Five Things: Young Guys Flash, Offensive Line Struggles and Quarterback Battle Remains Unsettled Following Ohio State's Spring Game

You know the drill by now. Watching the spring game is an annual exercise in restraint for most fans as the highs and lows from a two-hour scrimmage with modified rules should be absorbed with the appropriate amount of perspective.

That said, for many of us, it's the only chance to view the team's spring progression with our own eyes and dammit we need to be able to extrapolate the outcomes for a scrimmage so we can emotionally plan for what type of fall to expect.

With the defense emerging from yesterday's event with a 40-31 win, while a host of players on both sides showed bright futures, there were also plenty of things to worry about, particularly in a vacuum of limited exposure to the larger spring camp body of work.

With that, let's get to what will hopefully be a measured and modest Five Things.

I'VE SEEN (AND HEARD) ENOUGH, MAKE SURE TATE'S IN THE TWO-DEEP

After hearing all spring about true freshman Carnell Tate's work ethic, approach to his craft and ability to take instruction to the field, the kid looks like he belongs in Ohio State's two-deep when the real games start.

There really wasn't even anything all that magical about his touchdown grab yesterday but you can just sense an "it" factor with this kid and obviously he has the staff's attention after becoming the first member of the 2023 class to have his black stripe removed.

Scale of 1-10: How excited are you about Carnell Tate? @carnelltate_ x @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/yoZ70X7pFP
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) April 15, 2023

Look, nobody is stealing snaps from Marv this year and Emeka Egbuka has proven enough to me that I don't need him rotating with anyone much but as a third/fourth receiver, I hope Tate gets an early shot to be in the rotational mix.

Jayden Ballard too, for that matter, as incumbent third receiver Julian Fleming has been good, not great, though his career deserves a very friendly asterisk due to the injury bug he's struggled to avoid.

Last year, Harrison and Egbuka logged over 700 snaps to lead the receivers, Fleming had over 500 and then the next closest, Xavier Johnson, had 207. Sign me up for the snap counts for the third through fifth most-played receivers being a much tighter grouping this fall.

SLOT MAN MARV?

After lining up outside for over 85% of his snaps in 2022, Marvin Harrison Jr. has seen a lot of work in the slot in spring camp and that strategy carried over into yesterday's spring game, at least as a percent of his few snaps played.

As our Dan Hope discussed recently, Route Man was lined up in the slot almost exclusively during the open media windows for previous practices but it's hard to get a read on just how much Harrison might line up there when it matters because Egbuka was a very productive slot guy last season and he was of course on the shelf for spring camp.

It remains to be seen if the experiment becomes a long-term strategy, and if so exactly how much it happens, but I'm just as curious as to the motivation. How much of this is helping Harrison round out his skill-set for the NFL which would, of course, also help Ohio State on the field? How much of it is Harrison being proven on the outside and Ryan Day and Brian Hartline wanting a host of young outside receivers to get the most experience possible in camp?

After watching yesterday's scrimmage, one question I had that I haven't heard raised is if Harrison lining up in the slot is a way to potentially get him the ball quickly because what little I've seen, and everything I've heard/read about Ohio State's pass protection is well, not great.

SPEAKING OF THAT OFFENSIVE LINE

If you expected Ohio State's offensive line to look sharp yesterday, that's your fault. Replacing three starters, all of which should be taken before the first three rounds of the NFL Draft are complete, is a tall task for any program. The fact those three starters occupied the three most important positions up front is also an issue. We should expect it to take time to groom a new center and two tackles.

For some good news, the run blocking had its moments. Tegra Tshabola, who appears to be the No. 2 right tackle but in a close battle with Zen Michalski, helped spring a 65-yard Chip Trayanum touchdown run and a host of blockers looked good when Archie Griffin raced 25 yards for a touchdown around right end late in the contest.

Guards Donovan Jackson and Matt Jones are also fine with the main goal achieved: leaving spring camp without notable injury.

But the pressure is indeed on left tackle Josh Fryar, center Carson Hinzman and right tackle candidates Michalski and Tshabola to develop quickly.

To my admittedly untrained eye, I view offensive linemen mostly like referees – I'm hoping I don't notice them too much. Hinzman caught my eye the least but the edges were a different story, particularly the right edge. A trusted confidant said after the scrimmage that the lineup shuffling can be a factor in understanding assignments but knowing the defense didn't blitz once and I saw some 'obviously this is my man' one-on-one breakdowns, I'm doing my best to reread my paragraph to this article.

Even if the center and tackle candidates firm things up come fall, how good are you feeling about the depth as ready-now for 2023? I'm no alarmist but if I'm on staff, I'm at least taking a hard look at what's out in the portal as other programs wrap up spring camps.

SECONDARY SHOWS PROMISE

Reports all spring suggested the defense was ahead of the offense and while not surprising for a host of reasons, it was good to see some guys in Ohio State's secondary making plays.

Cornerback Denzel Burke endured some struggles, and injuries, particularly over the first chunk of the 2022 season which came as a shock to most after his true freshman campaign in 2021 had everyone thinking the sky was the limit. Those injuries, a new scheme and who knows what else impacted his 2022 but I felt he did play better down the stretch.

By all accounts, he was hungry this spring and he looked the part of a true No. 1 corner yesterday, small sample size or not. I'm high on Burke returning to 2021 form this fall.

It was also nice to get a first look at Ole Miss transfer cornerback Davison Igbinosun. That dude looks serious all the time. That's my analysis lol. Seriously, he looks like he's out there to accomplish a goal, not hang out and have a good time. I'm confident he bring an immediate boost to the cornerback depth as a likely starter and certainly heavy rotation guy.

Lathan Ransom also showed his usual willingness to come up and support the run and it sounds like he's trying to erase his own bad taste from 2022. Sonny Styles, though we've heard he'll likely be deployed more sparingly than some other safeties so he can focus on fewer To Dos, looked the part of a guy who needs to play a lot of snaps.

Call it blind optimism if you must but it sure feels like year two of the Jim Knowles experience should realize an increase in consistency from the secondary – just have to stop those big plays.

WHAT TO MAKE OF THE QB SITUATION?

It was really unfortunate we couldn't get a dose of Devin Brown yesterday due to his recent finger surgery. Seeing Brown and Kyle McCord go head-to-head would've given yesterday's game a hell of a lot more juice.

McCord, the slight favorite in the clubhouse to start this fall, completed 18-of-34 passes for 184 yards including the noted 37-yard touchdown toss to Tate. McCord found Harrison on a couple nice crossers, among other successful targets, but he was also uneven, missing some open guys and throwing into traffic on a few occasions. The offensive line's performance certainly didn't help McCord's cause.

Beyond the stats, I was hoping to see a bit more 'command' and while I know that can come off like coach speak or whatever, I just wanted to see him directing guys more, maybe giving off a vibe that he's the alpha especially with Brown sidelined.

If you're worried about the quarterback situation – I don't think I am at this point – I'd remind you a couple things. One, that O-line. Two, McCord didn't have OSU's most proven receivers at his disposal (Harrison briefly, Emeka/Fleming not at all). Three, Brown is still in the mix so we can't count him out. And four, remember how you felt following the first spring game performances from Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud? Take a breath if you're on the ledge.

Okay, I'm out of Things but shoutout to C.J. Hicks looking like a Dude. It might be another year of largely special teams contributions from him because of the logjam in a mostly two-linebacker system with Tommy Eichenberg, Steele Chambers and Cody Simon entrenched but Hicks looked good. Jayden Ballard also made the most of the showcase, I feel like Jermaine Mathews is going to be a big-time player down the line, Jelani Thurman is a physical freak with huge upside, Trayanum just keeps contributing however asked, Noah Rogers we see you, Jesse Mirco looked season-ready and ARCHIE remains the gold standard as a player, person and ambassador.