What, Us Worry?

After hearing about Barclay and Basil hammering the ball Saturday afternoon, my list of worries heading into this season is dwindling into dangerous, delusional fan territory. I fully realize I'm flirting with fire here -- and I do know better -- the older I get, the better I've been able to temper my enthusiasm heading into each season (thanks, Coach Coop!). But I'm having a heck of a time finding a weakness on this team. Maybe you can help me if we talk through things a bit. First, let's hit the offense: At quarterback, you have the nation's top prep player in the 2008 class, matured and Tresselized to the point of saying and doing all of the right things as he enters his junior season. After the disaster at Purdue last season, he built confidence on the way to leading his team six-straight wins, including a breakout performance in the Rose Bowl victory against Oregon. I suppose there are still some questions about his technique and errant passes, but he has another year of rapport with his receiving corps under his belt and those first down scrambles on 3rd-and-8 absolutely crush the wills of opposing defenses. At running back, Saine and Herron return, and while neither of them will be confused for Beanie Wells anytime soon, they won't need to be. Saine has three years of quality experience under his belt, while Boom brings two, and with a gameplan that will feature the backs as receiving threats out of the backfield, the headiness that comes with that sort of seasoning is invaluable. Broken play? No problem, veteran running back is in the right spot for a dump-off with YAC potential. Boren at fullback gives the offense yet another weapon -- one that can catch and enjoys trucking defenders both with and without the ball. So yeah, no problems here, except for the lack of footballs to go around. Posey and Sanzenbacher return at wideout, Pryor's two top targets last season (60 and 36 receptions, respectively), and even with the departure of Duron Carter, there's no shortage of youngsters waiting to step up. Looking to hold off the youth movement is senior Taurian Washington, long been considered a practice hero in Columbus (and looks like that's still going strong). He received quality minutes in the Rose Bowl and though he didn't produce with receptions, his downfield blocking stood out more than once. Stoneburner is ready to become somewhat of a myth in Columbus -- a tight end that's used in the passing attack. He showed it in the spring game, and reports out of fall camp attest to the trend continuing. It will be nice to have the type of mismatch we've been victimized by in the past lining up for us for once. When you toss in Posey/Sanzenbacher, Stoneburner, Boren and the running backs, Terrelle will have no shortage of quality targets this season. Ah, the offensive line. The weak spot of two failed national championship attempts. Coming into the season, it really should be considered a concern. Yes, 80% of the group that piled up all of those 200-yard rushing games to close out the Big Ten is back, and yes, they performed well against the Ducks, but a lot of fans are correct in waiting to see the group perform against some of that elite, southern talent before we exhale. Hopefully we'll get that chance this year. I do know that I (perhaps foolishly) feel better about this group heading into the season than any other in the Tressel era. Boren and Brewster will have a shot at making some all-American teams, Browning is vastly underrated as a grade-paving guard, and Shugarts and Adams/Hall are young, but oozing potential. I found it interesting that Hall requested a move to the left side to get on the field sooner and whether that means this season really isn't the year for Adams, we'll soon find out. I do know that if the position falls to Hall, we'll be in good shape for many years to come. And now, on to the defense: Heacock is on record as saying the front four could be the best group he's seen at Ohio State. Though he wasn't the defensive coordinator back in '02, he was the line coach and that group, Darrion Scott, Kenny Peterson, Tim Anderson, and Will Smith, was pretty beastly. So if Heacock is saying that and promising to increase Cam Heyward's playing time from 60% of snaps to 90%, I'm liking that. Injuries are always a concern, and Nathan Williams banging up his knee Saturday isn't great news, but from all accounts, he'll be back in the saddle soon. What will be important for this group is to develop some of the depth that the Buckeyes have used so effectively past few years. Fellows, Goebel, Bellamy, and Thomas will all be trying to crack the rotation. If one of them has a Nathan Williams-type rookie season, we're in great shape. When I look at the linebackers, I see another group that would rank highly with those of the Tressel era. Homan and Rolle finished as the team's top tacklers last season and Sabino is poised for a breakout year flying under the radar a bit, as the two seniors draw most of the attention early on. The group might not be Hawk/Carpenter/Schlegel, but then again, it might be after everything is said and done. Homan, is incredibly consistent, Rolle is clutch, and Sabino brings a bit of speed to the edge to combat pass-first offenses. No worries with this group at all. The secondary has been singled out as being a group that might lead to some concern, and rightfully so, we're attempting to replace the spiritual leader of the group and there are concerns about the coverage ability of the top two corners. But, we're returning our top two corners, which is a heck of a lot better than not returning them, and one of them, Chekwa, has been suiting up since 2004 it seems. Even if there are lingering coverage concerns, the front seven will go a long way in masking any deficiencies and honestly, the Buckeyes might face two or three quarterbacks that have the ability to really sling the ball this season, so I'll take that. Hines at strong safety will be an absolute playmaker this season, and players are raving about Orhian Johnson, saying he might just be the best athlete on the team. Queue up your Chris Gamble comparisons. On passing situations, the team's best blitzer and one of the team's best hitters, Tyler Moeller, returns from missing all of the 2009 season. Anytime you add a cerebral guy that packs a wallop, that's a win. That leaves us with special teams. The kick scrimmage Saturday showed we have two guys that seem to be consistently good from 45 and in, and the incumbent returns with a Big Ten championship-winning kick under his belt. Punting might still be a concern. Though Buchanan recorded a nice average Saturday, Erwin outplayed him in the spring game and we all know how important the play is to the head coach. But, if the offense is half as prolific as we think it will be, how important is the punt to this team? How important was it to the 2006 team?  Which leads us to... kick coverage. If the offense goes Nintendo this fall, they will be kicking off a lot and the coverage exhibited in the Rose Bowl (and the Iowa game) leave a lot to be desired. But is that it? Is kick coverage the chief among our concerns heading into this season? If so, I can live with that. The coverage is something that can and will be addressed in camp -- there's plenty of time still to sort that out. So, what worries you the most? Are there any chinks in the armor?