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Front and Center - Through the Middle

+14 HS
buckeye phi's picture
March 27, 2017 at 4:01pm
33 Comments

For Ohio State's 2017 season, redshirt senior, Billy Price, is moving from right guard to center - and redshirt senior, Chris Worley, is moving from strongside linebacker to middle linebacker.  Most Buckeye fans who follow the team closely are undoubtedly aware of that by now.  But has the true potential impact of those moves really hit home with most fans yet?  

Price and Worley are members of the 2013 class that, somehow, continues to impress - in spite of losing so many members to the NFL draft, already.  Both northern Ohio boys will have made two moves from position to position by the time they finish their Ohio State careers, as well. 

Price came in to the program as a monstrously strong, 4-star defensive tackle before being moved to the offensive line - while Worley came in as a 190lb, 3-star athlete (safety) before moving to linebacker.  Worley clearly became a gym rat, too - bulking up to approximately 230lbs, today.  

The fact that they've already moved around a bit should serve them well in their new roles.  After all, who could any college team have at center that could conceivably know more about guard play than Price.  An All American at guard last season, he should have no problem directing and helping the players around him.  

The same could really be said of Worley at linebacker.  Though, not a returning All American like Price, he has already played OLB.  In that regard, he should be way ahead of a someone who has never played the other positions.  Plus, new linebackers coach, Bill Davis and defensive coordinator, Greg Schiano have raved about Worley's "football smarts".  That will be key to his success at MLB.  

There's an old axiom in coaching that claims - it's best to build a team from the inside out.  If that's the case, the Buckeyes may be looking even stronger for the upcoming season than many expect.  After all, Price and Worley aren't the only fifth-year seniors who will be lining up in the middle of both the offense and the defense.   

On offense, of course, JT Barrett will be directly behind Price at quarterback.  While on defense, "1 technique tackle", Michael Hill, will be lining up more-or-less in front of Worley.  

For that matter, there will be times when Hill will be joined on the interior line by another redshirt senior, Tracy Sprinkle, at "3 technique tackle".  Sprinkle was a starter in the season opener last year, but was injured early on.  He is expected to work his way back in to the rotation upon full recovery.  So the possibility of three fifth year seniors playing together smack-bang in the middle of the defensive front fairly often is not an unrealistic proposition by any means.  

Now consider that the only returning member of last season's secondary, safety, Damon Webb will be a true senior for the '17 season (class of '14).  Plus, one of the leading candidates to start at safety next to Webb is another senior, Erick Smith.  However, whether Smith wins the starting job over sophomore, Jordan Fuller, isn't really crucial to the point.  It's just interesting to note those redshirt seniors up front could wind up with a couple of true seniors playing right behind them.  

Building the team from the inside out - with a foundation of 5th-year seniors - should bode well for the Buckeyes this season.  Especially, with new coaches at several key positions, I can't think of a better way to begin preparations for a championship run in '17.  That kind of experience should provide plenty of stability and leadership, let alone great play - front and center and through the middle

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