There is one giant parallel between spring practice in 2014 and 2016 for Ohio State: The Buckeyes are working with an abundance of new players as they attempt to replace a substantial loss of talent.
In 2016, Ohio State must figure out a way to replace 16 starters from last year’s team — eight on offense, eight on defense — as it lost nine underclassmen as early entrants to the upcoming NFL Draft and a senior class that won 50 games over a four-year period. In 2014, the Buckeyes also had to replace double-digit starters as they lost an extremely talented offensive line, running back Carlos Hyde, wide receiver Philly Brown and key defensive playmakers Noah Spence, Bradley Roby and Ryan Shazier following the 2013 season.
We all know how that 2014 season ended. It’s probably not realistic to think something like that will happen again in 2016 with so much turnover. Possible? Sure, but certainly not likely, so let's get that out of the way now.
But the reason for Ohio State’s remarkable national championship run two years ago was because of the development of a core of players in the spring leading up to the season. Head coach Urban Meyer said the Buckeyes had a bunch of “average” players before that spring. After that, though, guys like Darron Lee, Eli Apple, Michael Thomas, Ezekiel Elliott, among others, emerged and turned into dynamic athletes to help Ohio State reach the pinnacle of the sport.
“Eli Apple had an iron deficiency, couldn’t finish a drill and we were ready to say he’s not good enough to play here,” Meyer said Tuesday. “Darron Lee, Zeke Elliott was a very mediocre running back his freshman year.
“Just as average as can be.”
That obviously changed as a bunch of relatively unknown names to outsiders turned into superstars of the college football world. And again, the Buckeyes face a relatively similar situation heading into this season. There’s a lot of new faces the majority of the country hasn’t heard of yet.
Spring practice two years ago was what changed everything about the last two seasons for Ohio State. Meyer is hoping that happens again, though he admits it maybe hasn’t occurred just yet.
“Maybe they will show up because we still have more practices, but the acceleration has gotta be there,” Meyer said. “We’re not accelerating like we did.”
Part of that lack of acceleration surely has to do with the amount of players the Buckeyes are holding out or limiting in spring practice. Meyer says 11 players Ohio State will be counting on during the season either aren’t participating in spring ball or they are restricted in some fashion.
Guys like Noah Brown, Curtis Samuel and Tyquan Lewis aren’t practicing at all. The coaching staff is being cautious with players like Billy Price, Pat Elflein and Gareon Conley due to a high number of reps throughout their careers. Dontre Wilson and Marshon Lattimore are also being watched as they continue to work back from nagging injuries.
There are others, too. The full group isn't out on the field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and it's not hard to tell.
“You watch practice sometimes and you just wince and go, ‘Oh my goodness. Where are we going to be here?’ Meyer said. “But I think we’ll be OK if everybody gets healthy.”
That may not be until summer workouts begin in June or it may take until fall camp rolls around in August. That’s where the difference lies right now between the 2014 team and this 2016 one. Meyer saw players establish themselves around this time two years ago.
He is hoping for that to happen once more.
