While everyone will be competing for playing time when Ohio State begins spring practice on March 4, there are a few players in particular who need to have big springs to improve their chances of earning playing time for the Buckeyes.
That’s especially true for the upperclassmen who, for one reason or another, haven’t seen much playing time for the Buckeyes yet. Some of them have already been surpassed by younger players, while they all have younger players nipping at their heels, but if they’re going to make a significant impact in their Ohio State careers, they’re running out of time.
Of all the players on Ohio State’s roster, the following 10 Buckeyes are among those with the most on the line this spring. All of them are either juniors or seniors in eligibility, and if they don’t make their move up the depth chart this spring, they might not get another chance.
Some of these players could be candidates to explore their options and seek a transfer if they don’t climb the depth chart this spring – like Joe Burrow, Antonio Williams and Matthew Burrell did after making last year’s make-or-break list – but they will hope to follow in the footsteps of Luke Farrell, who parlayed a strong spring from the make-or-break list all the way to becoming the Buckeyes’ starting tight end last fall.
Demario McCall, RB/H-Back
McCall has been hyped as a potential big-play threat for Ohio State’s offense for the past two years, but it has yet to come to fruition, as he had just eight carries and nine receptions last season. He’s moved back and forth between the running back and H-back positions, offering the ability to be a difference-maker as both a runner and receiver, but he has yet to earn regular playing time.
Now that he is entering his redshirt junior season, though, McCall needs to find his way onto the field if he’s ever going to live up to the hype.
With the departures of Mike Weber and Parris Campbell to the NFL, the door is open for McCall to potentially be either the No. 2 running back or the No. 2 H-back in the Buckeyes’ offense. He’s spent most of his time with the running backs dating back to last season, so becoming J.K. Dobbins’ top backup – or becoming a situational passing-down back – looks like his most likely path to the field, but it’s still uncertain how the coaches might choose to use him.
C.J. Saunders, WR
While Ohio State’s younger wide receivers will have another shot to earn a spot in the Buckeyes’ rotation next year – with K.J. Hill, Austin Mack and Binjimen Victor all entering their senior seasons – Saunders, as a fellow senior, is the one receiver who will be competing this spring for his one and only chance to earn a spot in the rotation.
While Saunders wasn’t ever expected to see regular playing time for Ohio State when he joined the team as a walk-on cornerback in 2016, he has pushed for playing time at wide receiver for each of the past two seasons, earning a scholarship in 2018. Now that Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Johnnie Dixon are gone from the program, Saunders will get his shot to earn a spot in the six-man rotation.
To become the No. 2 slot receiver on the depth chart behind K.J. Hill, he’ll need to fend off redshirt freshman Jaelen Gill (and possibly McCall, depending on which position he plays). Gill is an explosive athlete who arrived in Columbus as a highly touted recruit, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him seize a spot in the rotation. Saunders does have the advantage of experience, though, playing 281 total snaps over the past two seasons. That could give Saunders the first shot to earn that spot in the rotation, but he’ll need to perform well this spring to prove he should keep it.
Jake Hausmann, TE
With Farrell, Rashod Berry and Jeremy Ruckert all ahead of him on the depth chart, the opportunity for Hausmann – who was already on the make-or-break list last year – to earn a substantial role in Ohio State’s offense might have already passed him by. With Farrell and Ruckert set to still be around for the next two years, too, Hausmann appears to face an uphill climb to earning significant snaps at tight end.
He’s still at Ohio State, though, and was actually a more highly touted prospect than either Farrell or Berry when he arrived in Columbus in 2016. The four-star recruit from Cincinnati has played just 20 career snaps at tight end for the Buckeyes, but this spring could give him one more opportunity to demonstrate he belongs on the field.
If he can’t make a move up the depth chart this spring, though, the redshirt junior might have to consider exploring his options if he wants to see significant playing time before his college football career is over.
Joshua Alabi, OT
Another player making a repeat appearance on the make-or-break list, Alabi will be competing for an open starting spot at offensive tackle for the second spring in a row – but this time, it’s truly his last chance, as the converted defensive tackle enters his fifth-year senior season.
Last spring, Alabi was beaten out for the starting left tackle job by Thayer Munford. He ended up still playing 254 snaps at the position, though – including every snap of the Rose Bowl – as Munford battled injuries over the course of the year.
Now, that experience could make Alabi the frontrunner to earn the starting job open opposite Munford. He’ll have to compete for the chance to start once again this spring, though, with highly recruited redshirt freshman Nicholas Petit-Frere and fellow fifth-year senior Branden Bowen also potential candidates to start at the position.
Branden Bowen, OG/OT
Bowen has the most starting experience of any player on this list, having started six games at right guard for the Buckeyes in 2017. He hasn’t played in a game since then, however, after undergoing three surgeries to repair the broken leg that ended his 2017 season prematurely.
Now that he is finally feeling healthy again, Bowen has his sights on earning his way back into the starting lineup for his senior season. In order to put himself on that track, he’ll need to prove he is back to his old form this spring.
Having spent time at both guard and tackle during his career, Bowen enters this spring as a potential candidate to start at either guard or right tackle. The left guard position appears to be the spot where Bowen could help the Buckeyes most right now, but how he and other offensive linemen perform this spring will likely ultimately determine which position he plays in 2019 and whether he’s in the starting lineup.
Gavin Cupp, OG
With the starting guard spot opposite Wyatt Davis wide open and no other clear-cut candidates for the position outside of Bowen currently on the roster, Cupp is another offensive lineman who could have his best chance to push for playing time this spring.
Cupp has played just 47 snaps on Ohio State’s offensive line in his first three years as a Buckeye, so he doesn’t exactly appear destined to be a future starter in Columbus, but the door is open for him to make a charge at a spot in the lineup right now.
Ohio State is still pursuing a graduate transfer who can come in and compete for an immediate starting spot on the interior offensive line, but even if the Buckeyes ultimately land a veteran such as Rutgers’ Jonah Jackson or Virginia’s R.J. Proctor, that player won’t arrive on campus until summer. That gives Cupp, and the Buckeyes’ other interior offensive linemen, a chance to stake their claim for a starting job this spring.
Jashon Cornell, DE/DT
Cornell has seen more significant playing time than most of the other players on this list, earning a spot in Ohio State’s defensive line rotation for the past two seasons as a second-string defensive tackle in 2017 and as a second-string defensive end in 2018. Going into his fifth-year senior season, however, he’s still never started a game for the Buckeyes.
While he’s been an adequate rotational player for the Buckeyes, filling the roles that Larry Johnson has needed him to in his rotation, Cornell certainly expected to make a bigger impact when he arrived at Ohio State as a top-100 recruit in 2015. But he has just one year left with the Buckeyes now to make that happen.
Starting defensive ends Chase Young and Jonathon Cooper are back from last season, so it’s unlikely that Cornell would earn a starting job at that spot. It’s possible, though, that Cornell could move back inside to defensive tackle now that Dre’Mont Jones is gone – or at least push a greater portion of the snaps at defensive end, as Johnson has always been willing to rotate heavily at the position depending on how many players he has who are ready to play.
Regardless of where he might factor into the equation, Cornell will need to have a strong spring to earn a substantial role on Ohio State’s defensive line in 2019, because the Buckeyes have plenty of up-and-coming talent who will also pushing to earn significant playing time, including Tyreke Smith, Tyler Friday and Zach Harrison at defensive end and Haskell Garrett and Taron Vincent at defensive tackle.
Jashon Cornell has already seen playing time in Ohio State's defensive line rotation, but he's running out of time to emerge as an impact player.
Antwuan Jackson, DT
Given that Jackson has only been at Ohio State for one year, it might seem early for him to already be entering a make-or-break spring, but he is already on the back end of his collegiate transfer. After spending one season at Auburn and one season at the junior college level (Blinn College), Jackson will be a fourth-year junior for the Buckeyes in 2019 – increasing the pressure for him to earn a role on the defensive line now.
Jackson actually came to Ohio State with expectations of making an immediate impact last year, but ended up appearing in only four games, playing just 24 total snaps. Buried on the depth chart as a fourth-string defensive tackle alongside Jerron Cage (who also needs to make a push this spring to earn playing time in 2019, but still has three remaining seasons of eligibility), Jackson was a non-factor in the Buckeyes’ defensive line rotation.
Garrett and Vincent project as the top two candidates to play at 3-technique defensive tackle, while Robert Landers, Davon Hamilton and Tommy Togiai are all back at nose tackle, so he still faces a steep climb up the depth chart. But with the clock already starting to run down on his college football career, Jackson needs to make strides this spring and at least force his way into the back end of the defensive tackle rotation to set up his career for a strong finish.
Justin Hilliard, LB
Like Hausmann at tight end, Hilliard might have already missed his best opportunity to earn substantial playing time at linebacker. He competed for a starting spot at the position last spring, earning a real shot to win the middle linebacker job after Tuf Borland suffered an Achilles injury in spring practice. With the exception of one start at outside linebacker in place of an injured Malik Harrison against Minnesota, however, Hilliard only saw occasional playing time for Ohio State’s defense last season.
He could get one more shot to earn his way into the starting lineup this spring, though, as new linebackers coach Al Washington takes over the unit – which means it should be open for competition even with all three starting linebackers from last season (Harrison, Borland and Pete Werner) returning.
In a linebacker room that features a multitude of potential starters – also including Baron Browning, Teradja Mitchell and Dallas Gant, among others – Hilliard will have to fight just to earn a spot on the two-deep at the position. But while all of those players could also have future opportunities to earn starting spots after this season, Hilliard – who arrived at Ohio State as a five-star recruit, but was plagued by injuries that sidelined him for most of his first two years as a Buckeye – will need to show out this spring to prove he belongs on the field as a fifth-year senior.
Amir Riep, S/CB
There are numerous junior defensive backs who could fit the bill for the final spot on this list, also including safeties Isaiah Pryor and Jahsen Wint and cornerback Marcus Williamson. None of them appear to have a great shot at earning starting spots this spring – with Jordan Fuller and Brendon White back at safety, and Damon Arnette, Jeffrey Okudah and Shaun Wade back at cornerback – but they would all certainly like to earn playing time on defense as they move into the back half of their Ohio State careers.
Pryor and Wint both had opportunities to start for the Buckeyes last season (and struggled mightily), while Williamson’s best shot at playing a big role appears likely to come in 2020, with Arnette entering his senior season and Okudah projecting as a candidate to leave early for the 2020 NFL draft. Riep, however, enters his junior season as somewhat of a mystery, having played only 59 defensive snaps in his first two years at Ohio State.
After beginning his career as a cornerback in 2017, Riep moved to safety in 2018. It’s unclear where he might fit in as Jeff Hafley and Matt Barnes take over as the Buckeyes’ new secondary coaches in 2019. Regardless of what position they decide to line him up at, though, his performance this spring could go a long way in determining whether he will be in position to earn regular playing time in the secondary before his Ohio State career is done.
