been in training camp for about 10 days now as they prepare to chase a national title during the 2024-2025 college football season.
While most positions on the roster are fairly set, there are still a number of position battles going on, and the team still has work to do to get where they want to be come August 31st's opener against Akron.
A big step towards getting there happened on Saturday, as the team underwent it's first scrimmage of training camp, which is usually when you start to see separation between those in position battles, as well as which units are ahead of others.
Sources around the WHAC have been fairly tight-lipped during camp thus far, but
Lettermen Row was able to get a few tidbits out of some folks to provide what we're hearing regarding the biggest day of Ohio State pre-season camp to date.
Will Howard continues to look like QB1 for Ohio State
In speaking with multiple sources about Saturday's scrimmage, a common thread when talking about the offense is that Kansas State transfer
Will Howard continues to look like "the guy" for Ohio State.
Three separate sources praised Howard's play on Saturday, and all three agreed they would be surprised if
Ryan Day did not name him as the starter sooner versus later (Day is scheduled to speak with the media on Thursday).
I'm told Howard was making throws all over the field on Saturday, and that his athleticism and ability to run were really apparent and can be a weapon that Ohio State has been missing in their offense since
Justin Fields roamed the sidelines---not that Howard is as fast or athletic as Fields, just that you can see OSU use the quarterback in the run game more than they have with
CJ Stroud and
Kyle McCord the past two season.
He's got to prove it when it matters, in real games, but the way Howard has ascended in camp is really encouraging for the Buckeyes' season prospects.
The running game looks to be back
In speaking with a couple of people on Saturday and Sunday, it seems that Ohio State has the perfect storm of personnel and events to get it's running game back on track.
It appears that having two incredibly talented backs in
TreVeyon Henderson and
Quinshon Judkins doesn't hurt, but that combined with
Chip Kelly and
Carlos Locklyn working very closely together with
Justin Frye and
Tim Drevno to "change the running game" has made a noticeable difference.
I have consistently heard from people who have watched practice how the running game is vastly improved and noticeably different, in a good way, and that seems to have been apparent once again on Saturday during the scrimmage.
Wide receivers earn high marks
I r
eported on Sunday morning that I heard that second year wideout
Bryson Rodgers had a nice day on Saturday, inclusive of scoring a touchdown in the scrimmage.
On Sunday, I also heard great things about
Jeremiah Smith. It's no surprise to hear that the freshman sensation had a good day on Saturday, but its certainly noteworthy. One thing that was good to hear about Smith was how good he was blocking on the edge during the scrimmage---we knew he could catch it and run, but to hear he is not only willing, but strong in run blocking was a big positive.
Two others who got praise, not necessarily for Saturday, but for the camps they are having thus far, were
Brandon Inniss and
Jayden Ballard. It seems like Ohio State's depth at receiver is shaping up nicely behind
Emeka Egbuka and
Carnell Tate.
Offensive line seems to be healthy again
A n
umber of offensive linemen missed practice late last week with what Day called a "funky virus". While this wasn't expected to be a long term deal, there was some concern with a few I spoke with about how it would impact some position battles on the line, as well as if it could spread to other groups.
I don't have definite head counts on who was and wasn't there on Saturday, but I am told that most, if not all, of the group was back, including
Carson Hinzman, who is in a battle for the right guard position with
Tegra Tshabola.
Unrelated to health, it seems that battle at right guard is really competitive. I continue to get almost split thoughts from sources as to which player is going to win that job.
BIA is actually going to be Best In America
The defensive back room has been calling itself "BIA", for "Best In America" since the second decade of this century, when the program was seemingly churning out first round picks every year.
It's been up and down for BIA over the last handful of years at times, but it seems like the 2024 version of the unit may actually be the best in America.
I have probably spoken to six or seven different people who have seen the team so far during camp and all of them have praised the secondary. That includes a few people I spoke to about Saturday's scrimmage, as the praise on BIA continued to be sky high.
One source said flat out, "they are the consensus best unit on the team and it's not really a debate".
Things got a bit chippy out there
In speaking with two different sources, it appears that Saturday's scrimmage was very physical and played with a lot of emotion. This led to some "chippiness" amongst teammates and players and coaches at time.
Fear not, though, this is nothing to worry about, and was considered by both sources to be "healthy competitiveness" between all those involved.
It appears the team is going really hard and the coaching staff is pushing them really hard thus far in camp, with Chip Kelly reportedly leading that charge in a big way on the offensive side of the ball. "This team has a different fire to it versus past teams that Ryan has had here," one source said. "I can't fully describe it, it's just different in the attitude they bring every single day".
