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Ohio State football spring practice preview: Top storylines, intriguing players on offense
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- Ohio State football spring practice preview: Top storylines, intriguing players on offense
Ohio State is back at football practice this week. The first of 15 spring practices are to be held on Tuesday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
As the Buckeyes prepare for next season, here is a closer look previewing both sides of the ball, starting on offense with the top storylines, most intriguing players, position battle to watch, freshman to follow and breakout candidate.
Former Oregon and UCLA head coach Chip Kelly is Ohio State's new offensive coordinator.
Top storylines
How will Chip Kelly reshape the Ohio State offense?
Ryan Day has long drawn influence from Kelly.
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It was a quarter century ago when Day was a quarterback at New Hampshire while Kelly was the offensive coordinator.
Day later served as the quarterbacks coach for Kelly in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015 and San Francisco 49ers in 2016.
That is to say that the spread offense the Buckeyes have run in recent seasons is already rooted in ideas developed by Day's mentor.
Kelly is Ohio State's offensive coordinator after he was hired last month to replace Bill O'Brien .
The arrival is unlikely to bring an overhaul to the system, but it figures to add needed wrinkles. The 30.5 points the Buckeyes averaged last fall were their fewest in a season since 2011.
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The practices over the next month should offer early clues for how things might evolve with Kelly.
More: Q&A: Pac-12 Networks' Nick Aliotti on Chip Kelly, tempo and his innovative offenses
Devin Brown will compete with transfer Will Howard for Ohio State's starting quarterback job.
Can Devin Brown make another push to start at quarterback?
Devin Brown nipped at the heels of Kyle McCord in a tight battle last year that continued into September .
While McCord has since left Ohio State, transferring to Syracuse in December , the staff found a potential replacement, bringing in Will Howard as a transfer from Kansas State .
Howard has experience, having made 27 starts with the Wildcats , and held off on entering the NFL draft in order to use his final year of collegiate eligibility with the Buckeyes. It figures to make him the front-runner to win the starting job.
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But Brown has the potential to make this a real competition as he did a year ago. If not, Howard might be an even heavier favorite to prevail in the derby.
The other three scholarship quarterbacks are freshmen, including Lincoln Kienholz , who redshirted last fall, as well as Air Noland, who enrolled a semester early and Julian Sayin , who transferred from Alabama after he signed with the Crimson Tide in December.
Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson gets a block from tackle Josh Fryar against Western Kentucky.
Will a rebuilding offensive line show progress?
The Cotton Bowl proved a fitting end for an offensive line that had ups and downs in 2023. In the humbling loss to Missouri , the Buckeyes surrendered four sacks and left Brown and Kienholz under frequent duress.
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Ohio State has since sought to upgrade the line, adding Alabama transfer center Seth McLaughlin .
But it must also see improvement from returning starters, including tackles Josh Fryar and Josh Simmons , and find a replacement for Matt Jones at right guard, the only vacancy on the line.
There is the possibility of sliding Fryar inside to guard, a move that would open a spot for up-and-coming tackles Luke Montgomery and Tegra Tshabola.
There are not as many moving parts as last year when offensive line Justin Frye began a rebuild, needing to replace All-American tackles Paris Johnson and Dawand Jones , but the need to take a step forward is just as pressing.
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More: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy
Most intriguing players
Mississippi's Quinshon Judkins led the Southeastern Conference in rushing last year.
Quinshon Judkins
A high-profile transfer from Mississippi who led the Southeastern Conference in rushing when he broke out as a freshman in 2022 , Judkins is expected to split the workload with TreVeyon Henderson , who was the Buckeyes' leading rusher last fall. The practices over the next month offer a look at how the physical runner fits into the offense.
Nov 18, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (2) runs toward Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive back Tre'Von Jones (2) after making a catch during the NCAA football game at Ohio Stadium.
Emeka Egbuka
With Marvin Harrison Jr. leaving early for the NFL and Julian Fleming transferring to Penn State , there are openings for Egbuka to move from the slot to outside receiver. A switch would affect how the Buckeyes could position the rest of their receivers. An opening in the slot would especially be an opportunity for Brandon Inniss .
Issues with snapping the ball plagued Seth McLaughlin as Alabama’s starting center last season.
Seth McLaughlin
After issues with snapping the ball plagued McLaughlin as Alabama 's starting center last season, he said in January that he had developed a plan with Frye to address those bad snaps. Games will be the most revealing stage, but practices will also provide revealing glimpses as he looks to move on.
Nov 4, 2023; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes tight end Gee Scott Jr. (88) runs off the field following the NCAA football game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at SHI Stadium. Ohio State won 35-16.
Position battle to watch: Tight end
The loss of Cade Stover , who was the Buckeyes' most prolific receiving tight end since John Frank, is a significant one and leaves a sizable hole atop the depth chart. Expect a handful of potential replacements, led by Gee Scott Jr., who was No. 2 tight end last season, as well as Will Kacmarek, who transferred from Ohio . The wild card is Jelani Thurman, who looked the part as a freshman, though the path to the field for underclassman tight ends is usually a big longer.
Ohio State 2024 commitment Jeremiah Smith attends OSU's football game against Youngstown State.
Freshman to follow: Jeremiah Smith
Carnell Tate turned heads last spring, and there is reason to think Smith could be the latest freshman receiver to make a strong first impression. Not only was Smith ranked as the top receiver in the nation in the last recruiting class, but he was also the No. 1 overall prospect. With only one returning starting receiver in Egbuka, there are more snaps up for grabs.
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Breakout candidate: Luke Montgomery
Ohio State offensive linemen Luke Montgomery (98) and Josh Fryar (70) watch for a play call during last year's game at Indiana.
By pushing Fryar at right tackle last season, Montgomery was not far from becoming only the third true freshman to start on the offensive line for Ohio State, and he saw the second-most snaps among the Buckeyes' backup linemen. The recruiting pedigree of Montgomery, a former top-100 recruit in the 2023 class, points to him making an impact either at guard or tackle. Montgomery could benefit from Fryar moving inside, or he could line up at guard as Johnson once did.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch and can be reached at jkaufman@dispatch.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football spring practice preview: Offense
