A lot was made of Ohio State's youth throughout the 2016 season. The Buckeyes had the youngest team in college football a year after a historic exodus of talent to the NFL. Not many expected that team to bombard Oklahoma in Norman and nearly run the table through a loaded Big Ten conference all the way to the college football playoff, but that's exactly what happened.
The team's success despite its youth would understandably have many Buckeye fans excited for the future. After all, the youngest team in college football crashed the college football playoff, imagine what it could do next season returning nearly its entire roster.
True, Ohio State does return the bulk of its lineup, including the entire defensive line, its star quarterback, a thousand-yard rusher and a group of veteran fifth-year seniors. However, the few players the Buckeyes did lose to graduation and the NFL Draft accounted for a huge percentage of last season's production.
We take a look at just how much production Ohio State lost following the 2016 season, not including the obvious punting numbers, and provide our best guess at who will lead in each category in 2017.
Points
- Key Departures: Tyler Durbin (114), Curtis Samuel (90), Noah Brown (42), Dontre Wilson (36)
- 2016 Team Total: 512 points
- From Departed Players: 306 points
- Percent of Scoring Lost: 59.8 percent
Ohio State lost its top-two point scorers as well as five of its top eight following the 2016 season. Of course, a large percentage of Tyler Durbin's scoring was due to extra points, but it's still production that will need to be replaced and even if you exclude his numbers from the calculation, the Buckeyes still have to replace 48 percent of their scoring.
The biggest story here is Curtis Samuel. Sure, Ohio State returns J.T. Barrett and Mike Weber, who ranked No. 3 and 4 in scoring last season, but their numbers combined account for only three more touchdowns than Samuel had on his own.
It's not likely the Buckeyes will get that kind of scoring out of any one player in 2017. Instead, it will be a by committee approach. I'd expect the total points tally to remain around the same with touchdowns distributed among more players.
Projected Touchdowns Leader in 2017: J.T. Barrett
In red zone situations, Barrett has a knack for finding the end zone. There's a reason he was named the designated red zone quarterback in 2015 before taking sole control of the offense over Cardale Jones by season's end.
Mike Weber will be near the top as well, but I think Barrett will find the end zone just a few more times.
Rushing Yards
- Key Departures: Curtis Samuel (771), Dontre Wilson (78), Cameron Johnston (3)
- 2016 Team Total: 3,188 rushing yards
- From Departed Players: 852 rushing yards
- Percent Lost: 26.8 percent
26.8 percent is not a lot of production to lose, in the grand scheme of things, but it is when you realize nearly that entire number comes from one player. Curtis Samuel rushed for 771 yards last season, accounting for 24.2 percent of the team's total rushing yards.
Ohio State does return its two leading rushers in J.T. Barrett and Mike Weber, but Samuel was the team's top home run hitter, averaging more yards per carry than either of the other two.
Projected Rushing Leader in 2017: Mike Weber
Weber is a pretty safe pick considering he was a thousand-yard rusher as a freshman and is the team's top running back even with Samuel on the team. He'll almost surely lead the team in rushing in 2017. Meanwhile, Demario McCall and Parris Campbell will likely get some of Samuel's carries.
Receiving Yards
- Key Departures: Curtis Samuel (865), Noah Brown (402), Dontre Wilson (352)
- 2016 Team Total: 2,781 receiving yards
- From Departed Players: 1,708 receiving yards
- Percentage Lost: 61.4 percent
Not to beat a dead horse here, but Curtis Samuel...
This has been one of the major storylines of the offseason: production, or lack thereof, from zone-6. With the departures of Samuel, Noah Brown and Dontre Wilson, Ohio State lost its top three receivers, and fourth on that list is Marcus Baugh, a tight end.
Only three returning receivers even have over 100-yards receiving in their career and only three returning members of zone-6 actually found zone-6 last season. Quite simply, after a few departures, Ohio State has some work to do on the receiving end.
Projected Receiving Leader in 2017: K.J. Hill
Hill is the most accomplished returning receiver of the bunch. He caught 18 passes for 262 yards and a touchdown in 2016. While those numbers are modest for a top receiver, Hill will likely have a much-expanded roll in 2017 with the departures of Samuel, Brown and Wilson.
Another name to watch is Binjimen Victor. The true freshman caught just four passes for 64 yards and a touchdown last season, but with a year in the weight room and some experience under his belt, it's likely he'll be one of the top receivers in 2017.
Tackles
- Key Departures: Raekwon McMillan (49), Malik Hooker (43), Marshon Lattimore (30), Gareon Conley (21)
- 2016 Team Total: 484 solo tackles
- From Departed Players: 153 solo tackles
- Percentage Lost: 31.6 percent
For the purposes of this discussion, we only included solo tackles. The numbers may look slightly different if assisted tackles were also included, but in this case the numbers are comparable and it's easier to find a true percentage of tackles lost.
With the departures of Raekwon McMillan and Malik Hooker, Ohio State will need to replace two of their top-three leading tacklers in 2017. McMillan, the team's tackling leader, was the only Buckeye to have over 100 total tackles on the season.
Projected Tackles Leader in 2017: Chris Worley
Worley was fourth on the team in tackles in 2016 from his outside linebacker spot. If he does make the move to the middle linebacker position in 2017, those numbers will likely go up.
Interceptions
- Key Departures: Malik Hooker (7), Marshon Lattimore (4), Gareon Conley (4)
- 2016 Team Total: 21 interceptions
- From Departed Players: 15 interceptions
- Percentage Lost: 71.4 percent
When you lose 75 percent of your starting secondary, only losing 71.4 percent of your interceptions is pretty good!
It's going to be difficult to replicate the turnovers created by the Buckeye secondary in 2016, particularly with the loss of ball-hawking Malik Hooker. Still, Ohio State's defensive scheme isn't going to change much (or at all), so interceptions will come. They're just going to have to come from other players.
The returning player with the most interceptions last season is Jerome Baker, but I have a sneaky suspicion he will not lead the team in picks in 2017. It will likely be on of the three new members of the secondary.
Projected Interceptions Leader in 2017: Erick Smith/Jordan Fuller
I believe whoever wins the safety job — Jordan Fuller or Erick Smith — will lead the team in interceptions simply because of the nature of the position. Smith is getting most of the starting reps currently, but Fuller will make a push.
