When Urban Meyer first realized Ohio State has 44 players on its current roster with freshmen eligibility, all he could say was "wow."
"Play them all," Meyer joked on national signing day in February when asked how he and his staff plan to handle working with so much youth in the 2016 season. The Buckeyes don't really have a choice in some spots — redshirt freshmen and true freshmen are already in the mix for playing time this fall.
"I call it the year of development here," Meyer said then. "Our staff has been pounded on that and that's in every phase of their lives."
With 12 draft picks gone to the NFL and so much young talent in the works, Ohio State's coaches are under pressure to get things in order before the season opener against Bowling Green Sept. 3. At Media Day Sunday, Meyer did not name any starters at the remaining vacant spots, but he did provide updates to how some of the true freshmen did in their first week of training camp.
The season sits less than three weeks away. Ohio State is set for nine practices in the next six days, starting with a two-a-day on Monday. How well the members of the 2016 recruiting class handles the heat and grind of August should go a long way to determining whether or not they will redshirt this season.
Here is what Meyer said on each freshman he mentioned and some tidbits from the some of the players themselves on Sunday. We did not get a chance to speak with each one of them — there was simply not enough time Sunday.
Austin Mack — Wide Receiver
Meyer: "Austin is probably one of those good stories that you hear about, the 7-on-7 or the extra coaching that you get, you hear bad stories about them. And where the, maybe a street agent or something like that, I'll hear that stuff. And sometimes that's true and a lot of times it's not.
"He had a guy, Drey, that worked with him that became a friend of mine. I watched him work, I watched him train, taught him right things about just work ethic and obviously, his high school coach, came from a great high school program.
"So when you take a kid like that that is very serious about his trade, came from a very good high school program, has a guy that trained him in the offseason, and then we get him, that's why he's game ready. And he will play this year."
Nick Bosa — Defensive End
Meyer: "Well, we are — I hate to use the word patience, because I'll never forget when I sent the text message to the Bosa family John, Cheryl, and Joey about Nick, and Joey hit me back on a little group text and said, 'have patience' and I simply said 'no.'
"And, but, we are being very patient with him. He hasn't been in full scrimmage situation yet. We're making sure that knee's 100 percent sound and which it is. And so we're just easing him in. He comes from an excellent high school program, very well-coached, and he's, he'll be game ready."
Meyer also added that even he does some double takes when he sees No. 97 running around and believes it is Joey back for another year and not Nick: "Walks, talks (the same), yeah. Just trying to convince the Bosas to have one more, and we'll take him."
It is still too early to determine, but Meyer envisions Nick Bosa playing defensive end this season.
Demario McCall — Running Back
Meyer: "Dontre Wilson, right now (is the punt returner) and we're still watching this Demario McCall, pretty talented guy and it hasn't been finalized yet. But right now if we played today, Dontre."
McCall: "The main goal is (to) stay healthy and play. Learn the playbook. First thing I want to learn is the feeling of the game. The scrimmage that we just had, I wanted to get the feeling of the speed, see how the speed is and once I adjust I'm back to me."
McCall added he hasn't spent any time in the wide receivers room, focusing primarily on playing tailback and special teams. He also said he put on 10 pounds of muscle since he arrived at Ohio State in June and weighs 185 pounds: "We eat so much here. It's crazy."
Michael Jordan — Offensive Line
Meyer: "Michael Jordan for sure is playing. That's done."
Meyer clarified again and did not name Jordan the starter at left guard. That remains to be determined.
Jordan: "I just gotta get the momentum going and keep it going. Once I get the momentum built up, I plan on starting."
Antonio Williams — Running Back
Meyer: "Right now, it’s Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel and Dontre Wilson and Demario and Antonio Williams are fighting for that spot."
Keandre Jones — Linebacker
Meyer: "Keandre is a guy that we anticipate to play."
Jahsen Wint — Safety
Meyer: "Jahsen Wint, the kid from Brooklyn, is a guy that might be a special teams guy for us."
Binjimen Victor — Wide Receiver
Meyer: "Receiver, Victor's got a long way to go but we're glad he's here."
Jake Hausmann — Tight End
Meyer: "Jake Hausmann has moved ahead of, he's pretty close to being in the mix."
Jonathon Cooper — Defensive End
Meyer: "Coop is doing very well for us."
Jordan Fuller — Safety
Meyer: "Jordan Fuller I think is going to play."
Dwayne Haskins — Quarterback
Haskins: "The biggest goal out of camp is come out better than I came in. Just learning the system and being able to play with confidence and just be ready. Definitely think this last week is going to be great for me just because I've felt myself get better every day this season."
