YOUTH ON OFFENSIVE LINE WORKING THROUGH GROWING PAINS DURING OHIO STATE SPRING PRACTICE
Urban Meyer knows the offensive line he wants to see at Ohio State come this fall. It must be tough, have depth and be on par with what the Buckeyes enjoyed the last four seasons.
"Whoever plays that position, we can't drop off," Meyer said Tuesday. "Went from (Andrew) Norwell, Marcus Hall to Billy Price and Pat Elflein. We're not going to drop off."
As things stand at the midway point of spring drills, however, the big guys in the trenches lag behind what Meyer, new offensive line coach Greg Studrawa and their teammates expect.
"There's a lot of work to be done," fifth-year senior center and team captain Pat Elflein said Saturday. "I think guys need to be comfortable with each other."
Elflein is one of two returning starters on the unit along with junior Billy Price. Neither played much during Saturday's student appreciation practice, which isn't much of a surprise. They're established veterans who don't need as many reps as the young guys behind them fighting for a job.
So without two starters working in much and a constant onslaught from the other side of the ball Saturday, quarterbacks J.T. Barrett, Stephen Collier and Joe Burrow were under siege most of the morning.
"The thing about it is right now is when you want those type of things so you'll be able to adjust to them right now so it's not something that's new later," Barrett said. "It's good for our offensive line for sure, but good for our defense too because then I think it gets them comfortable in order to apply that pressure when it comes to the season."
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