Ohio State Football: Which Buckeyes Have Made the Biggest Impacts in Fall Camps?

The Ohio State Buckeyes are just a few days from finally taking the field and putting the painful offseason on the backburner at last.

The scandal that rocked the program cost Ohio State its head coach and starting QB, meaning the team has more holes to fill than ever.

But Ohio State is definitely not devoid of talent, though most of it has not been used because they had more experienced players in front of them.

These players now have had a chance to come to the forefront and prove that they can play during fall camps.

Here's a look at some of the players that have raised some eyebrows during fall practice.

1. WR Verlon Reed

When former QB Verlon Reed was given an offer at the end of the 2010 recruiting cycle, most people didn't think anything of it because it seemed like a throwaway offer.

But after a redshirt year, Reed quickly seemed like a forgotten asset, at least until spring football.

With a starting receiver job open thanks to the suspension of DeVier Posey, Reed has gained a large amount of ground in the past few months.

Reed has great body control and good athleticism, which makes him a capable receiver. He apparently has been consistent enough to become a heavy favorite to start opposite Corey "Philly" Brown for the first five games of the season.

2. RB Carlos Hyde

At the start of fall camps, Carlos Hyde, like Reed, seemed like an afterthought behind Jordan Hall, Jaamal Berry and Rod Smith, not to mention Dan Herron, who will start when he comes back from suspension.

But Hyde started to make some noise when rumors from inside Buckeye camp said he ran a faster 40-yard time than Berry, who runs around the 4.3s.

Hyde is a fullback with potential feature-back speed, similar to Jacob Hester at LSU when the Tigers won the BCS National Championship in 2008.

Whether or not he can beat out Berry or Smith remains to be seen. But he is certainly now in the discussion with those two players.

3. LB Ryan Shazier

Coming into fall camp, the most likely freshman to step in and make an impact outside of Braxton Miller was supposed to be LB Curtis Grant.

But another freshman LB, Ryan Shazier, who had enrolled early, has erupted and is pushing for significant playing time, at worst on the second team.

Shazier, a converted DE, has tremendous speed, though he is still a bit undersized for a LB at just under 220 lbs.

His best quality is his pass-rushing ability, combining his great speed with an unrelenting motor.

He should be able to get time in passing situations when Ohio State wants to dial up some creative blitz packages, because Shazier seems like a guy who has a nose for getting to the QB. 

4. DT Michael Bennett

Ohio State's defensive line class is full of top-line talent, including talented ends in Kenny Hayes and Steve Miller.

But based on reports out of camp, DT Michael Bennett has come in and blown his coaches away with his athleticism and power.

Although Ohio State has some good DTs coming into this season including John Simon, Johnathan Hankins, Garrett Goebel and Adam Bellamy, the fact that Bennett is taking plenty of snaps with the first team is a very good sign of things to come.

DT used to be a position of great weakness on the defense. But if players like Bennett continue to progress, that will soon become a major strength.

5. CB Bradley Roby

Although in an earlier post I felt the second corner job belonged to Dominic Clarke, I do admit that I felt it would be a very close battle between him and redshirt freshman Bradley Roby.

But Roby has skyrocketed up and now suddenly seems like the guy who could start opposite Travis Howard at DB.

Both Clarke and Roby have impressive speed which is a must to be a good corner. But Roby's intelligence has been remarkable and has allowed him to not only make up the ground on Clarke, but possibly surpass him.

Long story short, it seems like Luke Fickell can't make a wrong decision when picking between these two players at corner.

But the smart money in the past few days seems to signal that Bradley Roby will start at corner for Ohio State this season. And to have the depth to field potentially three starting corners is quite a luxury for a defense that is short on big-game experience.

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