Where Buckeyes are depth-wise at key positions on offense

COLUMBUS — Ohio State already saw plenty from its first scrimmage on Saturday to name a starting quarterback and gain an idea for where this offense is heading.

But Buckeyes coach Ryan Day still wants to see a lot more from his team, especially this weekend when they hit the field for the second and final scrimmage of August training camp. As big as last weekend was for beginning to sort out the depth chart, this upcoming Saturday could be even more pivotal.

“Saturday will be one more piece of the puzzle,” Day said Thursday. “Coming off the field today, I feel differently than when I did when I woke up this morning because we learned something about our team today. I think it’ll be the same thing on Saturday. Will there be some positions won? Probably, yeah. I don’t know exactly who and where and how that looks, but again, it’s going to be a long year, and we need depth.

“We’re going to need everybody. So we’re going to get three groups reps on Saturday and let them all go and and try to build as much depth as we can.”

Ohio State feels like it is building the proper depth to go win a national title this season. And Day had plenty to say about that budding depth on Thursday during his press conference. Lettermen Row is breaking down what to make of some of Day’s comments from Thursday. Let’s dive in.

Wide receiver depth in progress

Ohio State opened camp feeling like it had a good starting lineup of wide receivers — but still had questions down the depth chart.

Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss and freshman Jeremiah Smith lead the way for this unit, but the depth is getting better and better every day. Ohio State likes what it is seeing from its receiver depth, and Ryan Day said as much Thursday.

Here’s what Day said about a few of those receivers, which should make the Buckeyes feel much better now about the receiver depth than they did two weeks ago:

On third-year receiver Kojo Antwi: “I’ve been very impressed with Kojo Antwi — in special teams, he’s ran good routes, he’s become very accountable. I just like his work ethic. He’s really changed his body. He’s changed his life. He’s changed his habits. I’m proud of the preseason that Kojo’s had. And we really need him to be a guy that can help us this year. I see some things in him that are pretty special, and I’m hoping that we can continue to build on that.”

On second-year receiver Bryson Rodgers: “If Bryson Rodgers can continue to play strong and physical and block in the perimeter run game and catch the ball in contact, he’s got tremendous change of direction. He can run routes underneath. He’s working on making sure that he’s keeping that weight up. I think he wants to be north of 187, and he’s got to be because that position is a physical position. He’s shown that he can do it. So that would be encouraging to have him there as a weapon for us.”

On freshman receiver Mylan Graham, who enrolled in June: “Mylan Graham, for a young player, has really had a good five days. He kind of got to the point where he had that, we call it the kind of the doldrums of camp — where he can’t really get any momentum — and then the last five days, he’s built his own momentum, made plays. I believe he graded out a ‘champion’ in the [scrimmage] on Saturday, so that’s been encouraging to see from him.”

Tight end depth is getting better

Ohio State is starting to see what it wanted to see all offseason from its tight ends. Ryan Day said they’ve ‘made progress.’

Day said he likes what he has seen from Will Kacmarek, who transferred in from Ohio this offseason, calling him ‘durable,’ and ‘accountable’ as a tight end who can both block for the run game and catch passes.

While Gee Scott Jr. has missed some time, Day did call out second-year tight end Jelani Thurman as a player who needs to step up and play a role for this offense.

“He has the ability, he has the competitiveness,” Day said. “I love being around him on the field. He’s just got a great way about him. He’s learning how to continue to finish. There’s a couple of clips that we showed the team the other day of him finishing down the field and playing hard, continuing to be focused on his job, and knowing exactly what to do when he’s on the field. Playing tight end is not easy, certainly not easy anywhere you play, but certainly not easy at Ohio State. … He’s run some really good routes, in particular in the red zone, he can win against man to man. He’s got good length, but he needs to keep coming. He’s not quite there yet, but we’re excited about where he’s he’s going.”

Down the depth chart, Ohio State is also seeing progress from a pair of lesser-known tight ends.

“Pat Gurd has been a solid player for us. He is going to get on the field,” Day said. “Bennett Christian has probably played his best football since he’s been here in the last week. I’m excited about that, but we got to keep going. We got a long way to go, but, but there is some positive momentum in that room.”

Offensive line depth still coming along

Ohio State is still in the middle of a battle for the starting right guard spot between third-year linemen Carson Hinzman and Tegra Tshabola. Hinzman started 12 games at center last year, but he has missed time this month with an illness, clearing the way for Tshabola to earn first-team reps.

Behind the presumed starting lineup, however, the Buckeyes believe their depth is beginning to come along nicely. Whether that’s Austin Siereveld spending time at both guard and tackle recently, Luke Montgomery earning reps as the team’s second-team center, senior Zen Michalski finally turning a corner and playing well, or even true freshman Ian Moore, who lost his black stripe after practice Thursday. The Buckeyes are getting better.

“He’s come along too,” Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said about Moore. “He’s another guy that’s benefited from those extra reps that sometimes they don’t normally get.”

Confidence is growing in that second-team offensive line, despite some members of the line missing time with a virus that’s spread through the offensive line room in recent weeks. That illness, though, gave younger players larger roles in practice. Could that be a blessing in disguise, especially now that the illness is behind this line?

It allowed Ohio State to build valuable depth that’ll pay off down the road.

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