Considering our most recent glimpse of Ohio State football saw the Buckeyes look largely uncompetitive against Alabama in the national title game, like you, I was more eager than usual to take in last Saturday's spring game in Ohio Stadium.
Even with major contributors like Justin Fields, Wyatt Davis, Tommy Togiai, Pete Werner, Josh Myers and others moving on from a team that reached the College Football Playoff final, the Buckeyes still project to be a playoff-caliber squad though players young and old will be counted on to fill big shoes.
The early returns from Saturday's spring game yielded a host of positives and answered a few questions though there is still much work to do for a team replacing a record-setting quarterback and looking to retool a pass defense ranked among the nation's worst a season ago.
With that, here are Five Things from the culmination of spring camp.
PASSING GRADE?
I went into Saturday's scrimmage looking for anything to cling to in Ohio State's secondary. Yes, Sevyn Banks, Cam Brown and Marcus Williamson didn't take part but they weren't necessarily lockdown performers within last year's group. That said, I also can't discount the fact Banks is a lock to start and Williamson and Brown boast some starter experience.
Having that trio on the shelf was probably a good thing as it gave a host of guys fighting for snaps to enjoy a busy afternoon. Josh Proctor looks solid at free safety as a no-doubt starter but after that things seem pretty wide open outside of Banks' secured corner spot.
Lathan Ransom is clearly going to be factor at strong safety, slot corner of whatever they want to call it. Williamson will play a lot too and Cameron Martinez is making a bid for a chunk of their snaps.
The new 4-2-5 scheme brought us the bullet position with Craig Young and Ronnie Hickman the most likely candidates in that spot. Both are unproven even if the upside looks real. Similarly, behind Banks and Brown, guys like Ryan Watts, Lejond Cavazos and veteran Tyreke Johnson saw action on the outside Saturday.
With all those guys looking to impress, Ohio State's trio of inexperienced quarterbacks completed 66% of their passes with four touchdowns against two pass breakups and one interception. No doubt, Watts made a nice play on his pick and the others had some moments but I can't honestly say, despite the sheer volume of candidates, that I walked away from Saturday feeling ultra-confident the pass defense has found a cure for 2020's sickness. It'll be better but can it be 100 yards per game better?
INSIDE OUT
One of many acceptable reasons for why the pass defense still showed some issues is despite the unseasoned quarterbacks, Ohio State's wide receiver room is an embarrassment of riches.
Of significance in the room is Garrett Wilson's move from the slot, back to an outside spot, after he put up 43 catches for 723 yards from the inside last season. Obviously his natural position is on the outside but clearly Brian Hartline has confidence in his slot options if he's willing to relocate Wilson, especially with an inexperienced starting quarterback.
The move signals Hartline's confidence in Jaxon Smith-Njigba's ability to slide into a starting spot and consistently produce. Hartline raves about JSN's blocking ability and his pedigree as a pass-catcher is certainly there, even after a modest 10 catches for a shockingly low 4.9 yards per catch last season. He did pull in five balls for 50 yards including an impressive touchdown snag last Saturday. Make no mistake, I'm bullish on Smith-Njigba and it feels like his time is now.
That said, it feels like confidence in moving Wilson back outside is also buoyed by Emeka Ebuka looking every bit a ready-now player despite his true freshman status, giving Hartline a solid option behind JSN.
SACK SAWYER
So, uh, Jack Sawyer seems like he's more than capable of being a pass-rushing factor in Year One.
The 6-foot-4, 240 pounder from Pickerington had his way with Ohio State's tackles, on the way to four sacks and a forced fumble. He did do some of that work against at least one reserve tackle who isn't likely to be a factor for the Buckeyes as a pass protector but there's no denying Sawyer's speed off the edge.
While he was terrorizing the offense, the rest of Ohio State's defense picked up one sack, courtesy of nose tackle Jerron Cage.
Incumbents Zach Harrison and Tyreke Smith will obviously be counted on to do some heavy lifting this fall but with neither having yet exploded onto the scene, it feels like there's a reasonable chance Sawyer could emerge as Ohio State's most lethal pass rusher.
If nothing else, he can push the rest of the edge rushers to strive for greater heights after the 2020 defense ranked a somewhat modest 37th in the country with 2.63 sacks per game.
THE TWO UTES
"The two utes" just popped into my head since My Cousin Vinny is on in the background and I wanted to give a section to the aforementioned true freshmen Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr.
These two youths looked pretty damn unstoppable on Saturday which was a recurring theme from reports throughout spring camp.
As discussed, Egbuka climbed the depth chart in a hurry and it feels like his development helped pave the way for Wilson's shift outside, as he appears in line to see time inside behind Smith-Njigba.
Egbuka hauled in seven passes for 123 yards on nine nine targets on Saturday, with a long of 35 yards and another for 31. His routes looked fluid and he's a specimen at 6-foot-1, 203 pounds.
On the outside, Harrison Jr., a 6-foot-3, 202-pound target, caught seven passes for 49 yards and a touchdown. Harrison will have a harder time finding snaps simply because Wilson and Chris Olave are too good to rotate a ton but it looked like Harrison is very much in the mix as a backup, along with Jameson Williams, to spell Olave and Wilson. Julian Fleming will of course also be a factor once fully healthy.
Still, as someone who is typically tempered when it comes to true freshman hype, it's hard to envision a scenario where both Egbuka and Harrison don't have their moments this fall.
YEAR FOUR BREAKOUT?
It's wild to think about how many guys on defense, entering their fourth seasons in Columbus, have a chance to break out.
Josh Proctor is going to start at free safety, Sevyn Banks will start at a corner spot, Teradja Mitchell looks like the starter at the weakside linebacker spot. Tyreke Smith is brimming with talent at defensive end and will likely start. Taron Vincent should be a factor as Haskell Garrett's primary backup at the 3-tech and could even see some time at nose tackle. Cameron Brown will be back from injury to compete at the corner spot opposite Banks.
And we can't forget Dallas Gant, K'Vaughan Pope, Tyler Friday or Javonte Jean-Baptiste.
That's no less than 10 dudes with a huge opportunity to build on previous seasons and/or truly blossom into a major factor.
Who are going with from this stack? I was bullish on Proctor last year and while he didn't necessarily live up to the lofty expectations in my head, I'm sticking with him for 2021. I feel like he's primed to make a run at all-conference honors. After Proctor, I'm looking for Mitchell to fend off the linebacker depth and possibly lead the team in stops.
(Lastly, indulge me real quick on a rare Sixth Thing... RIP Dad... 31 years ago today.)
