After watching about an hour of Ohio State's eighth spring practice session on Monday, here's a round-up of some of my notes and takeaways from what I saw:
Brown/Williams back on the field, but not drilling
Two members of the Buckeye secondary rehabbing from season-ending injuries both appeared on the field Monday, but they’re not back to full participation in drills just yet.
Fourth-year cornerback Cam Brown, who tore his Achilles in the Penn State game at the end of last October, was warming up and stretching with the rest of the team on Monday, and so was redshirt freshman safety Kourt Williams, who is coming off a torn ACL.
Head coach Ryan Day previously said the pair would be receiving individual work by the end of spring, and that still appears to be the case, as neither one actually went through drills with other members of the Buckeye secondary after the stretching period was finished.
Still, it’s an encouraging sign to see both Buckeyes beginning the process of getting back on the field this spring.
Mitchell Melton dealing with “long-term” injury
Mitchell Melton is the latest member of the Buckeye back seven to be dealt a setback via injury, as the redshirt freshman linebacker came limping out of the locker room on crutches during a practice period on Monday.
Day confirmed the apparent leg injury on Monday, and said that it was a “long-term” situation.
Melton may not have been expected to crack the starting rotation even if healthy this season, but the injury is the latest in a series of them for the Ohio State defense.
In the past couple weeks, we’ve learned that senior linebacker Dallas Gant is out for the spring with a foot injury, senior cornerback Sevyn Banks will miss camp with an undisclosed injury as well. Up front, All-American defensive tackle Haskell Garrett is also out for the spring, and was seen Monday in a boot helping the defensive line work through drills.
Chris Olave has yet to return from “illness”
The Buckeyes’ star receiver was absent from last Friday’s practice with what Day said was a stomach bug, which Chris Olave does not appear to have recovered from just yet.
Ohio State’s leading receiver in 2020 was not on the practice field Monday as Day said he’s still dealing with an “illness”, but the rest of the Buckeye wideouts got plenty of reps with the three-man rotation of C.J. Stroud, Jack Miller and Kyle McCord at quarterback.
Also of note in the WR room was that when the Buckeyes moved outside for seven-on-seven drills, sophomore wideout Julian Fleming remained inside to catch balls with a select group.
No McCall or Williamson in practice
Many were surprised to see graduate senior Demario McCall drilling with the defensive backs on Friday, as the former in-state recruit had spent his entire career up until now playing running back or wide receiver.
However, McCall was absent from practice on Monday, and so too was graduate senior cornerback Marcus Williamson, who started in the slot corner position for the Buckeyes in 2020.
No further details were provided about the status of either.
Teague did not drill after warmups
Ohio State’s presumptive starting running back in 2021, fourth-year Buckeye Master Teague, participated in warmups and stretches with the rest of Tony Alford’s talented RB room on Monday, but was not seen in drills thereafter.
Teague injured his Achilles in the first practice last spring, but returned by the start of the season and started all but two games for Ohio State in 2020 as he split carries with Trey Sermon.
As is common during spring camp though, a veteran like Teague missing drills is not necessarily cause for alarm.
A lot of nickel with Mitchell and Simon at LB
Ohio State may not have all of its pieces available in the back seven, but the Buckeyes appeared to be playing quite a bit of nickel formation on the practice field on Monday.
Senior Teradja Mitchell and sophomore linebacker Cody Simon appeared to receive the bulk of the reps in the middle of the field, with third-year LB Craig Young and junior safety Ronnie Hickman seeing time in hybrid roles at safety, and Day said Monday that he feels confidently in both of their ability to do so.
Day said he wants the team to have flexibility schematically, and did not indicate that the Buckeyes would necessarily be playing more nickel than in the past in 2021.
Kacherski injured during practice
Senior walk-on linebacker Cade Kacherski, who missed much of last season with an injury suffered against Michigan State, appeared to suffer another setback on Monday, although the severity is unknown.
During a seven-on-seven red zone drill, Kacherski went down with an apparent leg injury before getting up to limp back to the locker room.
Brown/Williams back on the field, but not drilling
Two members of the Buckeye secondary rehabbing from season-ending injuries both appeared on the field Monday, but they’re not back to full participation in drills just yet.
Fourth-year cornerback Cam Brown, who tore his Achilles in the Penn State game at the end of last October, was warming up and stretching with the rest of the team on Monday, and so was redshirt freshman safety Kourt Williams, who is coming off a torn ACL.
Head coach Ryan Day previously said the pair would be receiving individual work by the end of spring, and that still appears to be the case, as neither one actually went through drills with other members of the Buckeye secondary after the stretching period was finished.
Still, it’s an encouraging sign to see both Buckeyes beginning the process of getting back on the field this spring.
Mitchell Melton dealing with “long-term” injury
Mitchell Melton is the latest member of the Buckeye back seven to be dealt a setback via injury, as the redshirt freshman linebacker came limping out of the locker room on crutches during a practice period on Monday.
Day confirmed the apparent leg injury on Monday, and said that it was a “long-term” situation.
Melton may not have been expected to crack the starting rotation even if healthy this season, but the injury is the latest in a series of them for the Ohio State defense.
In the past couple weeks, we’ve learned that senior linebacker Dallas Gant is out for the spring with a foot injury, senior cornerback Sevyn Banks will miss camp with an undisclosed injury as well. Up front, All-American defensive tackle Haskell Garrett is also out for the spring, and was seen Monday in a boot helping the defensive line work through drills.
Chris Olave has yet to return from “illness”
The Buckeyes’ star receiver was absent from last Friday’s practice with what Day said was a stomach bug, which Chris Olave does not appear to have recovered from just yet.
Ohio State’s leading receiver in 2020 was not on the practice field Monday as Day said he’s still dealing with an “illness”, but the rest of the Buckeye wideouts got plenty of reps with the three-man rotation of C.J. Stroud, Jack Miller and Kyle McCord at quarterback.
Also of note in the WR room was that when the Buckeyes moved outside for seven-on-seven drills, sophomore wideout Julian Fleming remained inside to catch balls with a select group.
No McCall or Williamson in practice
Many were surprised to see graduate senior Demario McCall drilling with the defensive backs on Friday, as the former in-state recruit had spent his entire career up until now playing running back or wide receiver.
However, McCall was absent from practice on Monday, and so too was graduate senior cornerback Marcus Williamson, who started in the slot corner position for the Buckeyes in 2020.
No further details were provided about the status of either.
Teague did not drill after warmups
Ohio State’s presumptive starting running back in 2021, fourth-year Buckeye Master Teague, participated in warmups and stretches with the rest of Tony Alford’s talented RB room on Monday, but was not seen in drills thereafter.
Teague injured his Achilles in the first practice last spring, but returned by the start of the season and started all but two games for Ohio State in 2020 as he split carries with Trey Sermon.
As is common during spring camp though, a veteran like Teague missing drills is not necessarily cause for alarm.
A lot of nickel with Mitchell and Simon at LB
Ohio State may not have all of its pieces available in the back seven, but the Buckeyes appeared to be playing quite a bit of nickel formation on the practice field on Monday.
Senior Teradja Mitchell and sophomore linebacker Cody Simon appeared to receive the bulk of the reps in the middle of the field, with third-year LB Craig Young and junior safety Ronnie Hickman seeing time in hybrid roles at safety, and Day said Monday that he feels confidently in both of their ability to do so.
Day said he wants the team to have flexibility schematically, and did not indicate that the Buckeyes would necessarily be playing more nickel than in the past in 2021.
Kacherski injured during practice
Senior walk-on linebacker Cade Kacherski, who missed much of last season with an injury suffered against Michigan State, appeared to suffer another setback on Monday, although the severity is unknown.
During a seven-on-seven red zone drill, Kacherski went down with an apparent leg injury before getting up to limp back to the locker room.
