Observations and Videos from Ohio State’s Third Spring Practice of 2022

By Dan Hope and Griffin Strom on March 22, 2022 at 9:46 am
Cameron Brown
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After taking a week off for spring break, Ohio State football returned to the practice field on Tuesday morning for its third of 15 practices this spring.

Just as we did after the first practice of the spring two weeks ago, Ohio State beat writers were welcomed in to watch the first three periods of the practice inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Although the team was wearing pads for the first time this spring on Tuesday, the portion of practice the media was allowed to watch was nearly identical to the portion of the opening practice we were able to observe. The Buckeyes opened practice with a punt period, then had its “ball security” period in which defensive players worked on forcing fumbles – with players rotating to work with different coaches than their usual position coaches – and offensive players worked on holding onto the ball tightly.

The open portion of practice did not include any looks at the new defensive scheme or much new information about what the depth chart will look like, but below is what we were able to glean along with some video clips from the session.

Harrison, Brown return to action

After not participating in defensive line drills during the portion of practice that was open to the media two weeks ago, Zach Harrison participated in drills with Larry Johnson and company on Tuesday.

Cameron Brown, who only warmed up and did punt coverage work in the March 8 practice, returned to full defensive back drills on Tuesday. Brown repped alongside Ronnie Hickman, Kourt Williams and Denzel Burke as the first line of defensive backs during an interception drill.

Proctor still sidelined

Several Buckeyes remained limited in Monday’s open practice window, including Tyler Friday and Josh Proctor, who are both still working their way back from season-ending injuries suffered last year. Friday was seen going through initial warmups and stretching, but did not participate in drills with the defensive linemen. Proctor was not seen at all during practice.

Cody Simon, who underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason, participated in some drills on Monday, but did not join the Buckeye linebackers while they practiced punching the ball out in one drill.

The 10 players Ohio State listed as unavailable for all of spring on March 8 were Ryan Batsch, Jacolbe Cowan, Marcus Crowley, Jantzen Dunn, Friday, Josh Fryar, Cade Kacherski, Lathan Ransom, Mitch Rossi and Harry Miller, although Miller medically retired on March 10.

Stray observations

  • The running back order for all of the drills while practice was open consisted of TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams taking handoffs from C.J. Stroud, followed by Evan Pryor taking handoffs from Kyle McCord and Cayden Saunders taking reps with Devin Brown.
  • With Cameron Brown back with the first group of defensive backs in drill work, Lejond Cavazos dropped down to the second unit with Jakailin Johnson, Tanner McCalister and Bryson Shaw. Jordan Hancock took third-team cornerback reps along with Lloyd McFarquhar, while true freshmen Jyaire Brown and Ryan Turner were the fourth-team cornerbacks.
  • The punt returner order remained the same from the first practice, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba taking the first reps followed by Cameron Martinez and Julian Fleming.
  • The first-team punting unit consisted of Jesse Mirco at punter, Bradley Robinson at long snapper, Tommy Eichenberg and Teradja Mitchell as the upbacks and Cade Stover, Ronnie Hickman, Kourt Williams, Emeka Egbuka and Xavier Johnson along the front line with a rotating group of gunners – mostly cornerbacks, though Jayden Ballard was also in the gunner group.
  • Mitchell Melton remained with the defensive line and Cade Stover remained with the linebackers as they were in the opening practice.
  • Recruits in attendance for Tuesday morning’s practice session including five-star defensive end (and Notre Dame commit) Keon Keeley, in-state tight end Tayvion Galloway and in-state defensive end Brian Robinson.
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