Ohio State Football: The 7 Best Position Battles in Spring Football
Spring football is in full swing at Ohio State with plenty of open competition all over the field.
The departure of quite a few key seniors and the suspensions to five of Ohio State's best upcoming seniors have combined to create quite a few position battles.
While we won't know the outcome of the battles truly until the home opener against Akron, this spring can give the Buckeye coaches, including interim head coach Luke Fickell, an idea of what they have in front of them.
Here is a deep look at the seven biggest position battles raging at Buckeye camp.
7. Defensive Line
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As of right now, we know that John Simon and Nathan Williams will probably start once again in 2011, with Simon possibly moving from tackle to end.
The question right now is who will fill the obvious hole of Cameron Heyward, who was one of the more imposing defensive linemen OSU has had in the past few years.
Sophomore Johnathan Hankins, who was pretty strong in his freshman season, is a favorite to start at DT and reportedly may be a little slimmer and better conditioned than a year ago.
The other starting job will be quite an interesting battle between DTs Garrett Goebel and Adam Bellamy, DE Keith Wells, and freshman Joel Hale who has impressed the coaches early on.
6. Cornerback
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The corner spot on the OSU defense has been held by quite a few talented players in recent years, from Chris Gamble to Malcolm Jenkins.
Now they have to replace two graduating seniors in Chimdi Chekwa and Devon Torrence, both very physical corners.
Luckily, early practice reports have said that Travis Howard has looked like a legit No. 1 corner possibility after having a breakout second half of the 2010 season that included a pick-six against Penn State.
The current battle for the No. 2 spot is quite a competition between FSU transfer Dionte Allen, redshirt freshman Bradley Roby and redshirt sophomore Dominic Clarke, who looks like the favorite at this moment.
This battle, like the DL battle, could have a different outlook if blue-chip freshman Doran Grant comes in and performs very well.
5. Safety
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The collection of Buckeyes looking for a starting job at safety is an interesting one because three of the four missed a huge chunk of the 2010 season, including both C.J. Barnett and Tyler Moeller who combined to play in only six games.
Barnett and Moeller are both very physical safeties, although Barnett has more ballskills than Moeller, but Moeller may be the better run supporter of the two.
FS Orhian Johnson, a favorite to start at one of the two spots, grew greatly over the course of the season as the QB of the secondary.
Also, keep an eye on Christian Bryant, who filled in for Moeller at the STAR position in 2010 and played very well as a freshman. Bryant could find himself starting at either CB or S before his time is up.
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4. Wide Receiver
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The WR position has potential, but right now most of it seems to be unrealized at this point.
Losing Dane Sanzenbacher doesn't help, but with DeVier Posey suspended for the first five games of the season, Ohio State's next two most-experienced wideouts have a combined 11 catches and one TD.
Corey "Philly" Brown and Chris Fields are likely going to start, unless tall, lanky redshirt freshman T.Y. Williams or fellow redshirt freshman James Louis, who plays like Brown, are able to force themselves into the lineup.
Right now, neither Williams nor Louis have been able to make big-time plays, and Brown has some inconsistencies reeling in passes.
This position might have a chance for the young kids to grow, especially in the first five games if the Buckeyes plan on being a run-oriented team with Terrelle Pryor banned until October 8.
3. Linebacker
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The Buckeyes have waited a few years for highly-heralded LB Etienne Sabino, but he appears to be the favorite to find his way to fill in one of the two openings in the linebacking corps.
Sabino, who redshirted in 2010 to learn more of the mental aspects of the LB position, has all the physical tools to be a great linebacker and will likely team up with senior Andrew Sweat, full-time.
The third LB job appears to be quite a battle between local folk hero Storm Klein and a speedy, big hitter in Dorian Bell.
Freshman Ryan Shazier may get some playing time, but the battle for the third spot could get interesting in the summer depending on consensus five-star LB, Curtis Grant.
Grant's size can let him step in right now, so the battle for the third and final LB spot might go wire-to-wire before the opening kickoff.
2. Running Back
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The hardest battle to judge right now may be the challenge to see who is worthy of starting at running back now and to be the backup to Dan Herron when he returns from his five-game suspension.
Right now, Jordan Hall, Jaamal Berry and Roderick Smith all look like they can secure the job for themselves.
And each one has a right to the job: Hall because of his experience and receiving ability out of the backfield, Berry because of his pure speed and home run ability, and Smith because of his great power and speed at about 225 lbs.
Lost in the shuffle is Carlos Hyde, who saw some carries last season and can still be a goal line option for the Buckeyes.
But the main battle is between Hall, Berry and Smith and the spring game should give us an idea of who the guy might be early on.
Whoever it is, expect all three to get plenty of carries early on in the season.
1. Quarterback
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This is the battle that everyone in Columbus has their eyes focused on at the moment.
Right now, although Braxton Miller appears to be worth the hype physically as far as a thrower is concerned, the question is can he learn the system to give him a legitimate shot at the starting job?
He is third or fourth with Taylor Graham also showing some inconsistencies as well.
But the job appears to be for the moment between Joe Bauserman and Kenny Guiton.
And while Bauserman has thrown a few interceptions in practice, Guiton reportedly has been very good throwing the ball as well as having the running dimension.
Guiton has come a long way from being a late offer in 2009, to being the darkhorse for the starting job. He could very well be in front with a great performance in the spring game.
Of course, no matter who starts the first five games, they are just warming up the seat for Terrelle Pryor to come back on October 8 against Nebraska. And each of these guys, regardless of who starts, would be more than willing to spot Pryor and the Buckeyes a 5-0 record before they get to full strength.
Starting Predictions as of April 7, 2011
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While this could very easily change several times over the course of the spring, as of April 7, here is a prediction of who will be starting at the seven positions we have looked at:
DE: Nathan Williams and John Simon
DT: Garrett Goebel and Johnathan Hankins
CB: Travis Howard, Dominic Clarke
S: C.J. Barnett, Tyler Moeller (Orhian Johnson to fill in on passing situations for Moeller, who moves to STAR)
WR: Corey Brown, Chris Fields (moves to slot starting Week 6)
LB (left to right): Storm Klein, Etienne Sabino and Andrew Sweat
RB: Jaamal Berry
QB: Kenny Guiton
For more college football news and information, visit The BCS Blitz and follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim.
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