As we know from Scarlet and Gray Games of the past, the best performers don't always lock up a starting position or even earn extra snaps in the process. There are several historical examples of players who can speak to that.
Somewhat derisively, almost every Ohio State beat writer has made the "Bam Childress Award" joke since the launch of Twitter (not judging, 11W is guilty of it too). Childress seemingly played well every April without doing much in the fall. He was, in essence, well known because of his spring game exploits. Credit to him for playing in the NFL, though.
The players listed below might be more like Michael Thomas, however – play well in April during the early portion of their careers before a breakout year later on.
Nick Conner
What was once the major weakness of the roster is now the biggest strength of the defense. The most talented linebacker recruits face the prospect of sitting multiple seasons before getting a shot to play consistently.
Nick Conner was a four-star recruit out of Dublin Scioto, rated as the eighth best prospect at his position. Considering how heralded Raekwon McMillan was and how well he's played since arriving at Ohio State, it's unlikely Conner usurps McMillan anytime soon. He also has sophomore Dante Booker in the way.
Like McMillan, Conner enrolled early and had a strong spring. Conner capped it off with seven total tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and one tackle for loss in the spring game.
Urban Meyer was impressed, but not surprised.
"He was good. We had high expectations for him, though," Meyer said, following the game. "Hope he doesn't redshirt and gets involved in the kicking game."
Jeff Greene
The crop of receivers continue to get better, even with the departures of several top wideouts the past two seasons.
Jeff Greene, because of his size, will never be a forgotten man. There will always be a temptation to put a 6-foot-5-inch guy on the outside, particularly in goal-line situations. To this point in is Ohio State career, that potential only resulted in one reception – a 13 yard grab in a blowout of Illinois.
He caught five passes for 56 yards, Saturday, his longest reception being 35 yards. At the same time, Greene was overshadowed by teammate Parris Campbell. The redshirt freshman speedster also caught five passes and QB Stephen Collier constantly tried to force the ball downfield to Campbell.
Whoever the starting quarterback is will have plenty of options to spread the ball around to. Greene will fight a seemingly insurmountable group of wideouts and h-backs for targets: Michael Thomas, Corey Smith, Noah Brown, Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson, among others.
Until he sees the field, Greene will have to settle for impersonating J.T. Barrett:
JT the man tho pic.twitter.com/UnjSGAlq7M
— Danny Brennan (@dbrennn) March 27, 2015
Terry McLaurin
The fastest Buckeyes will always have a chance to contribute and play immediately in Meyer's offense. Few can match Terry McLaurin's speed.
He failed to make an impact last year and it will be difficult for him to do so this year, considering the aforementioned group of receivers. He probably won't be able to display some tantalizing return abilities on special teams, with the already established Marshall, Wilson and Curtis Samuel group.
McLaurin didn't have a chance to field any punts or kicks in the spring game. In the non-Cardale Jones highlight of the game, he hauled in this 35-yard pass from Collier:
Chris Worley
One of last spring's hottest position battles occurred at the "walkout" linebacker spot. That won't be an issue this year.
Meyer constantly praised Chris Worley in practice but, from the outset, he couldn't take first-team reps away from Darron Lee. That proved to be the case throughout the season, with Lee establishing himself as a potential future first round draft pick. Worley played in 13 games, spelling Lee on occasion. He only recorded 11 tackles, though, many of which came on special teams duties.
The lack of playing time hasn't discouraged Worley. He had six tackles in the spring game, one behind Conner for the highest total.
Unprompted, Meyer mentioned Worley by name in his post-game press conference.
"Worley, I thought played outstanding today," he said. "He had a great spring."
