Ohio State Releases Depth Chart for Navy Game

By Patrick Maks on August 27, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Ohio State released the depth chart for Navy Tuesday evening.
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After a longer than usual delay, Ohio State released the depth chart for the opener against Navy today. 

And as expected, the word "or" is featured prominently. There is a bevy of positions listed with an "or" asterisk.

  • Billy Price or Joel Hale will start at left guard. Price, a redshirt freshman, is a self-proclaimed workout warrior and Hale, a senior, moved over from the defensive line to help offensive line coach Ed Warinner's new-look crew out. 
  • Jacoby Boren or Chad Lindsay at center. Boren is the little brother of former Buckeye standouts Justin and Zach Boren and Lindsay is a graduate transfer from Alabama. 
  • Ezekiel Elliott or Rod Smith or Curtis Samuel at running back. Elliott appeared to come into camp with the inside track for the starting job but wrist surgery a couple weeks ago might've slowed his momentum. On top of that, Meyer said Rod Smith impressed him during training camp and told ESPN in late July that Samuel had "stolen his heart." Notably, Bri'onte Dunn and Warren Ball did not make the depth char. Dunn, like Smith, garnered Meyer's affections during camp, so I'd be curious to see what happened between now and last week. Ball battled a foot injury early in camp and, according to Meyer, has missed the last few practices with a concussion.
  • Dontre Wilson or Jalin Marshall at H-B. Both will see the field and both will make plays for Ohio State. I think this is Wilson's job, but Marshall should give the Buckeyes another much-needed weapon in the absence of Braxton Miller. 
  • Michael Bennett or Tommy Schutt at defensive tackle. 
  • Gareon Conley or Eli Apple at corner back.
  • Cam Burrows or Vonn Bell at safety.

As a whole, the depth chart doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know, meaning, the all the "or"s are to be expected. Head coach Urban Meyer has been hesitant to name starters at left guard, center, cornerback and wide receiver and it looks like they've decided to throw a handful of guys into the fire against Navy. Sink or swim, I guess. 

The most interesting things to be gleaned are:

  • The whole Michael Bennett-or-Tommy Schutt situation. Bennett's a captain and been named to a handful of preseason award watch-lists so I'm honestly surprised he wasn't a clear-cut starter. Schutt, though, has apparently done enough to make a very real push at securing a full-time job on the defensive line. After all, Meyer did call the junior the "most improved player" at Ohio State. That, or Bennett could be dealing with injuries that hampered him at times during the 2013 season. 
  • The Vonn Bell-Cam Burrows battle is interesting, too. After starting in the Orange Bowl, it seemed like Bell would be a lock for a starting job on a defense in need of new faces and new personalities. Heck, a lot of people thought Bell should've seen more playing time than he did last season. So, the fact he's still fighting for a starting job this year is interesting. 
  • Not really surprised by Eli Apple-or-Gareon Conley at cornerback. I think Doran Grant's a strong cut above both of them, but Apple and Conley seem relatively interchangeable at this point. Meyer said neither had really separated themselves from the pack, so it makes sense that we'll see both come Saturday. 
Offense Defense
LT   68 TAYLOR DECKER 6-7 315 JR   DE   97 JOEY BOSA 6-6 275 SO
    73 ANTONIO UNDERWOOD 6-3 303 JR       59 TYQUAN LEWIS 6-3 260 FR
LG   54 BILLY PRICE 6-4 312 FR   NG   92 A. WASHINGTON 6-4 295 JR
  OR 51 JOEL HALE 6-4 310 SR       52 DONOVAN MUNGER 6-4 300 FR
C   50 JACOBY BOREN 6-1 285 JR   DT   63 MICHAEL BENNETT 6-2 288 SR
  OR 56 CHAD LINDSAY 6-2 302 SR     OR 90 TOMMY SCHUTT 6-2 295 JR
                    77 MICHAEL HILL 6-2 305 FR
RG   65 PAT ELFLEIN 6-3 300 SO   VIPER   88 STEVE MILLER 6-3 255 SR
    75 EVAN LISLE 6-6 300 FR       17 RASHAD FRAZIER 6-4 272 SR
RT   76 DARRYL BALDWIN 6-6 307 SR   LB   43 DARRON LEE 6-2 228 SO
    57 CHASE FARRIS 6-4 300 JR       35 CHRIS WORLEY 6-2 222 FR
                    38 CRAIG FADA 6-0 233 JR
TE   86 JEFF HEUERMAN 6-5 255 SR   MLB   14 CURTIS GRANT 6-3 238 SR
    81 NICK VANNETT 6-6 260 JR       5 RAEKWON McMILLAN 6-2 240 FR
                    55 CAM WILLIAMS 6-1 228 JR
WR   6 EVAN SPENCER 6-2 208 SR   SLB   37 JOSHUA PERRY 6-4 252 JR
    84 COREY SMITH 6-1 180 JR       33 DANTE BOOKER 6-2 233 FR
    1 JOHNNIE DIXON 5-11 198 FR                
QB   16 J.T. BARRETT 6-1 225 FR   CB   19 GAREON CONLEY 6-0 190 FR
    12 CARDALE JONES 6-5 250 SO     OR 13 ELI APPLE 6-1 198 FR
RB   15 EZEKIEL ELLIOTT 6-0 225 SO   SAF   23 TYVIS POWELL 6-3 208 SO
  OR 7 ROD SMITH 6-3 231 SR       20 RON TANNER 6-0 205 JR
  OR 4 CURTIS SAMUEL 5-11 196 FR       1 ERICK SMITH 6-0 198 FR
H-B   2 DONTRE WILSON 5-10 188 SO   SAF   16 CAM BURROWS 6-0 210 SO
  OR 17 JALIN MARSHALL 5-11 205 FR     OR 11 VONN BELL 5-11 200 SO
WR   9 DEVIN SMITH 6-1 199 SR   CB   12 DORAN GRANT 5-11 196 SR
    3 MICHAEL THOMAS 6-3 203 SO       26 ARMANI REEVES 5-10 198 JR
    89 JEFF GREENE 6-5 220 JR                
                NICKEL   26 ARMANI REEVES 5-10 198 JR
Special Teams
K   96 SEAN NUERNBERGER 6-1 230 FR   H   95 CAMERON JOHNSTON 6-0 195 SO
    39 KYLE CLINTON 6-1 218 SR       15 LUKE MORGAN 6-2 225 SO
P   95 CAMERON JOHNSTON 6-0 195 SO   PR   2 DONTRE WILSON 5-10 188 SO
    96 SEAN NUERNBERGER 6-1 230 FR       17 JALIN MARSHALL 5-11 205 FR
LS   41 BRYCE HAYNES 6-4 220 JR   KR   2 DONTRE WILSON 5-10 188 SO
                    17 JALIN MARSHALL 5-11 205 FR
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