Spring Football Observations

Often lost admist the ongoing NCAA investigation is that OSU will still play football this fall.  With that in mind, its a good time to take an analytical review of where the 2011 OSU team stands schematically and personnel-wise heading out of spring practice.  The reality is that this OSU team has a lot of talent, even more so when you include the suspended players .  Below are my observations from spring.

Offense

This unit will be the most in flux between the two halves of the season.  Without Terrelle Pryor and Co., the unit's clear strength is its tailbacks.   OSU is legitimately five deep with guys that should get carries.  Though he will miss five games, I was very impressed with Boom Herron's continued development.  As a 5th year senior, he looks like the  proverbial "man amongst boys," and shows a shiftiness and patience that were not evident earlier in his career.  Though he's going to get pushed by the wealth of talent below him, Boom has demonstrated his right to carries when he returns.

As for the younger players, Jordan Hall continues to flash ability every time he's given multiple touches.  Hall simply has natural talents you cannot teach a running back--vision, shiftiness, and a 'knack' for always falling forward for positive yards.  Right now, Hall has the leg up to receive the most carries to begin the year.  The interesting question for the coaching staff is how they divide touches between Hall and Jamaal Berry.  Berry has more speed of the two, though they fit a similar role.  It will be interesting to see whether there are enough carries for both, or whether one will get relegated to the sideline.  It was encouraging to see OSU during the spring game using both in a slot role, getting involved through bubble and other underneath screens.  

Rod Smith also demonstrated the speed and power that has impressed those inside and outside the Woody Hayes Athletic Facility.  Smith and the above backs provide a nice compliment to each other, and I would still not be surprised to see Smith get the bulk of the carries when all is said and done. 

This offense's other strength is it's offensive line.  It is not a deep unit--the drop off between the first and second units is vast--but the first team offensive line may be the best in the country.  Mike Adams continues to show the dominance he displayed at the end of last season, and I thought Jack Mewhort and Andrew Norwell looked very good.  What I was most impressed to see, however, is Mike Brewster's development.  Brewster's agility, in particular, provides countless opportunities for the OSU running game.  For instance, during the spring game, OSU repeatedly ran outside zone or 'stretch' using a 'pin and pull' technique.  This simply means that rather than every offensive lineman taking wide zone steps, the covered linemen will 'pin' down, and the uncovered linemen will 'pull' around for the opposing linebackers.

OSU repeatedly used a variation to have Brewster pull and lead on outside zone plays.  This was the primary play OSU ran during the spring game.  Look for OSU to continue to regularly use this play this season, as it takes advantage both of its offensive line's athleticism and great tailback play.

The wide receiver position, as perhaps expected, will remain inexperienced and unsettled heading into the season, though I was impressed with the flashes shown by Verlon Reed and Ty Williams, among others.  However, OSU shows a clear willingness to rely on their tight ends, particularly Jake Stoneburner, as a primary option in the passing game.  Stoneburner gives OSU a lot of flexibility, and the coaching staff often used him in the slot this spring.  He was the primary threat on two pass concepts OSU employed repeatedly during the spring game:  option routes and the drive route.  For the latter, Stoneburner took over Dane Sanzenbacher's slot receiver role, running the shallow cross underneath the tight end square-in. 

Both options provides the inexperienced quarterbacks short, reliable reads in front of them to alleviate their confusion.

Which brings us to the quarterbacks.  All showed flashes, but in my opinion, Braxton Miller should be starting to begin the season.  This is not only because of his talent and upside, but also because he has a clear field presence that the others are missing.  While Graham shows a nice pocket presence, his lack of mobility is an issue, and does not really 'fit' within the OSU offense as it has developed during the Terrelle Pryor era.  Though the offense was admittedly simplified, Miller's running ability brings an additional threat in what will be a run-heavy first five games, and can save him from trouble.  Indeed, though Miller might not beat Pryor in a foot race, his build may make him better for inside designed run plays, as he is shiftier, while Pryor is limited by his height and long strides.  Any of the quarterbacks in those first five games will certainly have growing pains, though.  As such, with the tailbacks and offensive line at OSU's disposal, look for OSU to run and continue to run.

Defense

Defensively, it is hard to assess the defensive secondary because it was beset by so many injuries.   Nonetheless, with that in mind, this defense's strength again appears to be the defensive line.  To me, Johnny Simon was the most dominant player during the spring game.  He was nearly unblockable, and continually made plays in the backfield.  I continued to be impressed with Adam Bellamy's play inside as well.  Bellamy has developed under the radar into a really nice defensive player.

At linebacker, OSU is in good hands with Andrew Sweat and Sabino.  Personally, I think that Sweat will leave OSU as a more complete linebacker than either Ross Homan or Brian Rolle.  Sweat has the size to be more physical at the point of attack, and clearly likes to hit--always a good quality in a linebacker.  Sabino looks to have taken advantage of his redshirt year and to have learned the Mike position. 

Focus will ultimately fall upon 'who will be the third linebacker,' but this competition is way overblown.  OSU plays nickel a majority of the time.  As such, the star position is far more important than the third linebacker.  This will be particularly true this year, with Tyler Moeller returning.  Moeller is truly a hybrid linebacker and has no problem playing in the tackle box.  I would therefore not be surprised for Moeller to play nearly every down.

Even with limited reps, C.J. Barnett looks to have made a recovery from his knee injury and will hold down one safety spot.  I was very impressed with his play as a first-time starter up until his injury, and his return will be a huge boost.  Ohrian Johnson also looked like he made big strides forward.   Most impressive to me was that he came up and delivered some hits during the Spring Game.  Last year he looked tentative with contact, which one might expect from a converted quarterback.  That demonstrates that he is becoming more comfortable in the position and continues to improve.  At corner, Travis Howard has one position locked down, and already demonstrated last year what a difference his cover skills meant to OSU.  At the other corner, look for the battle to continue, though Dominic Clarke looks to have a leg up. 

One final word.  In the kicking game, Drew Basil looked great this spring and looks in position to be the next steady OSU kicker under Jim Tressel.