Ohio State Football Training Camp Observations: Day 6
The Ohio State Buckeyes took to the outdoor fields on a warm and muggy Tuesday morning to continue training camp. Ryan Day's team continues to work hard as they prepare for the 2021 season.
Here are my major takeaways from day six at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, during which the Buckeyes were in full pads for the first time.
Quarterback Competition Heating Up
Ryan Day has mentioned on a few occasions that he'd really like to name a starting quarterback by the middle of training camp. With that period rapidly approaching, the chase to replace Justin Fields is coming to a head.
Without knowing exactly how things are going behind the scenes in the weight room, meeting room and within the locker room, I'm not sure it's totally fair to judge the progress of the competition solely on practice. But in my opinion, Kyle McCord is right there with C.J. Stroud and I expect one of those two earns the job.
Stroud has continued to take all of the "first reps" as the oldest of the young guys in the unit, but it appeared on Tuesday that McCord has "jumped ahead" of Jack Miller, at least in line as the team rotated through reps.
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McCord has a fantastic arm and it's easy to fall in love with his deep ball capability. Both he and Stroud were driving the ball down field nicely from roughly 50 yards and hitting receivers in the end zone repeatedly early in practice. Arm strength is far from the only factor in picking a starter. But each guy seemed to make the short and intermediate throws nicely again today during individual drills in the beginning of practice. I just think McCord's deep ball really stands out and I wouldn't rule out the true freshman from winning the job.
Also, for what it's worth, soon-to-be freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers is not yet in camp with the Buckeyes.
Offensive Line Mix-Up
The rotation of offensive linemen continues as the Buckeyes work on finding the best group of five players to protect their first-year starting quarterback (whomever that may be). On Tuesday morning, Nick Petit-Frere was lined up at left tackle with Thayer Munford at left guard, Harry Miller at center, Paris Johnson at right guard and 6-foot-8, 360-pound behemoth Dawand Jones at right tackle.
Matthew Jones and Josh Fryar are having nice camps, but it's awfully enticing to have a 360-pound right tackle with both Munford and Petit-Frere on the left side of the line. If that turns out to be the starting group, good luck to the defensive line each week.
Wide Receivers Shining
As you'd expect, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson were the first in line with every individual drill on Tuesday morning. They are two of the top targets in all of college football and will be a huge asset for Ohio State this fall. But I'm intrigued by the group behind them.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming looked really solid, as expected. I particularly love watching two true freshmen in Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. Egbuka is so twitchy and agile, he's a nightmare to cover. This group has a chance to be extremely special.
Defensive Leadership
While we couldn't hear what they were saying because this happened more than 100 yards away from where media were allowed to watch practice, seniors Javontae Jean-Baptiste and Josh Proctor addressed the team before practice began. This side of the ball saw a lot of leadership graduate or get drafted last year and there will be some new voices taking center stage this fall.
Proctor and JJB both have a chance to see lots of playing time this fall and find themselves looking to lead a defense that needs to be much better in disrupting the pass this fall.
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