If Friday’s penultimate practice of the spring was any indication, Terry Moore and Dominick Kelly appear to be surging toward significant roles in Ohio State’s secondary.
While Leroy Roker started the spring taking most of the first-team reps at safety alongside Jaylen McClain and Earl Little Jr., Moore was a fixture with the starting defense during Friday’s practices at Ohio Stadium, which was open to the media as well as attendees of this year’s Ohio State coaches clinic. After a quiet start to the spring, Moore – a Duke transfer who missed the entire 2025 season with a torn ACL – looked comfortable on the back end of the Buckeyes’ defense on Friday and appears to have found his footing in the battle to be Ohio State’s new starting free safety in 2026.
Ohio State utilized mostly two-safety lineups during Friday’s practice, with Moore and McClain taking the first-team reps, as Little did not take any reps in team drills. When the Buckeyes had five defensive backs on the field, Jermaine Mathews Jr. moved inside to nickel, with Kelly taking his place at outside cornerback opposite Devin Sanchez.
No Buckeye was a bigger standout on the day than Kelly, who consistently shut down his opponents in coverage while going against the likes of Devin McCuin and Kyle Parker, among others. The Georgia transfer appears poised to be Ohio State’s No. 3 cornerback on the outside this season, as he’s the only cornerback to lose his black stripe so far among a group of newcomers that also includes Alabama transfer Cam Calhoun and freshmen Jay Timmons and Jordan Thomas (though Thomas was another standout of Friday’s practice, showing plenty of physicality in coverage as he intercepted Tavien St. Clair in a red-zone passing period and forced multiple incompletions).
Greer gets first-team look at tackle
There were no big surprises with Ohio State’s primary first-team offensive line in Friday’s practice. With Austin Siereveld, Phillip Daniels and Joshua Padilla all sidelined by injuries, the starting unit in the offensive trenches consisted of left tackle Ian Moore, left guard Luke Montgomery, center Carson Hinzman, right guard Gabe VanSickle and right tackle Carter Lowe.
Lowe wasn’t the only player to see first-team work at right tackle, however, as true freshman Sam Greer also rotated in for first-team reps at RT on several series in team drills. Greer also practiced at left tackle with the second-team offensive line.
While Greer had an up-and-down day blocking Ohio State’s top defensive ends, his quick ascent into first-team reps shows the 6-foot-7, 335-pound Northeast Ohioan is making an early impression this spring. He’s unlikely to play significant snaps as a freshman, but could be a candidate to compete for a starting job as soon as next season if he continues to prove himself worthy of first-team looks in practice.
Baudo, Atkinson make the plays of the day
No play in Friday’s practice drew a bigger reaction from Ohio State players than when St. Clair connected with Nolan Baudo on a deep ball against the second-team defense. A walk-on receiver who’s beloved by his teammates for his gregarious personality and team-first approach, Baudo has never caught a pass in a game for the Buckeyes, but his long catch in Friday’s practice showed he’s still a capable playmaker despite being buried on a loaded depth chart.
The defensive highlight of the day came from defensive end Beau Atkinson, who trucked through Lowe on a bull rush for a would-be sack during team drills. Atkinson’s improvement in his second year as a Buckeye was evident throughout Friday’s practice as he saw frequent work with the starting defense and disrupted numerous plays, also including a tackle for loss on an inside run by Ja’Kobi Jackson.
Sayin sharpest among quarterbacks
While St. Clair was arguably the best quarterback during Student Appreciation Day, the last Ohio State practice that was open to the media before Friday, starter Julian Sayin was the sharpest of Ohio State’s QBs in Friday’s stadium practice.
In what wasn’t the best day of practice overall for Ohio State’s offense, Sayin’s poise and ability to process what the defense is doing stood out among his counterparts. He made one very poor decision by throwing the ball over the middle straight to McClain for an interception during team drills, but otherwise showed the best decision-making among the quarterbacks while also demonstrating his mobility with several scrambles.
St. Clair wasn’t as sharp on Friday as he was on Student Appreciation Day, throwing two near-interceptions in addition to the pick by Thomas, though his arm talent still stood out at times, such as on the aforementioned deep throw to Baudo.
Justyn Martin took most of the first-team reps behind Sayin and St. Clair and also had some impressive moments, including deep strikes to Parker and Brandon Inniss. The day ended on a sour note for Martin and the offense, however, when Mason Wilhelm snapped the ball before Martin was ready for it, resulting in a fumble that prompted offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to throw his hat on the ground in disgust.
Additional observations
- TJ Alford saw consistent work with the first-team defense at Will linebacker alongsie Payton Pierce on Friday, with Christian Alliegro lining up primarily at Sam linebacker in 4-3 fronts.
- Players who were limited participants in Friday’s practice due to injuries included running backs Bo Jackson, Isaiah West, Legend Bey and Anthony “Turbo” Rogers, tight end Bennett Christian, offensive lineman Joshua Padilla, defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr., linebackers Riley Pettijohn and CJ Sanna, cornerback Jay Timmons and safety Deshawn Stewart.
- Inniss, Phillip Bell, Bey (who wore No. 44 instead of his usual No. 2 on Friday), De’zie Jones and Brock Boyd were the punt returners during the punting portion of practice.
- In a personnel change from past years, Ohio State used offensive linemen as punt protectors. VanSickle was part of the shield alongside Mason Williams with the first-team punting unit, while Greer played that role alongside Hunter Welcing with the second-team punt group.
- Boyd had a quiet day during team drills but stood out during routes on air, consistently running crisp routes and catching the ball with his hands away from his body.
- Jeremiah Smith did Jeremiah Smith things on multiple occasions on Friday’s practice. A one-handed catch near the sideline was ruled incomplete due to being out of bounds, but Smith also hauled in multiple deep balls where he used his size to beat physical coverage.
- Ohio State quarterback commit Brady Edmunds was in attendance for Friday’s practice.
