Defensive Observations From Ohio State's Third Spring Practice of 2016

By Tim Shoemaker on March 22, 2016 at 10:30 am
Michael Hill works out during Ohio State's spring practice Tuesday.
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Ohio State returned to the indoor facility Tuesday morning after taking a week off for spring break for practice No. 3 of spring ball. The Buckeyes were in shoulder pads and opened up practice — after stretching and warm-ups — with the circle drill.

The first hour of the practice was open to the media and even though there weren't a ton of changes from our first set of observations, here is some of what we saw from Tuesday's practice on the defensive side of the ball.

  • Damon Webb, who worked off to the side during the first spring practice two weeks ago rehabbing from a minor injury, was back on the field today and working with the safeties in positional drills during the open portion of practice. Webb played corner — and primarily nickel — last season for Ohio State. This, of course, could be to lack of depth at safety, as the Buckeyes have quite a few guys hurt in the secondary this spring.
  • Eric Glover-Williams was still working with the safeties, too, and Cam Burrows was dressed in full pads working out, as well, as he returns from foot surgery. Burrows wasn't going through any of the live drills, but did some of the individual position drills during warm-ups. He looks to be on his way to returning to 100 percent very soon.
  • The first team defensive line was still Sam Hubbard, Michael Hill, Tracy Sprinkle and Jalyn Holmes. Holmes, presumably, is working with the first team as Tyquan Lewis is still recovering from an injury. 
  • The first-team cornerbacks, again, were Gareon Conley and Marshon Lattimore. Conley made a diving interception during some drills against receivers.
  • Defensive tackle Donovan Munger did not practice and was dressed in the street clothes.
  • Safety Erick Smith and linebacker Nick Conner, who are both recovering from torn ACLs, were jogging around on the sideline together and neither showed any significant limp while doing so. Both obviously did not go through position drills.
  • On the defensive line, both Rashod Berry and Dre'Mont Jones looked to be moving quite well. Berry is transitioning from tight end to defensive end and looks like a natural athlete and Jones, who was injured almost all of last season, looked to be moving quite well as he battles for playing time.
  • Recruiting note: Big-time defensive tackle prospect, and 2017 Ohio State commit, Haskell Garrett was on campus and spent a good amount of time chatting it up with head coach Urban Meyer as well as watching the defensive line work out.

Meyer is scheduled to speak with the media around 11 a.m. Stay tuned to Eleven Warriors for coverage from Meyer's press conference.

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