Ohio State will be without four prominent players for the season opener on Labor Day night against Virginia Tech due to suspension. All will be missed and their backups have to be ready to step up.
But how might the suspensions affect Joey Bosa, Jalin Marshall, Dontre Wilson and Corey Smith, moving forward? Who has the most to lose?
It is unlikely the one-game ban will have a long-term effect on Bosa. He’s likely gone to the NFL after this season and the issue isn’t likely to hinder his draft stock much. Even if he ends up tumbling a few spots in the NFL Draft, it won’t keep him from becoming an instant millionaire on draft day.
The junior defensive end will likely step back into the lineup and produce results right away, as someone of his talent level is able to do. Players of his caliber tend to get the benefit of the doubt by their coaches, so as long as there are no further transgressions, and there’s no one else on the roster at his position even close to his level at this point. Bosa will be fine.
Wilson is probably lucky that Marshall was also disciplined. Coming off a broken foot, the junior was already starting to lose snaps at H-back last season to Marshall when his injury took place. He could not have afforded to lose more ground to Marshall. As a pass catching option, Wilson is also fortunate that he won’t fall further behind Smith, who also “violated Department of Athletics policy.”
If Wilson is to turn around what has been a collegiate career marked (so far) only by potential and the occasional glimpse of what he could become, he’ll need to take to heart the lesson of this suspension and work to make people forget about it, because a player not performing up to Urban Meyer’s exacting standards on the field and acting up off of it is probably not long for the program.
Marshall, for his part, may have lost whatever ground he gained over Wilson in the second half of last season. The battle for the starting H-back spot was already tough enough before Braxton Miller decided a position change was in his best interest. Even beating out Wilson again this season isn’t going to guarantee Marshall a starting position at H-back. Miller’s athleticism, speed, open-field abilities, and threat as a passer are enough to threaten Marshall’s playing time.
Perhaps, like Wilson, Marshall is fortunate that Corey Smith was also punished. Marshall was a candidate to bounce out to wide receiver after the off-season losses to graduation of Devin Smith and Evan Spencer. If he does make that move, at least he starts on more of an even playing field with Corey Smith than he otherwise might have.
As for Smith, he may have the most to lose. The junior college transfer was slow to make an impact in 2014 and was plagued by drops through much of the season when called up on to make plays for Meyer’s offense. He came on nicely down the season’s final stretch, with devastating edge blocking and timely catches—although he still managed to find a way to turn a good play into a bad one with a fumble in scoring position after a 47-yard play against Oregon in the championship game.
Smith’s position battle is suddenly wide open, just as he seemed poised to stake his claim to a starting spot at Ohio State. Like with Wilson, talent, promise and potential will only get a player so far. He may have appeared the likely candidate to start opposite Michael Thomas but now he’ll have to fight that battle on multiple fronts to claim the position. Whatever advantage he had is now gone.
So it would seem that those with the most to lose from this group of suspensions are, in order, Smith, Wilson, Marshall and Bosa.
