Ohio State saved its best of its three open practices for last.
The Buckeyes put the pads on for the first time in camp on Saturday, and with that came a different level of intensity from the first two practices. Ohio State practiced for more than two-and-a-half hours on Saturday and gave us our first true look at the Buckeyes’ starters going head-to-head as they brought the full team together for 11-on-11 team drills for the first time in camp.
Much like he did in his final opportunity to impress the public this spring, Julian Sayin rose to the occasion in the last practice open to fans this year with the best day an Ohio State quarterback has had so far in camp. There were plenty of other standouts on the day as well as Ohio State’s depth and talent at defensive end showed and Davison Igbinosun continued his excellent start to camp, while the full-team 11-on-11 brought some clarity to where things stand on the offensive line and showed who might be the frontrunner to start at strong safety.
Sayin outshines Kienholz on Day 3
Saturday was the first day of preseason camp where it felt like there was a clear winner of the day at quarterback.
Lincoln Kienholz was more efficient than Julian Sayin on opening day, while Sayin looked slightly sharper than Kienholz on Day 2, but neither did enough on those days to separate from the other. On Saturday, however, Sayin was the quarterback who looked most ready to be Ohio State’s starter against Texas in four weeks.
After throwing mostly short passes in the first two days of practice, Sayin put his arm strength on display several times on Saturday, including a pair of deep connections with Jeremiah Smith that demonstrated the potential of the five-star sophomores as a quarterback-receiver tandem. The second one was particularly impressive on both ends as Sayin lofted a throw over the top of tight coverage by Bryce West up the left sideline, with Smith making a diving grab for a deep reception.
Sayin also did the better job of the two quarterbacks on Saturday of handling pressure in the pocket and throwing the ball accurately with pressure coming toward him. While Kienholz had his moments on the day as well, particularly with the zip and accuracy he showed throwing the ball during red zone work, his performance dipped during team drills, particularly when he was paired with the second-team offensive line as Kienholz and Sayin alternated drives with the first and second units.
While most of the throwing work during the first two days of camp took place on the opposite side of the field from where the media was allowed to stand, making it more difficult to evaluate the finer points of quarterback play, Saturday gave us more opportunities to watch the quarterbacks up close, particularly during a drill early in practice where the QBs practiced throwing deep balls to the wide receivers. Sayin’s ball placement stood out during that drill – which you can watch in the video below – as his throws were more consistently where his receivers expected them while Kienholz’s receivers more often had to adjust to the ball.
Sayin wasn’t perfect on Saturday – he was picked off by Jermaine Mathews Jr. during a red zone passing drill, and was nearly intercepted again by West during 7-on-7 drills. With four weeks still to go until the season opener, Ryan Day isn’t likely to rush into a quarterback decision, and he’ll want to see several strong days in a row from one QB or the other before naming a starter. Overall, though, Sayin’s performance on Day 3 showed why he’s widely viewed as the frontrunner to be QB1 for Ohio State this season.
Defensive end depth on display
If the first three days of preseason camp were any indication, Ohio State looks primed to have a disruptive rotation of defensive ends this season even after losing Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau.
Four DEs rotated with the starters on Saturday – Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Caden Curry, Beau Atkinson and C.J. Hicks – and all four of them flashed plenty of pass-rush ability throughout the day.
Hicks, who has the most to prove among them as he makes the transition from linebacker to defensive end, looked like the real deal on Saturday as he blew up multiple plays in the backfield, including one rep where he blew by projected starting left tackle Ethan Onianwa to draw a big celebration from the defensive sideline.
Curry also had a strong day rushing the passer, with multiple rushes during team drills that could have been sacks if the quarterbacks were live. Atkinson continued his strong start to camp by collapsing the pocket on several plays, including multiple rushes where he drove second-string right tackle Phillip Daniels back to the quarterback, though Onianwa got the best of Atkinson during lineman one-on-ones.
Ohio State’s top four defensive ends were particularly dominant against the second-team offensive line as the backup offensive tackles, Daniels and Ian Moore, struggled to block them consistently.
With that, there appeared to be a clear gap between the starting offensive line and everyone else on Saturday as Onianwa, left guard Luke Montgomery, center Carson Hinzman, right guard Tegra Tshabola and right tackle Austin Siereveld took all the reps with the first-team unit. The second-team unit from left to right consisted of Moore, Jake Cook, Joshua Padilla, Gabe VanSickle and Daniels.
VanSickle was the day’s top performer among backup offensive linemen, winning a majority of his reps during one-on-ones.
Igbinosun, McClain among secondary standouts
Entering his third year as an Ohio State starter, Davison Igbinosun has looked the part of one of Ohio State’s top players so far in preseason camp. Known for his physicality, Igbinosun was dominant in coverage on Saturday and seemed to relish the pads coming on for the first time in camp, laying a big hit on Bo Jackson after a screen pass from Kienholz.
As expected, Igbinosun and Mathews took most of the first-team reps at outside cornerback on Saturday, though Lorenzo Styles Jr., Aaron Scott Jr. and West each also worked into that rotation. Styles and West split reps at nickelback with Caleb Downs, who continued to move between nickel and safety as he has throughout camp so far.
Perhaps most notably, Jaylen McClain – fresh off of being named an Iron Buckeye on Friday – took the majority of reps at strong safety with the first-team defense on Saturday. Malik Hartford also worked in with the starters on Saturday, but many of his reps came in three-safety lineups, a potential indicator that McClain is emerging as a frontrunner to start alongside Downs in the base defense.
Malone, Moore rotate in place of Houston
Saturday’s practice brought more promising signs that Eddrick Houston will be back on the field sooner than later, as Ohio State’s projected starting 3-technique defensive tackle was seen in uniform and jogging on the field on Saturday – just two days after leaving practice with a knee injury – though he did not participate in any live action.
With Houston sidelined from team drills for the time being, Tywone Malone Jr. and Jason Moore split reps with the first-team defense alongside starting nose tackle Kayden McDonald on Saturday. Malone seemingly had the better day of the two on Saturday, generating good push against Montgomery in one-on-ones and blowing up a play for a would-be sack against Kienholz in 11-on-11.
Will Smith Jr. repped as the second-team nose tackle behind McDonald, who was another practice standout on Saturday, including one play where he blew up a Samuel Dixon in the backfield for a tackle for loss. McDonald was also dominant in one-on-ones, getting the best of both Hinzman and Padilla while repping against the Buckeyes’ top two centers.
More observations
- Saturday’s practice featured a field-goal kicking period for the first time in preseason camp. While there was a clear gap between Jayden Fielding and the rest of Ohio State’s kickers for the last two years, Jackson Courville demonstrated leg strength and accuracy during kicking drills on Saturday, giving the Buckeyes two legitimate options for field goals and kickoffs this year.
- Seven Buckeyes took reps at punt returner on Day 3: Bryson Rodgers, Downs, Carnell Tate, Inniss, Smith, Anthony “Turbo” Rogers and Mylan Graham.
- Payton Pierce saw regular work with the first-team defense at linebacker on Saturday, rotating in with Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese, who each also took some reps with the second-team defense even though they’re projected starters.
- Walk-on cornerback Brenton “Inky” Jones wore a yellow non-contact pinnie during Saturday’s practice after leaving Friday’s practice early with an apparent shoulder injury.
- Freshman defensive tackle Maxwell Roy returned to practice on Saturday after he was absent from the first two practices, though he did not participate in team drills.
- Other players that were limited participants on Saturday and did not participate in team drills included tight end Will Kacmarek, defensive end Logan George, defensive tackle Jarquez Carter, running back Isaiah West and safety DeShawn Stewart. Kacmarek, Stewart and West all missed time with injuries during the spring.
- Jelani Thurman made one of the day’s best catches for the second day in a row when he made a diving grab in the back of the end zone on a throw from Eli Brickhandler during red-zone passing drills.
- Brandon Inniss turned a short pass into a long catch-and-run touchdown during team drills for the second time in three days, showing his potential to be a major yards-after-catch weapon this season.
- While Rogers continued to break off some long runs as he did on the first two days of practice, the running back participating in his third practice as a Buckeye also had some freshman moments on Saturday as he had to run penalty laps multiple times for fumbling the ball.
- While he worked only with the third-team defense in team drills, freshman defensive end Epi Sitanilei continued his strong start to his Buckeye career as he blew up multiple plays again on Saturday, including forcing one of Rogers’ fumbles.
- Walk-on wide receiver Dorian Williams ended the practice with back-to-back catches from Tavien St. Clair. Fellow walk-on wide receiver Brennen Schramm had one of the day’s longest receptions, beating freshman cornerback Jordyn Woods to haul in a deep ball from St. Clair.
- Five-star 2028 basketball recruit Kam Mercer attended practice alongside Ohio State basketball coaches Jake Diebler and Joel Justus for the second straight day.
