As the start of spring football at Ohio State approaches on March 6, we here at Eleven Warriors are taking a position-by-position look at the competitions to come when practices begin in less than two weeks.
If there's any position group that has stability this offseason, it's the specialists. The Buckeyes head into spring practice returning their starting place kicker, punter, long snapper and kickoff specialist.
With every specialist returning, no scholarship freshman additions and no clear position battles, this spring is about improvement for Ohio State's special teams.
What We Know
The Buckeyes return a starter at every special teams position.
Sean Nuernberger returns as Ohio State's placekicker after what was without doubt the best season of his career. He redshirted during the 2016 season due to a nagging hamstring injury, but came back strong in 2017. Nuernberger made all 71 extra points – setting a Big Ten record for most consecutive extra points made in the process – and hit 17 of 21 field goals, giving him his best single-season field goal percentage.
The Buckeyes also return starting punter Drue Chrisman, who had an eye-popping start to his career this season. Of his 51 punts, 15 were over 50 yards and 25 were downed inside the 20-yard line, and he didn't so much as have a punt returned for the first 10 games of the season. The season was good enough for Chrisman to be named a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award.
Blake Haubeil returns as Ohio State's kickoff specialist. Haubeil struggled in that role at times his true freshman season, which aided to the kick-coverage woes. The Buckeyes' kickoff scheme requires the kick to be placed between the numbers and the sideline, just shy of the goal line – from about 60 yards away. It's a tough task, and it didn't always go smoothly, but Haubeil did improve throughout the season.
The Buckeyes also return their starting long snapper, Liam McCullough, who has handled long snapping duties for the past two seasons.
What We Don't
Though the Buckeyes do return all of their specialists, they lose a couple of key special teams contributors such as Zach Turnure and Elijaah Goins – both of whom earned scholarships for their special teams play.
Goins, one of the fastest players on the roster last season, played the five position on the kickoff team, responsible for compressing and containing the kickoff return. Turnure, meanwhile, cleaned up, finishing the season with 13 total tackles.
Ohio State will look to fill these positions, along with a few other special teams positions vacated by last year's freshmen now moving into larger roles. It's likely many of the incoming true freshmen will take on these roles next season.
Another thing to watch is what the Buckeyes do in terms of kick coverage. It's no secret Ohio State struggled to cover kickoffs last season for a number of reasons. Do the Buckeyes abandon that coverage scheme in favor of another one this season, or do they look to improve upon this one?
