Ohio State opened spring practice Tuesday morning at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, with plenty of questions outweighing the certainties in a program that lost the bulk of players integral to 50 wins and a national championship in the last four seasons.
Media was permitted to view the first hour of practice. Below are some observations on the offensive side of the ball. Players wore only jerseys and helmets the first day.
Notes:
- Dontre Wilson was everywhere. The senior took handoffs and pitches from J.T. Barrett in backfield action drills, fielded punts and caught passes with the wide receivers. He looks healthy from the foot injury that bothered him and kept him out of some games in 2015.
- Alongside Wilson, wide receiver Torrance Gibson and defensive back Marshon Lattimore returned punts during the special teams portion of practice. Wilson took first reps, then Lattimore and finally Gibson.
- Gibson dropped his first attempt at fielding a punt, but caught the next one.
- Wide receiver K.J. Hill wore an orange jersey during practice and also had a hefty cast/club on his left wrist. He ran routes and participated, but could not catch passes due to the injury.
- Barrett was the only player who wore a black jersey. Joe Burrow and Stephen Collier donned red ones and took reps in that order behind Barrett.
- Noah Brown, Curtis Samuel and Bri'onte Dunn worked out on stationary bikes and ran agility drills with other injured players in the corner of the indoor practice field.
- Corey Smith was not seen on the practice field. Smith earned a sixth year of eligibility for 2016 after suffering a broken leg in October during the Indiana game.
- Running back reps went as follows during drills: Mike Weber, Patrick Wise, Antonio Williams. Dunn assuredly would have been involved, but was held off the side with the other injured players as stated above.
- Brown and Samuel caught passes from the quarterbacks during throwing drills, but did so while just standing still. They didn't run routes.
- Urban Meyer spent the majority of his time watching the running back and wide receiver drills after the special teams portion of practice ended.
- Wide receiver Johnnie Dixon looked healthy and fully participated in all drills. He caught passes from all three quarterbacks alongside the rest of the healthy wide receivers.
- It was difficult to get a sense of who led the offensive line drills behind Pat Elflein and Billy Price, because media did not see any plays ran by the entire offensive unit. The line also ran through drills in the corner of the field farthest away from where reporters could stand.
- Tim Hinton roamed the sidelines and entertained visitors in the form of high school coaches and five-star running back recruit Cam Akers during practice. Hinton moved into the administrative role after the hire of offensive line coach Greg Studrawa. Offensive coordinator Ed Warinner is now coaching the tight ends.
-
Early enrollee numbers for freshmen: Antonio Williams wore No. 3, Austin Mack No. 11, Tyler Gerald No. 72 and Michael Jordan No. 73.
Urban Meyer is set to meet with reporters at approximately 11 a.m. upon the completion of practice. Stick with Eleven Warriors for notes and videos from his press conference along with more stories to follow.
