COLUMBUS \u2014 Just like that, Ohio State is wrapping up training camp after three weeks of work. The Buckeyes entered camp on the first day of the month to kick off a season with sky-high expectations.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re on the other side of camp, now diving into prep for the regular season, which is just a week and a half away.<\/p>\n
Ohio State coach Ryan Day has already made it official that Kansas State transfer Will Howard will be the starting quarterback; he named Howard as QB1 last week. The Buckeyes have learned a lot about their roster during the last three weeks, but there\u2019s still plenty left to hash out.<\/p>\n
Lettermen Row<\/a><\/em> is projecting the Buckeyes depth chart on the offensive side of the ball after learning a lot this month. Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n Starter: Will Howard<\/strong><\/p>\n This competition is already over.\u00a0Will Howard<\/a><\/strong>, who led the Kansas State Wildcats to a Big 12 title in 2022 and has extensive experience in major college football prior to transferring to Ohio State, won the job. Howard was the man to beat for the entire offseason, and he closed the competition with great showings in camp, and Ryan Day decided Thursday was the day to name Howard the starter. <\/p>\n \u201cOnce he kind of went through the offseason, he changed his body and then came in with a much better knowledge of what was going on,\u201d Day said. \u201cYou could see him playing faster, his feet were moving, the ball\u2019s coming out with more pace. And then, I think, after the first week, you just started to see him take control, make good decisions. That\u2019s the biggest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Projected backup: Devin Brown<\/strong><\/p>\n Day was quite complementary of now-projected backup Devin Brown<\/a><\/strong>, a former five-star quarterback. Brown has been good this preseason, but Howard was just better. Now the focus for Brown turns to holding off true freshman Julian Sayin<\/a><\/strong> for the backup role entering the season. Brown clearly has more experience than the debutant Sayin, but Sayin has really flashed as the offseason has progressed. Brown\u2019s still projected in the backup role right now, but Sayin is continuing to push for playing time.<\/p>\n \u201c\u201cDevin has shown the ability to do just about everything we ask him to do,\u201d Day said. \u201cIt\u2019s the consistency part and taking care of the football part that he\u2019s just got to make sure that he does a great job of moving forward, and if he can do that, then he can play and be a contributor for us.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ll project Brown to hold off Sayin \u2014 for now.<\/p>\n Projected starters: TreVeyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins<\/strong><\/p>\n Nothing has changed since the last depth chart projections.\u00a0TreVeyon Henderson<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0will give Ohio State one of the country\u2019s premier tailbacks to build the offense around, and he is expected to be a superstar as a senior leader. Of course, he\u2019s joined by former All-SEC tailback\u00a0Quinshon Judkins<\/strong><\/a>, who came in from Ole Miss bolster the running back room even more.<\/p>\n Pecking order behind starters<\/strong><\/p>\n 3. James Peoples<\/strong> Freshmen\u00a0James Peoples<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Sam Williams-Dixon<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0must add depth \u2014 and quickly. Peoples looks the part early in his career and recently lost his black stripe<\/a>. Williams-Dixon, meanwhile, has surprised some folks during his first offseason on campus. Both of them need to be productive in camp and prove to Ohio State that they can carry the ball in big moments \u2014 and provide depth for a top-heavy, but thin room.<\/p>\n Projected starters: Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss, Jeremiah Smith<\/strong><\/p>\n Now-captain Emeka Egbuka<\/a> gives this offense a proven 1,000-yard receiver back in the fold to lead the way, of course. Egbuka also admitted in the spring that he was working toward moving around between the slot and on the outside, paving the way for\u00a0Brandon Inniss<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to earn a major role. That\u2019s coming true, and Inniss is in the plans for major playing time. Former superstar recruits\u00a0Carnell Tate<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and Inniss have a chance to earn a featured role as Buckeyes pass-catchers. Tate is having a tremendous camp.<\/p>\n Former five-star prospect\u00a0Jeremiah Smith<\/a><\/strong>, On3\u2019s No. 1 overall player from the class of 2024, is the exception to the \u2018it\u2019s hard for freshman receivers to play\u2019 rule. And he might be in the conversation for \u2018best wide receiver on the team\u2019 soon. He will be a part of the starting lineup or at least earn starter-level snaps early in the season.<\/p>\n Projected pecking order at WR<\/strong><\/p>\n 5. Bryson Rodgers<\/strong> Can anyone else beyond the top four push for a role?\u00a0Bryson Rodgers<\/a><\/strong> is a candidate for playing time in Year Two thanks to a good offseason and impressive showing in camp. Watch out for him.<\/p>\n Fourth-year receiver\u00a0Jayden Ballard<\/a><\/strong>, a speedster who has never been consistently great at the other things that could put him on the field in a bigger role, is still being called upon by Day to be more consistent. That has Lettermen Row concerned that he may not land a role. Day was highly complementary of Kojo Antwi<\/a><\/strong> and Mylan Graham<\/a><\/strong>. Could they earn time? <\/p>\n Projected pecking order<\/strong><\/p>\n 1a. Will Kacmarek<\/strong> Ohio State utilized multiple tight ends at nearly every point this past season, and formations dictated who was out on the field. Former Ohio tight end\u00a0Will Kacmarek<\/a><\/strong> is a capable blocker who will pair well with pass-catching threats like\u00a0Gee Scott Jr.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and the emergence of\u00a0Jelani Thurman<\/a><\/strong>. Scott is quietly one of the leaders of this offense, while Thurman is beginning to finally emerge as a do-it-all weapon.<\/p>\n While serving a season-long suspension for a prohibited substance last year,\u00a0Bennett Christian<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0spent the fall blocking one of the best defenses in the country as a scout-team tight end. He\u2019s now being praised for his offseason and training camp performance.<\/p>\n Another name to know along with Christian and the aforementioned Thurman: walk-on tight end\u00a0Patrick Gurd<\/a><\/strong>, who may shine as a fullback in the Chip Kelly offensive system.<\/p>\n Projected starters:<\/strong>\u00a0LT Josh Simmons, LG Donovan Jackson, C Seth McLaughlin, RG Tegra Tshabola, RT Josh Fryar<\/strong><\/p>\n Left tackle\u00a0Josh Simmons<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0quietly developed into the Buckeyes best offensive lineman last season, especially into October and November. He and\u00a0Donovan Jackson<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0have the left side of the line locked down already, and Alabama transfer and former Crimson Tide starting center\u00a0Seth McLaughlin<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is the starting center heading into this season.<\/p>\n The question is still on the right side, but Josh Fryar<\/a><\/strong> locked down the right tackle job this offseason. And then there\u2019s the guard spot.\u00a0Carson Hinzman<\/a><\/strong>, who started 12 games at center for the Buckeyes last season, was in our last projected starting lineup at the beginning of camp, but he\u2019s missed time with an illness this preseason. That\u2019s paved the way for third-year lineman Tegra Tshabola<\/a><\/strong> to work at first-team guard \u2014 and become the favorite to win the job. He\u2019s projected to do that.<\/p>\n Key backups:\u00a0Carson Hinzman<\/strong>,\u00a0Luke Montgomery, Zen Michalski, George Fitzpatrick, Austin Siereveld, Ian Moore<\/strong>,\u00a0Josh Padilla<\/strong><\/p>\n Ohio State likes the potential a lot of these projected backups possess.<\/p>\n Second-year lineman\u00a0Luke Montgomery<\/a><\/strong> is an interesting piece. He began his career at tackle, and he\u2019s now working at both guard and center. Another swing piece is second-year lineman Austin Siereveld<\/a><\/strong>, who is flashing as a potential 2025 starter. Other second-team linemen include tackle George Fitzpatrick<\/a><\/strong>, another developing potential future starter, and freshman tackle Ian Moore<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The post Projecting Buckeyes offensive depth chart with training camp winding down<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" COLUMBUS \u2014 Just like that, Ohio State is wrapping up training camp after three weeks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66811,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66766\/revisions\/66811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Ohio State quarterback<\/h2>\n
Running back<\/h2>\n
4. Sam Williams-Dixon<\/strong><\/p>\nBuckeyes wide receivers<\/h2>\n
6. Jayden Ballard\/Kojo Antwi\/Mylan Graham<\/strong><\/p>\nTight end<\/h2>\n
1b. Gee Scott Jr.<\/strong>
2. Jelani Thurman<\/strong>
3. Bennett Christian<\/strong><\/p>\nOffensive line<\/h2>\n