After a week off for spring break, Ohio State was back on the field Tuesday morning at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for its third practice of spring ball. The Buckeyes will practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from now until the annual spring game on April 15.
Tuesday was the first practice of the spring in full pads and the first hour of the practice was open for media to watch. Some of our observations from the offensive side of the ball can be seen here. Below, we've got a few notes from the defensive side of the ball.
Notes:
- Defensive tackle Tracy Sprinkle was running and warming up with the team, but did not participate in any contact as he continues to recover from his season-ending injury. Sprinkle was off to the side on the far end of the practice field working out with fellow defensive lineman Darius Slade and tight end Marcus Baugh, who both are also rehabbing injuries.
- There didn't appear to be any changes to the two-deep after the first week of spring practice. The first-team defensive line was Sam Hubbard, Michael Hill, Dre'Mont Jones and Tyquan Lewis, though it appeared Lewis and Hill were limited during contact drills. That's likely because both are fifth-year seniors and part of Urban Meyer's 2,000-rep club which limits players in spring ball. Nick Bosa, Jalyn Holmes, Robert Landers and DaVon Hamilton appeared to be the ones who rotated running with the first team in place of Lewis and Hill.
- The first-team linebackers remained Dante Booker, Chris Worley and Jerome Baker. It was pretty difficult to get a read on who was running with the second team, but Justin Hilliard stood out as someone who was getting a ton of reps.
- In the defensive backfield, Denzel Ward and Damon Arnette were running with the first team at corner while Damon Webb and Erick Smith continued to be the first-team safeties. Kendall Sheffield, Rodjay Burns, Shaun Wade and Jeffrey Okudah also saw plenty of reps and corner while Jordan Fuller, Wayne Davis and Jahsen Wint all rotated with the second team at safety.
- Speaking of Arnette, he appeared to have a really strong day in coverage in the open viewing portion. The last part we got to see was the "mini field" period where it was a corner, safety and linebacker against a pair of receivers and a tight end and I don't think I saw Arnette allow a completion. He won reps against Binjimen Victor, Brendon White and more.
- Kendall Sheffield also stood out as a guy who figures to play a lot. You can tell he's ready to play right away as this is his third year out of high school.
- I saw former linebacker Raekwon McMillan and cornerback Marshon Lattimore in attendance at practice this morning. Ohio State's Pro Day is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
- Lattimore spent some time talking to Arnette during practice.
