Are you going to the Spring game Saturday? Hope so I know I am. We will get to watch Ohio State honor be honoring their four most recent first team All Americans. Johnathan Hankins and Bradley Roby for their 2012 seasons and also Ryan Shazier and Jack Mewhort for the 2013 season. It’ll be great to be there and be a part of honoring them. Also the losing team from the Spring game will have to cleanup and landscape Buckeye Grove after which Hankins, Roby, Shazier and Mewhort will have trees planted in their honor.

Sad to see these guys leave but they have bright futures ahead of them in the NFL and hey maybe I’ll be fortunate enough to watch one play in the Dawg Pound. Don’t forget before the game there will be a mens lacrosse match pitting Ohio State against TTUN. Go Buckeyes and hope to see you there Saturday.

Before reading this I think we all need to take a deep sigh of relief and remind ourselves that last year’s secondary will not be returning. Yes, losing Bradley Roby does not help, but inheriting Chris Ash should off-set Roby’s loss. With some of Ash’s new schemes, he has caused a bit of a shake-up in the linebackers room and a new name has emerged as a starter. Continuing the trend from back to front I’m going to take a look at some of the depth and rotation new d-line coach Larry Johnson Sr. is creating. Don’t worry Noah Spence, Adolphus Washington, Michael Bennett, and Joey Bosa will still have the green light to reek havoc with offensive lines across the Big Ten. However, Johnson is focusing on creating depth this spring. Let’s take a look at all of these position changes and battles.

Secondary
As the Buckeyes took the field this spring the only true returning starter in the secondary was going to be Doran Grant. However, as the practices have gone by the unit has taken shape very quickly. Vonn Bell, Tyvis Powell, Armani Reeves, Cam Burrows, and Gareon Conley have all been names that have cracked the rotation at their respective positions. Vonn Bell was lost early in the spring due to injury, but coaches have liked what they have seen out of Cam Burrows at safety in the past few practices. The way the safeties in Ash’s defense are asked to cover receivers it’s not surprising that Burrows has made the position change from corner to safety with some ease. Bell should re-take the starting spot once he returns from injury, but Burrows will not be completely excluded from the defensive rotation with the quality of spring he has had.

Armani Reeves is the starter opposite of Doran Grant. As much as it hurts me to say that, that seems to be where the coaching staff is going at least in the base defense. When going to nickel, Reeves moves over to the nickel corner and either Eli Apple or Gareon Conley come in as the opposite corner. Speaking of Conley and Apple, that battle for the #3 corner has turned in to the hottest position battle the past couple of practices. Both Apple and Conley had themselves excellent scrimmages last Saturday. Apple caught a lot of headlines losing his black stripe finally, but Conley had an equally excellent practice.

Judging from Reeves performances last season, I believe in Reeves to be a very solid nickel corner, and Apple or Conley should be competing for the #2 outside corner. However, being the mere blogger that I am, I can only suggest and dream.

Linebackers
The big story line coming in to spring was whether or not Raekwon McMillan would challenge Curtis Grant for the starting middle linebacker spot. Whether that was a legitimate opportunity or not, it has motivated Curtis Grant and according to Meyer the senior linebacker is having his best spring as a Buckeye. McMillan is still battling to get any reps with the ones. Cam Williams split some reps with Grant with the ones and McMillan was limited to just playing with the twos this past Saturday. It seems like the new scheme Chris Ash has brought in has actually helped Grant. Grant does not have to play in coverage too often and is able to play downhill like he prefers. His leadership has improved and I believe he will be the starting middle linebacker. The McMillan hype seems to be dying down and now he is in a battle for the number two linebacker with Cam Williams.

The story that has surfaced out of spring practice from the linebacker room has been of Darron Lee. Yes, Darron Lee the 3 star recruit who played quarterback, safety, and wide receiver in high school, is your new outside linebacker at Ohio State. Why? Lee’s versatility, athleticism, and more importantly his relentless effort have coaches raving about the kid. He goes from point A to point B as fast as he can even though according to Coach Meyer “he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.” The kid has played fast, hard, and will be filling a similar role that Ryan Shazier had last season. Lee has become the unheralded star of spring practice and the more reps he earns, the more Lee will find his way to the spotlight.

Defensive Line
The starting defensive line for Ohio State is set in stone. Even though Noah Spence will be suspended for the first two games of the 2014 season, he along with Joey Bosa should man the edges with Bennett and Washington plugging up the middle. It is the depth where there is constant battle and rotation. Larry Johnson Sr. would like to rotate 8 to 9 players on the defensive line. However, good luck picking between Steve Miller, Tommy Schutt, Donovan Munger, Michael Hill, Tyquan Lewis, Chris Carter, Tracy Sprinkle, and Rashad Frazier. Something has happened with Jamaal Marcus where he did not practice Saturday and has somewhat disappeared in the rotation after a stellar Orange Bowl performance. Tyquan Lewis seems to have impressed coaches enough to overtake Marcus as Lewis started the spring with the number two’s.

Needless to say, LJ Sr. has a ton of talent to work with and his dream of having defensive line shifts could easily become a reality this fall.

Predicted Two Deep Post Spring Practice
LE- Noah Spence
Steve Miller

DT- Adolphus Washington
Tommy Schutt/Michael Hill/Tracy Sprinkle

DT- Michael Bennett
Donovan Munger or Chris Carter

RE- Joey Bosa
Tyquan Lewis

SAM-Darron Lee
Chris Worley

MIKE-Curtis Grant
Camren Williams

WILL-Joshua Perry
Trey Johnson

CB-Armani Reeves
Eli Apple

CB-Doran Grant
Gareon Conley

FS-Vonn Bell
Cam Burrows

SS- Tyvis Powell
Ron Tanner

The 2014 Ohio State offense could truly live up to the title of Dream ’14 if they sort through early spring injuries and youth. Replacing the best offensive line-running back tandem in the country from last year has been the biggest question mark surrounding spring practices. However, with those two areas of concern in the forefront it has brought some light on the area of the Buckeye offense that will have to carry them early in the season, the outside play-makers. Let’s take a look at a few of the battles that are being watched closely by the coaching staff.

Offensive Line
Three of the five spots along the line have been virtually locked up with Taylor Decker and Darryl Baldwin securing both tackle spots, and Pat Elflein being named as the starter at right guard. Left guard may be the most wide open position battle left to be decided until this fall. Incoming freshman Demetrius Knox will have the opportunity to compete for the job with Antonio Underwood (Jr.) and Joel Hale (Sr.), both of whom are currently fighting for the job. Since Knox did not enroll early he will have to wait until the fall to get in to the mix. Jacoby Boren is taking the majority of the reps with the ones at center and I imagine he will continue to get the nod as he has been bred for this position for the past two seasons behind Corey Linsley.

Prior to the 2012 season Ed Warinner and his unit faced several questions regarding the performance of his unit and its potential. As you all know, the 2012 offensive line unit turned in to one of the teams most consistent groups. I fully expect Warinner to provide similar results for this years unit.

Running Back
Entering the off-season, it was strongly believed that Ezekiel Elliott had the inside track to the starting running back role. However, Rod Smith has proven in practice that he too deserves reps as he has been running extremely violent in between the tackles, and has provided the punch that the Buckeye offense lost with Hyde’s departure. A name also surfacing in the running backs room has been Curtis Samuel. Samuel has been placed in the running backs room and could very well earn his share of touches. With the emergence of Samuel, running backs coach Stan Drayton will have the ability to pull from a variety of backs. Elliott is more of an all purpose back, Samuel can serve as a speed back, and Rod Smith can be the power back the offense needs for the inside zone read. Brionte Dunn and Warren Ball will be competing with Rod Smith for time in the power back role. At this point I expect Dunn and Ball to be on the outside looking in again.

At the end of spring practice, I’m expecting Elliott and Smith to split carries. Elliott has put on an extra 25 pounds this off-season, however adding weight and running with it are two different things. We will see how Elliott uses his new found bulk. If he can run violently and still maintain his shiftiness in space I would expect him to receive the bulk of the reps, as he could very easily be an every down back.

Wide Receiver
This may be the most intriguing battle on offense. The wide receiver group will be one of the youngest on the team, but arguably the unit with the most talent. Devin Smith and Evan Spencer are the returning starters on this unit, but Spencer has been held out of spring practice in order to recover from surgery. Incoming freshman Johnnie Dixon has left a considerable impression on all coaches. He possesses great hands, speed, and has done everything the coaches have asked. Michael Thomas, the spring game all-star, has surfaced as the starter opposite of Devin Smith due to Evan Spencer’s absence. Corey Smith has also had a very productive spring. He too also has phenomenal hands and could possibly be the best route runner in the bunch.

Devin Smith, Michael Thomas, Corey Smith, and Johnnie Dixon are the top four receivers right now and I do not expect that to change. James Clark and Jalin Marshall have had set backs due to injury this spring, and Jeff Greene is still battling to see more reps. Greene could get in on red zone situations due to his size, but currently he is pretty far down the pecking order. The spring game should prove to be a fun preview as to what to expect this fall from the more talented and competent receiving core.

Post Spring Practice Two Deep Prediction
QB- Braxton Miller
Cardale Jones

RB- Ezekiel Elliott
Rod Smith

WR(X)- Devin Smith
Johnnie Dixon

WR(Z)- Michael Thomas
Corey Smith or Evan Spencer

TE- Jeff Heuerman
Nick Vannett

LT- Taylor Decker
Evan Lisle

LG- Antonio Underwood
Joel Hale

C- Jacoby Boren
Billy Price

RG- Pat Elflein
Chase Farris

RT- Darryl Baldwin
Kyle Trout

Breaking news into MotSaG this afternoon are reports that Ohio State star has been arrested. Several sources have informed us that Miller was seen in the back of a patrol car after loss and prevention officers apprehended him. I have spoken to the loss and prevention officer from the store and Charity only told me she thought it was odd that Mr. Miller was trying to conceal merchandise in his sling. Miss Case said she knew Braxton had surgery recently but wasn’t aware he should still be wearing the sling. She radioed her partner Doug and had him follow Miller on the floor. Mr. Hole reportedly witnessed Braxton concealing merchandise in his sling. When approached Miller tried to run but was disoriented by the endless white floors so he turned himself in.

We have reached out to our sources on the football team, one official explained that Urban was extremely upset that he will have to cut Miller because he doesn’t want a repeat of last year hearing all the SEC media hypes whining about how his program is out of control. When we learn more we will keep all of you up to date.

April Fools!!! HAHA

So as many of you know The top OLman on OSUs board was visiting Penn State today and did suprisingly commit to the Nittany Lions and new Head Coach James Franklin. This news caught most including myself off guard as Gonzalez has long been a big OSU lean and seemed like a lock to end up at OSU. As you know though anything can happen in recruiting but this was truly shocking.

I had a very brief conversation with Steven Gonzalez a few moments ago and asked him if he was planning on taking any other visits or shutting down his recruiting and his answer was short and not so sweet for other teams fans…

Steven said “Yes, I’m shutting down my recruiting.”

He did want Buckeye Nation to know one thing though…

Steven said- Just thank you for all the support and the opportunities you guys have given me, I really appreciate it!

Needless to say this is not good news for OSU fans who have grown to like him a lot and looked forward to rooting for him in the future and now they are tasked with hoping he does well but that his team PSU fails miserably.

It is a lot to handle for some fans and some don’t handle it well at all. Some fans were so vitriolic that Gonzalez had to take to Twitter to try and calm them down…

From Stevens private Twitter account he said the following- Instead of congratulating fans hate, like seriously guys, be mature same just be happy for a recruit. Don’t wish hate upon others its wrong

Time will tell how much Steven really means he is shutting down his recruiting but for today right now he is solely committed to PSU and like we said earlier in recruiting ANYTHING can happen. So keep calm and be kind you never know when he may be back on OSUs radar in the future.

With everything that OSU is losing from this years basketball team and the let down from how the team performed this year Coach Matta had to make a big push to transform the 2014-15 team and do so quickly. The inclong Freshman Class is STACKED it includes two 5 star players and 3 guys who are big time scorers and a project big man. What Coach Matta needs though is a big man he can use right away and that is ready to play big time CBB.

Enter the Graduate Transfer he landed today according to CBSsports.com reporter Jeff Borzello…

Temple transfer Anthony Lee is headed to Ohio State, Lee confirmed to CBSSports.com.

Lee, a 6-foot-9 power forward, was one of the most sought-after transfers on the market. His final five schools included Iowa State, Indiana, Louisville and Notre Dame, although dozens of schools came calling when he announced his transfer from Temple. Lee visited Ohio State this week, and was expected to take a trip to Iowa State and Indiana in April.

He averaged 13.6 points and 8.6 rebounds this past season for Temple, and is eligible to play immediately for Ohio State due to the graduate transfer rule. Lee will immediately provide a boost down low, at both ends of the floor. The Buckeyes are bringing in some impressive freshman reinforcements, but Lee has experience, and should be productive right off the bat.

This news is great for OSU and will likely help ease some of the pressure off of Amir Williams who needs a quality Power Forward to help him with his weaknesses down low.

One thing is for sure the 2014-2015 OSU basketball team will look nearly completely different. Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr are graduating. Amedeo Della Valle is leaving to play in Europe as we reported over the weekend. Now news has come out that LaQuinton Ross has decided to forego his Sr. season and enter the NBA draft as first reported by CBS Basketball analyst Jeff Goodman…

LaQuinton Ross will most likely end up overseas playing in Europe and developing his game. Some NBA draft gurus still have him listed as a mid to late 2nd round pick. I hope he has a successful career and life.

***Update***

LaQuinton Ross took to twitter to say not so fast my friends…

I imagine he will eventually make this decision that is being reported. He most likely wants to do it in his own way. But this could mean good news for OSU fans if he doesn’t go Pro.