2016 Will Be a Reload, Not a Rebuild for Ohio State and Urban Meyer
COLUMBUS, Ohio—As members of the Ohio State roster filed out of the University of Phoenix Stadium locker room following the Buckeyes' 44-28 Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame, reality began to set in: Many of these players were doing so for the final time in their college careers.
It started with Cardale Jones, who had already previously declared his intentions of entering the 2016 NFL draft and seemed to be doing his best to duck postgame interviews.
Star defensive end Joey Bosa soon followed, his attention also turned toward his pro career.
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There went Ezekiel Elliott and Michael Thomas, Darron Lee and Vonn Bell. By the time Ohio State's seniors had hit the showers with a career 50-4 record in tow, the only player left on the floor of the Buckeyes locker room was quarterback J.T. Barrett, his MVP trophy by his side and a growing throng of reporters surrounding the sophomore signal-caller.
It was a fitting scene, with Barrett serving as the center of attention at the official beginning of an offseason in which he'll be the undisputed face of the Ohio State program. Perhaps more symbolically, Barrett was all alone, which might become a feeling all too familiar for the Wichita Falls, Texas, native in 2016.
"I’ll carry the weight on my shoulders to make plays, which I’m comfortable with," Barrett said, looking ahead to 2016. "I have confidence in myself to do that."
Still, the talent leaving Barrett's side—in some cases, literally—was impossible to ignore. The Buckeyes could potentially lose 73.1 percent of their rushing yards and 83.1 percent of their receiving yards, depending on which players decide to turn pro in the coming weeks.
Defensively, Ohio State will lose no less than seven starters and will likely lose eight, with Bell yet to publicly declare whether or not he'll be returning to Columbus next season.
But despite facing an unfavorable schedule, the Buckeyes can look forward to a reload and not a rebuild in the coming year. That's because the 6'2", 225-pound quarterback who stood near the doorway of the locker room isn't going anywhere, even as his classmates move on and Ohio State begins to face the expected mass exodus of experienced talent from its roster.
"It's not his last game," OSU head coach Urban Meyer asserted with a smile, patting Barrett on his back in the postgame press conference.
That's something neither Big Ten East rivals Michigan State, Michigan nor Penn State can say, with the Spartans, Wolverines and Nittany Lions all breaking in new starting signal-callers in 2016. That should bode well for the Buckeyes in their quest for reclaiming the conference championship, which has come to be a prerequisite for making the College Football Playoff in its first two years of existence.
But it's not just Barrett's experience that will benefit Ohio State, but all that his experience brings. After a quarterback carousel featuring himself and Jones seemed to torpedo both of their seasons, Barrett returned to his 2014 Big Ten Quarterback of the Year form in the final two games of 2015, totaling 559 yards of total offense (324 passing, 235 rushing) and five touchdowns (two passing, three rushing) in wins over Michigan and Notre Dame.
With Barrett now entering an offseason knowing he'll be the Buckeyes starting quarterback for the first time in his college career, Meyer plans to feature the junior-to-be even more.
"We're going to adapt our offense here a little bit in the offseason," Meyer said after the Fiesta Bowl. "I want to make some adjustments."
That will mean more reliance on Barrett, with Meyer noting that he was satisfied with the Buckeyes' 31 pass attempts against the Fighting Irish. But exactly who Barrett will be targeting next season remains to be seen, with Braxton Miller and Nick Vannett's eligibility having expired, Jalin Marshall having entered the draft and Michael Thomas likely to follow.
But tight end Marcus Baugh emerged as a reliable option throughout 2015, and Meyer has recruited receivers well since arriving in Columbus. Noah Brown, Johnnie Dixon, Parris Campbell and K.J. Hill are waiting in the wings, with the experienced Barrett possessing the ability to accelerate their progression.
Thomas has also cryptically hinted on Twitter that his mind isn't made up.
"The guys that are returning will be on the outside—the receivers and myself," Barrett said, perhaps hinting that Thomas could return next season, although it would be a long shot.
The key to the OSU offense outside of Barrett may be H-back Curtis Samuel, who could move back to his original position of running back and fill the void left by Elliott, or continue his evolution in the "Percy Harvin position" in Meyer's spread offense. In 2015, Samuel did a bit of both, totaling 289 receiving yards, 132 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
"We don't know about that situation yet," Samuel told Bleacher Report after the Fiesta Bowl. "We haven't really spoken about it yet."
On the offensive line, the Buckeyes lose three starters, but guard Billy Price will be a three-year starter, as will Pat Elflein, whose transition from guard to center should bring stability to an otherwise inexperienced unit.
Defensively, Ohio State will have its work cut out, with new defensive coordinator Greg Schiano likely having just one returning defensive lineman, linebacker and cornerback. But freshman All-American Sam Hubbard has already emerged as a suitable replacement for Bosa, and Meyer has stockpiled talent at both linebacker and in the secondary on the recruiting trail.
Still, those now unknown commodities will need to step up and live up to their star ratings in 2016, especially with the schedule the Buckeyes have ahead.
With a trip to Norman to face playoff participant Oklahoma in the third week of the season, Ohio State will be tested early and often in 2016. The Buckeyes' cross-division matchups include a step up in competition to Wisconsin, Nebraska and Northwestern, and they once again close the season with back-to-back matchups against Michigan State and Michigan, which proved to be problematic for them in 2015.
With their schedule, the Buckeyes could likely afford one loss and still make the playoff, maybe even two, as long as it doesn't interfere with a potential Big Ten Championship Game appearance.
Even with all that Ohio State is losing, that will still be the expectation for this team, thanks to the one established star who will be staying behind.
"Great guys are going to leave, but you’re going to have to recruit in order to have guys behind them to make plays, and I think that’s what we have here," Barrett said.
"Things are going to be alright."
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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