Heacock is counting on Williams and Moeller to playJim Heacock and the Ohio State defense learned yesterday that Leo starter Nathan Williams will be out at least a week but won't require surgery on the left knee he injured Saturday before the kick scrimmage.
While it's obviously good news that Williams reportedly won't go under the knife, the timetable spanning one to possibly five weeks is not. Unfortunately, this is the second potentially significant injury to a starter during camp (Devon Torrence's strained hammy being the other) in that there's no question the worst case of five weeks could be a substantial hit to the defensive front. The 'Canes visit the 'Shoe in roughly 3.5 weeks meaning it's at least possible Solomon Thomas could be your Leo starter with equally untested Melvin Fellows and possibly true frosh David Durham helping anchor a position key to the pass rush and the zone pass defense if Williams struggles to recover.
In any event, the Buckeyes have been pretty lucky when it comes to the injury bug this year even seeing previously injured guys like Adams, Pryor, Shugarts, Boren, Moeller and Herron etc. all come into fall camp at full strength.
With the Williams injury a chief focus right now, it got me wondering which position group you think could least avoid a significant injury to a starter if Ohio State plans on hoisting the crystal next January. Obviously, losing Pryor for an extended period would be a virtual death sentence for a championship season so we'll exclude QB for the sake of discussion. Since we've already touched on the defensive line, here are a few other key spots to consider:
Wide Receiver
An injury to Posey or Sanzenbacher would be a major hit to a talented but inexperienced receiving corp pushing guys like T-Wash, Chris Fields and Grant Schwartz into more prominent roles. It could also limit the times Tressel commits to throwing the football down the field allowing defenses to stack the box.
Pryor's ability to audible and check to hot routes could also be severely compromised if the Buckeyes suffer a big loss of either Posey or Dane.
Secondary
Torrence's hamstring could be nothing but you just never know with injuries in that area. That fact, combined with the number of unproven guys behind Torrence and fellow starter Chimdi Chekwa is enough to give me dry heaves. Practice observers indicate Travis Howard has really stepped up but if a major injury hit one of the starters at corner, the impact could be severe. There's also the worry some have about Tyler Moeller not being able to get through the season considering what he's been through. Certainly, the potential loss of safety Jermale Hines would also have a dangerous ripple effect on the back line of what is already the most questionable area of the 2010 defense.
Punter
I know. It's the punter but this is Ohio State where the punt is the most important play in football. Combine that with the fact the Buckeyes really only have Ben Buchanan at the position now that Drew Basil is spending virtually all his time placekicking and the loss of Buchanan would be huge. The current backup is sophomore walk-on Derek Erwin. He averaged 40.1 yards on seven kick scrimmage punts. Meanwhile, the highly decorated Buchanan had a strong showing in the scrimmage (9 punts, 45.8 yard avg) armed with the knowledge the job is his unless his leg falls off.
You could always make a case for the offensive line but I'm not sure the other units would be hurt as much by the loss of a starter. What say you - which unit would be most negatively impacted the loss of a starter to major injury?
