Spring Superlatives: Picking best from Buckeyes offense in spring ball
COLUMBUS — After an encouraging set of 15 sessions inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and a big day for the spring game at the Horseshoe, the Ohio State Buckeyes are moving on to summer workouts.
Before the spring entirely wraps up, however, Lettermen Row is handing out Spring Superlatives for the Buckeyes offense, which made big strides over the last two months but still has remaining questions, especially at quarterback. Let’s dive in.
Biggest surprise: Julian Sayin immediately bolsters quarterback depth
Ohio State already had four-star freshman quarterback Air Noland set to begin his career with the Buckeyes this spring. But once five-star Alabama signee Julian Sayin entered the transfer portal following the retirement of Nick Saban, the Buckeyes couldn’t say no to bringing in a special talent. And he’s proving it was the right move early in his career.
Julian Sayin is already adding depth to the quarterback room, and he is positioning himself to become the heir apparent to the starting quarterback job for the future. Sayin has dazzled in his first 15 practices at Ohio State.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said last week of Sayin’s approach. “He has a good plan when he gets out there. Doesn’t want to get his hand held. I’ve been impressed with his approach, and like I said before, he’s got a really bright future.
“How fast he gets on the field will be just kind of up to him.”
Ohio State is unlikely to start a true freshman at quarterback; Will Howard or Devin Brown appear to lead that battle. But Julian Sayin has shown the Buckeyes enough through his first spring that he’s in line to be in the mix moving forward — and a big part of the future at the position.
Biggest mover: Ohio State RB TC Caffey
What a spring for Ohio State tailback TC Caffey. The walk-on tailback tore his ACL in October 2022 and missed nearly all of last offseason, leading to a bench role last fall. Now fully healthy and back to practicing, however, Caffey is showing he belongs in the conversation. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has raved about Caffey, citing that Caffey could even contribute for the Buckeyes this season thanks to the spring he has put together and talent level he has shown. Couple all of that with the fact that Ohio State just lost Dallan Hayden to the transfer portal, and Caffey is one of five running backs on the depth chart, along with two superstars and two true freshmen. He has a chance to keep rising this summer and earn a role in the loaded Ohio State offense.
Best freshman: WR Jeremiah Smith
Who else would it be? The five-star prospect and No. 1 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class is already living up to that lofty billing as the top wide receiver prospect in a decade. Smith came in, put his head down and worked in the weight room — then took it to the practice field. He began showing that not even the best cornerbacks on the Buckeyes roster could best him every rep; he wins his share of jump balls against the first-teammers. Smith has been categorized by some as a ‘generational’ talent, and so far, he is showing why. Don’t be surprised if he’s starting for the Buckeyes this fall. He is without a doubt the best freshman on the offense — and the entire roster.
Top position group: Running back
We’ll give the nod to the running back room for coming out of spring with a good spring of work and a new position coach. Of course, they did it all while undergoing a position coaching change; Tony Alford left after the first week of spring ball for rival Michigan. After being without a tailbacks coach for two weeks, the Buckeyes hired Carlos Locklyn from Oregon, and he has immediately made an impact on TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins and the rest of the running backs, including two true freshmen in James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon. For all the turmoil this group put up with this spring, to come out of April feeling good and having gotten a lot of work done despite the coaching change, they deserve some praise as the top offensive position group.
Spring MVP: Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly
Ohio State thought it found its offensive coordinator to finally take play-calling away from Ryan Day. The Buckeyes hired former NFL and college football head coach Bill O’Brien to lead that — until O’Brien took the Boston College head coaching job just a couple of weeks later. That left the Buckeyes yet again looking for an offensive coordinator.
Ohio State may have found an even better fit than O’Brien. Former Oregon, UCLA, 49ers and Eagles head coach Chip Kelly is the new OC; he was Ryan Day’s quarterbacks coach, and Day worked under Kelly in the NFL. Now the duo get to work together at Ohio State, this time with Day as Kelly’s boss.
Kelly has revamped the Buckeyes running game and added experienced play-calling into the mix, freeing Day up from play-calling responsibilities and allowing him to run the entire football program. And he’s helping the quarterbacks, most notably Will Howard, Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz, progress.
So far, it’s yielding good results according to most folks inside the program. Kelly is expected to diversify the run game, and that was shown in the spring game. He brings experience working with quarterbacks and gives the Buckeyes a talented offensive mind to work alongside the rest of the staff. Chip Kelly is officially the spring MVP for the Buckeyes offense.
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