Sonny Styles appears poised to move to linebacker this season, but he’ll still have to earn his way into the starting lineup.
Styles, who spent his first two years as a Buckeye at safety, worked with the linebackers during the portion of Ohio State’s first spring practice that was open to the media on Tuesday. During a drill that featured 11-on-11 formations, Styles lined up as Ohio State’s second-team Will linebacker while C.J. Hicks took the first-team reps at the position.
Ryan Day confirmed after practice that Styles will primarily play linebacker going forward, though he said Styles will still have the flexibility to move around and play additional roles.
“We think he brings a lot to the table there. He can do so many different things,” Day said.
The rest of Ohio State’s defensive starting lineup to begin spring practices stacked up as expected. Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, Ty Hamilton and Tyleik Williams were the first-team defensive linemen and Cody Simon lined up as the first-team Mike linebacker. Denzel Burke, Davison Igbinosun and Jordan Hancock lined up as the starting cornerbacks – though Jermaine Mathews Jr. also rotated in with the first unit – while Caleb Downs lined up alongside Lathan Ransom at safety.
Arvell Reese took the second-team reps at linebacker alongside Styles.
Montgomery starts at right guard
Perhaps the biggest personnel question entering spring practices is who will start on the right side of Ohio State’s offensive line this year. For at least the start of Tuesday’s opening practice, Luke Montgomery appeared to be first in line to start alongside Josh Fryar on the right side – though maybe not at the positions you’d expect.
Montgomery opened spring as the first-team right guard while Fryar took the first-team reps at right tackle, the position he started at last year. Returning starters Josh Simmons, Donovan Jackson and Carson Hinzman took the first-team reps at left tackle, left guard and center.
Transfer center Seth McLaughlin began the spring repping with the second-team offensive line at center, though there’s a good chance he’ll supplant Hinzman in the starting lineup once he gets some Ohio State practices under his belt. The rest of the second-team offensive line consisted of Zen Michalski at left tackle, Austin Siereveld at left guard, Enokk Vimahi at right guard and Tegra Tshabola at right tackle.
Brown leads day one at quarterback
Much like with McLaughlin, Ohio State didn’t insert transfer quarterback Will Howard at the top of the depth chart right away on day one. Devin Brown led the quarterback line for Tuesday’s opening practice and took the initial first-team reps during 11-on-11 work.
Howard, who is widely expected to be Ohio State’s starter after starting 27 games over the past four years at Kansas State, was second in line behind Brown followed by Lincoln Kienholz – who led the second-team offense during the full-formation period – and true freshmen Julian Sayin and Air Noland.
In their first practice coached by new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chip Kelly, the quarterbacks were seen practicing both their throwing and running, which comes after Ryan Day said last month that he felt Ohio State needed to have a running threat at the position this year.
Six players rotate at punt returner
Ohio State rotated through six return men during its punt practice period the media observed on Tuesday, with Emeka Egbuka leading off the group.
The Buckeyes’ No. 1 wideout for 2024 has filled return duties in the past, starting as the team’s punt returner at the beginning of last season with seven returns for 23 yards before suffering an injury during the Maryland game in Week 6. Wide receiver Jayden Ballard took over return duties following Egbuka’s injury and held onto the job after his teammate’s return, likely in an effort to preserve Egbuka’s health for the rest of the year, except for the Michigan game.
Ballard, back with Egbuka for their fourth year, was fourth in line fielding punts. Before him were second-year wide receivers Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss. Inniss, a five-star prospect with plenty of dynamic athletic traits as a former high school quarterback, should be an intriguing option at the spot.
Sophomore wide receiver Bryson Rodgers and freshman wideout Jeremiah Smith rounded out the rotation during that punting period. Cornerbacks Jermaine Mathews Jr. and Lorenzo Styles Jr. repped at punt returner during warm-ups as the Buckeyes’ punters got loose.
Notably absent from either round of punt returning viewed by the media was safety Caleb Downs. Downs returned four punts for Alabama as a freshman in 2023 and amassed 87 yards off of those runbacks, most of them coming on an 85-yard punt return touchdown. That single return accounted for more yards than all of Ohio State’s punt returners combined in 2023.
Other notes
- Both outgoing athletic director Gene Smith and incoming athletic director Ross Bjork were in attendance for the first spring practice of 2024 for Ohio State. Former Buckeye running back Miyan Williams, wide receiver Kamryn Babb and head coach John Cooper were also among the practice visitors.
- Kourt Williams, who tore his ACL in August, was in uniform for practice but did not participate in any drills.
- Chip Kelly oversaw Ohio State’s first-team offense during split-squad while Ryan Day worked with its second-teamers.
- Day worked with the running backs during ball security drills as he rotated through multiple areas of practice, embracing his new broad-scope “CEO” role as head coach. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles performed a similar function now that James Laurinaitis is handling linebackers full-time.
More practice clips
Ohio States running backs catch passes in the flat from the Buckeyes quarterbacks. pic.twitter.com/jQSj5qxWrh
— Chase Brown (@chaseabrown__) March 5, 2024
Ohio State quarterback Air Noland completes passes to the Buckeyes running backs. pic.twitter.com/6DYwYDkUEG
— Chase Brown (@chaseabrown__) March 5, 2024
