Ohio State will have 16 new starters when it takes the field Saturday for the season-opener against Bowling Green. This has long been known since a mass talent exodus occurred following the Buckeyes’ 2015 season.
Head coach Urban Meyer has been hesitant to anoint any players to fill those open positions throughout fall camp though he has named a few. Jamarco Jones was announced as Ohio State’s starting left tackle; Sam Hubbard was named a starting defensive end and Curtis Samuel is going to start somewhere on the field, as well.
But even though the majority of the other positions don’t technically have starters yet, Meyer had provided updates throughout camp on who leads certain position battles. On Monday at his game week press conference, Meyer again provided an updated look at a potential depth chart. There weren’t many changes from the last time Meyer spoke on this specific topic.
Meyer had the following to say about the Buckeyes’ offense:
“The front five on offense, if it continues, will be Isaiah Prince and Jamarco Jones at tackle. You’ll have Billy and Michael Jordan at guard, if he continues to grow. Pat at center.”
“Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel at tailback and Dontre Wilson. At receiver, that’s still in the air a little bit, but Noah Brown will be involved in that, and then you’ve got Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Austin Mack. At tight end, you’ve got Marcus Baugh and A.J. Alexander.”
So yeah, nothing all that new there.
Barring a drastic change or injury, Jordan and Prince will start at tackle even though they’ve yet to officially be named starters. Weber is in the same boat, though Samuel certainly appears like he’ll take some carries in addition to lining up at receiver. Campbell, McLaurin and Corey Smith will all be rotating at wide receiver in addition to Brown. There will likely be others, as well.
Additionally, Meyer said Joe Burrow would be the Buckeyes’ No. 2 quarterback against the Falcons.
Defensively, similar remarks were made and there weren’t many changes to Meyer’s previous comments on that side of the ball.
“On defense, you have [Tracy] Sprinkle and Mike Hill on the inside and you have Tyquan [Lewis] and Sam Hubbard on the outside,” Meyer said. “Inside you’ll also see Dre’Mont Jones and DaVon Hamilton and at defensive end, for sure, Jalyn Holmes. We should slash him as a co-starter with Sam because he’s had a really good camp.”
“Linebacker you’ve got [Chris] Worley, [Raekwon] McMillan and Dante Booker. Safety is Damon Webb and Malik Hooker and cornerback is Marshon Lattimore or [Denzel] Ward with Gareon [Conley] on the other side.”
Cornerback seems to be the only starting spot that’s really up for grabs on defense, while one wide receiver position appears to be the lone remaining spot left on offense.
Ohio State is scheduled to release its official depth chart for Bowling Green on Tuesday, but the reality is those two positions likely won’t be known until Saturday at noon.
