Coming out of spring practices, perhaps the biggest personnel question surrounding the Ohio State defense was where Sonny Styles and Ja’Had Carter would factor in at safety.
On the first day of preseason camp, Jim Knowles and the Buckeyes appeared to have big plans for both.
Styles and Carter spent nearly the entire practice repping as first-team safeties alongside returning starter Lathan Ransom. In a notable change from the spring, Carter worked primarily as a deep safety alongside Ransom while Styles frequently lined up as the nickel safety.
While Knowles didn’t directly state that either of them would be starters this season, he talked about both of them as if they are frontrunners to be in the first-team lineup this year.
“Ja’Had being a transfer has just been a very coachable player. He's one of those guys you can say something to, correct it, and he corrects it immediately on the field. That's rare. So his learning and processing of our system has been great,” Knowles said after practice. “And then Sonny is that guy that we are continually trying to find ways to get him on the field, to let him be a factor in the game. So I plan on him being out there a lot.”
After transferring to Ohio State from Syracuse this offseason, Carter practiced primarily at the nickel safety spot until he suffered a knee injury that ended his spring early. Now, however, Knowles says the Buckeyes are planning to play Carter at the adjuster/free safety spot after determining he would fit better at that position in OSU’s defensive scheme.
“Ja’Had is more of a high safety,” Knowles said. “We experimented with him on the slot, and that's part of learning the system. It's good for safeties to play different positions early, but he's more of a high safety.”
Josh Proctor, who took most of the first-team reps at free safety during spring practices, split reps at the deep safety spots with Malik Hartford – who picked off Devin Brown for the day’s lone interception – and Kye Stokes on the second-team defense.
Cameron Martinez, who took most of the first-team reps at nickel safety during spring practices, was a limited participant in Thursday’s practice. But Knowles said that wasn’t why Styles was with the first-team defense.
“Sonny’s out there because that's what we want him,” Knowles said.
At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Styles fits the more traditional mold of a strong safety or a linebacker than he does a nickel safety, and indications this spring were that the Buckeyes planned to use Styles primarily in a hybrid linebacker/safety role. But Knowles said Thursday that he’s comfortable with Styles covering slot receivers.
“Don't assume anything with Sonny,” Knowles said when asked about the assumption that Styles would play strong safety rather than nickel. “He's extremely talented and he can do it all.”
Ryan Turner took the majority of second-team reps behind Styles at nickel during Thursday’s practice.
On the outside of the secondary, Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock took the majority of first-team reps at cornerback during 7-on-7 drills. During split-team drills, Hancock and Davison Igbinosun were the cornerbacks with the group that featured mostly first-team defenders while Denzel Burke was with mostly second-team defenders. Knowles said after practice, however, that Burke and Hancock would be the starting cornerbacks if the season started right now.
Hancock was one of the standouts of Thursday’s opening practice of camp, breaking up multiple passes and consistently maintaining tight coverage against opposing receivers.
“Both he and Denzel have had great springs, great summers,” Knowles said when asked about Hancock. “So the next step for both of them is to be dominant. I mean, dominant. They both can do it.”
Michalski leads order at right tackle
The first-team offensive line for most of Thursday’s practice consisted of Josh Fryar at left tackle, Donovan Jackson at left guard, Carson Hinzman at center, Matt Jones at right guard and Zen Michalski at right tackle.
Ohio States offensive linemen going through drill work at todays practice.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) August 3, 2023
Josh Fryar, Donovan Jackson, Carson Hinzman, Matt Jones and Zen Michalski operated as the first-team offensive line. pic.twitter.com/L6OPdrNxja
Tegra Tshabola and San Diego State transfer Josh Simmons, in his first practice as a Buckeye, both took reps with the second-team unit at right tackle. George Fitzpatrick and Luke Montgomery saw second-team work at left tackle while Victor Cutler Jr. and Jakob James saw second-team work at center. With position battles still ongoing at all three positions, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see any of those players get more first-team opportunities as camp continues.
True freshman Austin Siereveld took most of the second-team reps at left guard while Enokk Vimahi operated as the second-team right guard on Thursday.
While Fryar and Hinzman enter camp as the presumptive frontrunners to start at left tackle and center, the right tackle competition remains one to watch throughout the month, especially as Simmons gets settled into his new program. Simmons’ reputed athleticism was apparent during individual drills on Thursday.
Because Ohio State was mixing and matching lineups during its split-team drills on Thursday, the second-team offensive linemen still got plenty of work against the first-team defensive line during the first day of camp. JT Tuimoloau often got the best of everyone he lined up against, bull-rushing Michalski backward to knock down a Kyle McCord pass and beating Simmons for a sack.
Malone gets immediate first-team work
While Simmons spent most of his first practice with the second- and third-team offensive lines, Malone was thrown right into the first with the first-team defensive line, lining up alongside the likes of Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer and either Ty Hamilton or Mike Hall for much of the day.
That came partially as a result of Tyleik Williams leaving practice early with an apparent lower-body injury. While Williams was seen running shortly after suffering the injury and remained in uniform for the entire practice, he did not take any live reps during team drills. Knowles said after practice that he did not see what happened to Williams and was unaware of the severity of his injury, though the injury did not appear to be serious.
As for Malone, Knowles said the Ole Miss transfer has picked things up quickly since arriving at Ohio State this summer, leading to his immediate opportunities in the first-team defensive line rotation Thursday.
“He's a guy, he's got game experience. He's got toughness, he's got savvy. He's just someone you feel comfortable with right away,” Knowles said.
Other observations from Thursday’s practice
- As expected, McCord and Brown split first-team reps at quarterback during the first day of practice, with both quarterbacks getting work behind the top offensive line. There was no clear winner of the quarterback competition on day one.
- Carnell Tate picked up where he left off this spring as he proved to be a tough cover for Ohio State’s secondary throughout the day. Kojo Antwi was also a standout among wide receivers on day one, making a couple of impressive sideline catches.
- Thursday’s first practice of preseason camp included a rare sight: Marvin Harrison Jr. dropping a pass. The drop came on what would have been a long touchdown reception as he beat Jyaire Brown on a deep ball.
- Several periods of Thursday’s 12-period practice included two groups of offensive and defensive players going head-to-head at the same time for split-team work. Ryan Day said Wednesday that Ohio State would likely do that in camp to take advantage of its depth and give more players reps.
- All Ohio State players were in uniform for Thursday’s practice with the exception of tight end Zak Herbstreit, who watched the practice in street clothes. Day said last week that Herbstreit is out indefinitely after he was diagnosed with a heart condition this summer. Reis Stocksdale also did not practice due to a torn ACL.
- Just two days after committing to Ohio State, Nigel Glover was already practicing with the linebackers, though he did not take any reps during team drills.
- Kourt Williams practiced with the linebackers after changing positions from safety to LB.
- Lorenzo Styles Jr. worked mostly with the third-team defense in his first practice as a Buckeye cornerback.
- Lorenzo Styles Jr. and Brandon Inniss both took reps at punt returner in their first practice as Buckeyes. The punt return group on Thursday also included Emeka Egbuka, Xavier Johnson, Jayden Ballard and Marvin Harrison Jr.
- Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg were mainstays with the first-team defense while C.J. Hicks, Cody Simon and Gabe Powers worked mostly with the second-team defense at linebacker.
- Kenyatta Jackson participated in 7-on-7 drills while most of the other defensive linemen did individual drills with Larry Johnson. Asked after practice if Jackson could be a candidate to play Jack linebacker, Knowles said Jackson is focusing on playing defensive end but is someone the Buckeyes feel they can drop into coverage.
- 500 fans were in attendance for Thursday’s practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Another 500 fans who purchased tickets will be able to watch Friday’s practice, which will not be open to the media.
