Stop and think about this for a minute: There’s a chance that next season could see Ezekiel Elliott, Jalin Marshall, Curtis Samuel and Michael Thomas all on the field at the same time.
Scary, isn’t it?
Well, it’s kind of what Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer one day envisioned when he took over following the dismal 2011 season in which the Buckeyes finished 6-7.
“I kind of like our skill set,” Meyer said Monday during his weekly spring press conference.
It’s hard not to, especially when you consider the versatility of each of Ohio State’s top playmakers.
Only Thomas and Elliott are really defined to one position. They’re elite players at wide receiver and running back, respectively, and that’s the only spot they’ll play for the Buckeyes. But guys like Marshall, Samuel, Dontre Wilson and Noah Brown can line up all over the field.
This spring, Marshall has been specifically working outside at wide receiver after primarily playing at H-back last season. Samuel is working at the H-back spot after serving as the backup running back a year ago. And Brown is a hot name among fellow players and coaches as a guy who has had a breakout spring at a number of different spots.
It's exactly what makes Ohio State’s offense so dangerous, no matter who winds up at quarterback.
“The coaches have done a great job of putting us at different places on the field to make those plays. To be able to go into a game not worrying about one player playing one position gives great depth to the offense.”– Jalin Marshall
“The coaches have done a great job of putting us at different places on the field to make those plays,” Marshall said. “To be able to go into a game not worrying about one player playing one position gives great depth to the offense.”
That type of versatility is what Meyer wanted to bring to the Buckeyes. Under former head coach Jim Tressel, Ohio State didn’t really have those types of players as Tressel ran a totally different offense than Meyer.
“We had to go get more people that fit that type of system that we wanted, spread the field horizontally, too,” Meyer said. “That’s the Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson, Curtis Samuel-type player.”
But don’t get things twisted: the Buckeyes can still pound the ball. That much was proven throughout their three-game run to the national championship last season when Elliott toted the rock 76 times for 696 yards and eight touchdowns behind a mammoth offensive line that only got better as the season went on.
But part of that success was because of the threat of Ohio State’s versatile playmakers, according to Meyer.
“If you look at our success last year, even the inside run game to Zeke was created by the threat of the outside,” he said. “You’re going to have to defend the box and if you defend the box with Jalin and Dontre and some of those cats out there, there’s a nice match.”
The options seem endless, really. And even though the plethora of playmakers are competing for playing time, competing for snaps, it makes them better — both as individuals and as a team.
“Coming here, you know that’s what’s going to happen. You gotta fight to get on the field,” Brown said. “That’s one of the things that enticed me to come here because I’m forced to get better or else I won’t see the field.”
