Football
Fall Camp Wrap Up and Depth Chart Comments - Offense
By John PorentasGame week began this Sunday for the Buckeyes after three weeks of productive fall camp that helped the OSU coaching staff sort out who will be on the field early this season. The Buckeyes themselves were more than ready for fall camp to end and to get into the schedule.
"We're just dying for some rest. We were tired, so we finished with a good last practice and we're ready for 48 hours of rest before we come back Sunday," said OSU wide receiver Brian Hartline last Friday.
"You could tell this past week of camp that guys were on edge, there was a little more talking, a little more chirping. We're ready to play somebody other than ourselves."
The Buckeyes will do just that this Saturday when the Youngstown State Penguins come visiting to Ohio Stadium. One of the burning questions around the Buckeye state is just who will get the playing time minutes when the season begins. Fortunately, the depth chart was issued yesterday with answers to a lot of those questions. We've looked at the depth chart and reviewed our notes from fall camp. Here's how we see the position-by-position breakdown of how things currently stand on the depth chart. First, we'll take a look at the offense.
Quarterbacks: Todd Boeckman is clearly the number one, and despite the hype and the progress that Terrelle Pryor made in summer and fall camps, Joe Bauserman remains the backup. Our expectations are that Bauserman will hold onto that position this season and that Pryor will be used as expected, as a spot player to bring a changeup to the OSU offense. We also don't think Bauserman can "lose" that backup position.
What will probably keep Bauserman in the backup role is his extra year of experience. He has a broader command of the OSU offense and will prepare weekly to execute a broad gameplan while Pryor will have a limited package that he will be asked to execute well. If something were to happen to Boeckman, the OSU coaching staff would rather have the broad package still available to the overall offense and still have Pryor available for spot duty. That would leave Bauserman ahead of Pryor on the depth chart. That arrangement also makes best use of Pryor this season by giving him a limited package that he can do well to showcase his skills rather than diluting his skills by asking him to do other thing before he is really ready to do them. If something were to happen to Boeckman, however, Pryor would probably be asked to take on more of the offense in terms of game plan, etc. Ironically, that could actually diminish the amount of spot action he would see since he would be less able to work on the offensive package put in specifically for him.
As to Boeckman, all indications are that he is an improved quarterback, not that he was bad last year. He is throwing the ball well and has assumed a role as team leader. We look for Todd Boeckman to have an outstanding season.
Tailback: Beanie Wells is back and healthy, and that's a very good thing for the OSU offense. He is clearly the number one guy, but there is a bit of intrigue behind him. Boom Herron has moved past Mo Wells on the depth chart and is also listed ahead of Brandon Saine. The move past M. Wells is probably a simple case of one player beating out another for a position. The situation with Saine is more complicated.
Saine missed much of fall camp with injuries. He is expected to be full go physically for the opener, yet is not listed as the backup tailback. Running backs coach Dick Tressel talked about the need for Saine to improve his preparation level.
"Brandon Saine will be 100 percent on the health side (for the opener) but he won't be 100 percent yet on the preparation that goes along with his being out there sloshing around running plays, having a ball in your hands, reacting to the speed that's on the field," said Tressel.
We wonder if there isn't a little more to that. Saine missed time last season due to injury as well as the time he missed this fall. That trend leads to the conclusion that he is either a bit injury prone or does not cope well with the bumps and bruises that regularly come with being a Division I running back. Beanie Wells learned about that last fall and was a better running back once he learned the lesson.
"If you're playing football and playing running back you're never going to be pain-free. It's just something that you're going to have to deal with, and that's what I learned last year. I learned to play being hurt," Wells said.
Dick Tressel has talked repeatedly about Herron's toughness. It is the one thing he repeats regularly when talking about Herron. You almost get the feeling that is the attribute that is separating him from Saine at the moment.
Offensive Line: The starters are pretty much as expected, but there was at least one surprise in the backups. Walkon Scott Sika is backing up Steve Rehring at left guard. Kyle Mitchum had been in that backup role but is injured. What is interesting is that Sika is ahead of any number of scholarship players who could have won that role.
One of the more positive developments along the offensive line is the development of Andrew Miller at that position. Miller came to OSU as a tight end but made the move to offensive line last year. He has very good feet and mobility and is one of the best pass blockers in the offensive line group. He is currently listed at the backup to Alex Boone at left tackle.
Fullback: Brandon Smith has moved from tight end to fullback and has stepped up to more or less really claim that job.
"We're very pleased with his development," said Dick Tressel.
"He's been a line of scrimmage guy. You don't have a handle on what he's going to be like when he has to run four yards and do what he used to do on the line of scrimmage. He's been very effective at that. There's been no hesitation, no stutter in the step. He just goes. I think he sees an opportunity," Tressel said.
"In most cases we're blocking the same guy just from a different landmark," said Smith explaining how his experience at tight end helped him in his transition to fullback.
"The tight end is right there on the line of scrimmage and the fullback is coming out of the backfield from various spots. It's more about technique. It's the same guy in most cases, you just have to go about getting at him in a different way. Some things are a little different, but the bottom line is it's all about football, get your man, block him and make some way for those running backs."
Smith's emergence in that position may also allow the OSU offensive coaches to take more advantage of the fullback as an offensive threat this season.
"The tight end position has a lot of carryover into the fullback position. The passing game is absolutely alike. That was one of the issues we had last year with the fullback," said Tressel.
"We didn't get the fullback as involved with the passing game as maybe we should have."
Smith will allow the Buckeyes to do that this season if they so choose.
Wide Receivers: The depth chart is about as everyone expected. The real questions are in the backups and the third, fourth and even fifth wide receiver spots.
The "step up guy" of camp was probably Dane Sanzenbacher at the slot position, but don't write off Ray Small there either. Both will see action this year.
"You have guys pushing each other," said wide receivers coach Darrell Hazell. "I saw that out of Dane and Ray this fall. Those guys are battling every single practice and there's nothing like competition."
Hazell indicated that it is now very close between Sanzenbacher and Small, which is good news for the Buckeyes. The fifth position will probably go to either Taurian Washington or freshman DeVier Posey. Posey has impressed since arriving for summer drills, but Hazell likes the progress he has seen in Washington as well.
"He's got speed, he's got great hands, he's big, he's a 6-3 guy, and he's starting to play well in traffic," said Hazell.
"When you're young, you don't play as fast around people, and you need to play fast if you want to get open around people. He'll be a good player for us. We'll play him this year as some point in time."
Tight End: Not many surprises there. Brandon Smith is still listed as a backup tight end though he is also listed as the starting fullback. Rory Nicol and Jake Ballard will get most the snaps at that position.
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