Ohio State held its sixth practice of the spring on Monday morning, and the media was allowed in for another one-hour viewing window as the Buckeyes continued their preparation for the spring.
The biggest news of the morning was the absence of starting middle linebacker Tuf Borland, who is sidelined due to an Achilles injury. With Borland out of the lineup, Justin Hilliard took over as the Buckeyes’ first-team middle linebacker.
Malik Harrison lined up as the starting strongside linebacker, while Keandre Jones lined up as the starting weakside linebacker. Baron Browning, who began the spring working at weakside linebacker, worked as the second-team middle linebacker on Monday, with Pete Werner and early enrollee Dallas Gant taking second-team outside linebacker reps.
As for the quarterback competition, Dwayne Haskins was the first man through the order for most of Monday’s viewing window, but Haskins, Burrow and Martell all continued to take about even reps as the Buckeyes continue to evaluate everything each quarterback does.
More observations from Monday morning’s practice:
Mack, Wade among standouts
Ohio State spent part of Monday morning’s practice working on red zone passing drills, with all three potential starting quarterbacks getting their turn to try to fit passes into tight windows into the end zone. Haskins completed two touchdown passes, while Burrow and Martell each completed one.
Austin Mack was on the receiving end of two touchdowns (one from Haskins and one from Martell), while Parris Campbell and Jaylen Harris each caught one. On the defensive end, a standout of the drill was redshirt freshman cornerback Shaun Wade, who forced multiple incompletions in coverage, including a dropped interception on a throw from Martell. Hilliard was also credited with a tackle short of the end zone.
Excused absences
While most of the offensive and defensive linemen battled in the trenches on Monday morning, a few of the Buckeyes’ more experienced and established linemen were excused from team drills. Defensive end Nick Bosa and defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones, who certainly didn’t need to be hitting and risking injuries in March, did individual drills with graduate assistant defensive line coach Kenny Anunike. Left tackle Isaiah Prince, meanwhile, stood and watched team drills with helmet in hand.
With Prince out of the lineup, Joshua Alabi took his place as the first-team left tackle, while the rest of the first-team offensive line was the same as it was during the opening practice: Malcolm Pridgeon at left guard, Brady Taylor at center, Demetrius Knox at right guard and Thayer Munford at right tackle.
The second-team offensive line, meanwhile, consisted of Matthew Burrell at left tackle, Gavin Cupp at left guard, Josh Myers at center, Wyatt Davis at right guard and Max Wray at right tackle. Starting left guard Michael Jordan and Branden Bowen, who is expected to compete with Knox for the starting right guard job, remain sidelined with injuries.
Jonathon Cooper, Chase Young and Jashon Cornell all rotated with the first-team defensive line at defensive end while Robert Landers, Haskell Garrett and Davon Hamilton took first-team reps at defensive tackle. Tommy Togiai and Jerron Cage took second-team reps at defensive tackle while Noah Donald and Aaron Cox took second-team reps at defensive end.
Another core starter who was limited in Monday’s practice was safety Jordan Fuller, who was wearing an orange jersey, signifying him as a limited participant.
Other notes
- Early enrollee quarterback Matthew Baldwin, who underwent ACL surgery this winter, was in uniform alongside the quarterbacks on Monday but did not throw.
- Demario McCall and Terry McLaurin fielded punt returns.
- Former Ohio State walk-on Nick Seme, who is currently interning with the Buckeyes’ strength and conditioning staff, was present and helping out with practice.
