It didn't take long for Jalin Marshall to get noticed at Ohio State's annual Student Appreciation Day practice.
Once the team — and by extension, some students and fans — finished stretching and doing individual drills Saturday, the Buckeyes moved into special teams work beginning with the kickoff team.
Marshall, the former high school quarterback turned wide receiver turned slippery H-back, lined up at returner with the first group. He fielded the kick cleanly, darted up the seam, made a move and blew past defenders for what would have been a touchdown had it been a live scrimmage or game.
A chorus of cheers followed from the students, who marveled over Marshall's quick feet and uncanny fluidity the now redshirt sophomore possesses with a ball in his hand.
It's that fact alone that has the coaching staff putting him on the field wherever, whenever they can in order to use him as much as possible.
"The coaches have done a great job of putting us at different places on the field to make those plays," Marshall said Saturday. "To be able to go into a game not worrying about one player playing one position gives great depth to the offense."
That's the goal for wide receivers coach Zach Smith and head coach Urban Meyer — put together a stable of talented ballcarriers so that if and when one goes down for whatever reason, they can just plug another one in like nothing happened.
For Marshall, though, this spring means more than that.
"I’ve moved Jalin outside just for the spring,” Smith said Tuesday. “The way our defense plays, so much press-man on the outside, I wanted Jalin to go in and get that work on the outside.”
"It’s allowed me to play faster, allowed me to run deeper routes, it’s allowed me to get better on my deep ball skills and I think developing the mains to myself to replace Devin if need be.”– Jalin Marshall, on playing outside receiver
He's getting plenty of snaps out there with Michael Thomas recovering from sports hernia surery, as well as his normal dose of reps at H-Back as Dontre Wilson continues his way back from a broken foot.
He's been quite busy, but Marshall has no problem with it.
"I think with game plan, I’ll be able to move anywhere on the field," Marshall said. "If they move me outside for matchup purposes, if they put me outside, if I have to play inside I can. I don’t think it’s a position yet, but it’s working toward being a better all-around player."
Anytime a player takes on a new wrinkle or position altogether there's bound to be an adjustment. That's something Marshall knows all too well after quarterbacking at Middletown High School, playing H-back last season and now working at true wideout.
"The first couple practices were rough," Marshall said. "But with coaching and technique, I’ve gotten better and you’ve seen it throughout the spring.”
One of the rougher things was dealing with a cornerback shoved right up under his nose before nearly every snap. That, of course, is a result of the in-your-face, knock around scheme Chris Ash and Kerry Coombs preach.
"The biggest difference is when I was inside I could free release up to the safety. Now, somebody’s in your face right now so you’ve gotta be able to work off that," Marshall said. "It’s allowed me to play faster, allowed me to run deeper routes, it’s allowed me to get better on my deep ball skills and I think developing the mains to myself to replace Devin if need be.”
Devin Smith made himself a lot of money by excelling in last year's postseason with Cardale Jones rocketing him deep passes behind defenders. His departure is a piece of the puzzle that badly needed to be addressed by Ohio State this spring.
Marshall, Thomas and others believe they can step in that role with the extra work they've put in outside of their comfort zones.
Toss in Curtis Samuel, a healthy Wilson and Ezekiel Elliott along with whoever gets the nod at quarterback and Ohio State's offense somehow appears on paper to be even more formidable than it was last season. That's not even counting guys who missed time during the title run like Johnnie Dixon.
But wherever Marshall gets the ball, whether it be punt returner, kickoff returner, wide receiver, H-back or even running back, he's confident he's an explosive play waiting to happen.
"You can switch Curtis outside, maybe me inside and then you’ve got Michael Thomas on the other side. It’s hard to defend three great receivers like that," Marshall said. "Like I said, we’ve developed, we’re getting better each day and it’s been good.”
