6 Buckeye Football Players Facing Important Springs: Offense
Spring practice might not be the most high-profile time of year for college football teams, but for many players it can define their career.
Once the team gets more than a week or two into fall camp, the focus starts shifting toward the season.
Once the season starts, the focus is almost entirely on the next week’s game.
But spring ball is different. The previous season’s seniors and NFL Draft departees are gone, leaving not just open slots on the depth chart, but opportunity in their wake.
All the snaps taken last fall by guys like J.K. Dobbins, Chase Young, and Jeff Okudah are now up for grabs. That opens up chances for talented younger players like Master Teague, Zach Harrison, and Cameron Brown who played a part-time role in 2019 to rise up and claim a bigger spot on the 2020 Buckeyes.
It’s also a chance for some players who have been around for a few years, but not yet made their mark to start doing so.
Ohio State is annually among the top programs in the nation for attracting talented high school stars. That’s great for the Buckeyes on the whole – fantastic high school players often turn into fantastic college players.
But for guys who are still fighting for a spot on the two-deep after a couple seasons in the program, those freshmen represent another group of talented competition trying to beat them out for a spot on the field.
A player’s third or fourth spring in the program can be the difference between finally winning a spot in the rotation, like Baron Browning and Amir Riep did in 2019, and getting totally buried on the depth chart.
Here’s a look at six players on offense facing very important springs entering their third year or later, with the opportunity to take the next step toward earning regular playing time.
WR Jaelen Gill, RS Sophomore
Gill came to Ohio State as one of the most-hyped players in the 2018 recruiting class. He was the No. 30 player overall, just one spot away from earning a 5-star ranking.
Two years into his career, he’s still awaiting his first regular action. He redshirted in 2018, seeing action in two games, including one catch for 11 yards.
Gill played in six games in 2019, catching six passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. He had receptions in the first three games of the season, but a fumble against Indiana may have cost him playing time. He scored his first career touchdown against Rutgers late in the year.
This spring, K.J. Hill is gone, and the starting spot at H is wide open. With an uber-talented group of true freshmen receivers already on campus this spring, the path to the starting job will never be more open for Gill than it is right now.
Entire article:
https://theozone.net/2020/01/5-buckeye-football-players-facing-important-springs-offense/
