First practice

[danwismar]

Here is Josh Winslow's photo gallery from practice Wednesday...lots of good stuff.

http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/footba ... ring-camp/

(a lot of the reaction was about how big SeVon Pittman looks (#11). Hayes, Baldwin are huge too. Fragel's lower half is unbelievable. He's a cut 300 at 6' 8". I am ecstatic that they figure to start Fragel and Mewhort at the tackles and leave Norwell at guard.

Left to right the OL today was Mewhort, Norwell, Linsley, Hall and Fragel.

From memory, 2nd team O-line (or as they are calling it...the "uh-oh line"...

Baldwin, Carter, Bobek, Underwood, Brown (also Decker at RT)

other notable from the observations of both the BSB guys and the BN guys, (mostly Biddle, who is a good, informative tweeter)

Guys who looked good at WR...TY Williams, Devin Smith...

Freshmen singled out by Meyer for praise...Taylor Decker...in town 3 days, and probably already 2nd team behind Fragel at RT...Jacoby Boren at center.

Marcus says Tyvis Powell was with the 2's (w/Doran Grant)at CB...and that he was both "huge" and Marcus called him "very, very, very fast".

Michael Bennett stood out they say, and is probably the #5 DL after Simon (leo), Bellamy (5 tech), Goebel (nose), Hankins (3 tech)....

Klein was limited, so Curtis Grant was with the 1's at MLB...with Shazier (Will) and Sabino (Sam) at the other spots. DB's as expected, Howard and Roby at CB, Bryant and Barnett at Safety. Nickel sees Bryant move to star and O. Johnson comes in at FS.

On offense, Hyde was at TB...with Hall and Dunn (who looks very trim) WR's were Smith and Spencer, with Fields (and also Jordan Hall) working in the slot. Philly Brown with 2's, with TY Williams.

[danwismar]

Some freshman uniform numbers announced today...even for some of the guys who aren't here yet.

Cam Williams 5, Noah Spence 8, Se'Von Pittman 11, Adolphus Washington 92, Taylor Decker 68, David Perkins 25. Josh Perry 15, Jamal Marcus 34, Luke Roberts 42, Cardale Jones 12, Najee Murray 18, Tyvis Powell 23, Armani Reeves 24, Bri'onte Dunn 25, Warren Ball 26, Devan Bogard 30, Mike Thomas 83, Jacoby Boren 50.

Epitropolous tweeted that he'll be wearing #33. No word yet on the others...Blake Thomas, O'Connor, Elflein, Dodson, Schutt, Southward.

Edit: Duh..."the others" are right in the pdf linked below...Blake Thomas 89, Southward 8, O'Connor 60, Elflein 65, Dodson 66, Schutt 90.

New number for Fragel is 77 (from 88)

[danwismar]

And here's the link to the official OSU Spring Football Prospectus (.pdf)

http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphi ... pectus.pdf

[jb]

The legend of the Black Blizzard lives on in Dunn!

Thanks for these nuggets Danny. Get some sleep. ;-)

[JCoz]

Hankins is down to 317. He was already playing 60 snaps at almost 350.

This guys is going to have a monster season, and will be the next Buckeye defensive 1st round pick IMO.

http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/football/college/2012-spring-camp/120328-0042.html

[e0y2e3]

Dunn is going to start for this team at some point this year, which is crazy.

[JCoz]

Dunn is going to start for this team at some point this year, which is crazy.

I'm actually not buying this yet. Hes going to get snaps thats for sure, but reports say he was pretty lost yesterday, and Smith and Hyde both had good offseasons as well.

He'll need to pick up on the pass pro before he starts.

[Sea Foam Green]

Smith and Hyde both had good offseasons as well.

Smith as in Rod Smith, correct? So he's back with the RB, and that LB thing from last year was just smoke?

I hope that's the case, still think he could be real good.

[JCoz]

http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/football/college/2012-spring-camp/120328-0080.html
http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/football/college/2012-spring-camp/120328-0082.html
http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/football/college/2012-spring-camp/120328-0085.html

Fragel

[JCoz]

Smith and Hyde both had good offseasons as well.

Smith as in Rod Smith, correct? So he's back with the RB, and that LB thing from last year was just smoke?

I hope that's the case, still think he could be real good.

Yah that's done, he's back, and supposedly had a good offseason. I thought he'd be good last year, so we'll see. Hopefully we will see a stud emerge whoever it is.

Ball comes in this summer as well so there are alot of options and a good amount of talent,

[e0y2e3]

Smith and Hyde had decent winters but Dunn had the best winter on the team possible and Meyer is obsessed with him.

I don't think he starts game one, but he will end up starting at some point this year.

Smith, well I hope for the best but I don't see it coming.

[e0y2e3]

Also worth noting, when Mariotti took over the highest body fat was 31%, now it is 26% per nevada (Shazier is at 5.2%!!!!).

[neoleo]

With all the concern about the O Line, I actually like the looks of that top 5. And it will still be intact in 2013 when it matters, with Decker replacing Fragel.

I like the top 3 CB's and I hope we actually use Grant as the nickel against some spread teams as opposed to dropping Bryant to the Star and insterting Johnson. I doubt it happens but that's one change I'd like to see with the new regime. I'm tired of watching skinny linebackers/slow safeties chasing slot receivers around the middle of the field.

[danwismar]

With all the concern about the O Line, I actually like the looks of that top 5. And it will still be intact in 2013 when it matters, with Decker replacing Fragel.

I like the top 3 CB's and I hope we actually use Grant as the nickel against some spread teams as opposed to dropping Bryant to the Star and inserting Johnson. I doubt it happens but that's one change I'd like to see with the new regime. I'm tired of watching skinny linebackers/slow safeties chasing slot receivers around the middle of the field.

Agree on the safety issue. For me, OJ was one of the team's biggest disappointments in 2011. He never has shown the willingness to mix it up and hit people...lacks safety instincts, IMO.

I like the team's top 3 CB's too...only trouble is they are the team's ONLY 3 CB's, not counting true freshmen...(and also not counting Adam Griffin...sorry...)That problem is solved a year from now with Burrows, Woodard and maybe Caleb Day or someone else, but for now, it's pretty thin. Looks like Tyvis Powell will play corner, but unclear yet whether Najee Murray will be a CB or S. Maybe Armani Reeves can help right away, but he's not enrolled early, so that doesn't help...you just gotta hope Howard and Roby stay healthy.

[furls]

http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/football/college/2012-spring-camp/120328-0080.html
http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/football/college/2012-spring-camp/120328-0082.html
http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/football/college/2012-spring-camp/120328-0085.html

Fragel

The last two are actually jack Mewhort.

[furls]

I thought Smith showed the most promise in his limited carries last year (athletically). We didn't really get to see enough carries to gauge his vision/instincts. Smith is clearly a specimen and it will be interesting to see if anything happens with him.

I really want to see Dunn carry the ball against big boys. He was a bully in HS, but I didn't see the elite quickness in his highlights, I just saw brute strength which works in HS. Not saying he is a bust, but I am not sure that he ends up being the answer.

[JCoz]

http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/football/college/2012-spring-camp/120328-0080.html
http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/football/college/2012-spring-camp/120328-0082.html
http://jwinslow.fotki.com/photos/football/college/2012-spring-camp/120328-0085.html

Fragel

The last two are actually jack Mewhort.

Whoops, you are correct, just moving too fast yesterday morning. Will correct later when I'm not on my phone.

Mehort looks like he's ready to tear some head off.

[danwismar]

Nice wrap-up of practice, and interviews (with the safeties) after Day 4 of practice from Jerry Emig of OSU Athletic Communications.

http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports ... 12aab.html

C.J. Barnett likes what he sees in the team's new offense. "When these guys get it down, it'll be great," he said. "They spread the field and definitely keep the defense on its toes. You're going to see plays you've never seen before."

[jb]

You're going to see plays you've never seen before." [/i]

Yah know, unless you watched UF and ISI a couple years ago.

[danwismar]

A bit off-topic, but probably not threadworthy on its own...

Spring Game (April 21) will be televised live by BTN, it was announced today.

BTW, if your cable provider carries BTN, you can get the channel on your smartphone at no additional cost. (Not exactly new...looks like it's been available since 11/11, but I'm just getting around to grabbing it.)

BTN2Go.com is the place to go find out about it, or just search for the app on your phone, and it will prompt you to log in with your cable provider account info.

In addition to being able to watch BTN live, there is a TON of other on-demand content available...their original content...Icons series, Journey series, etc, plus replays of lots of games. Best is probably the Vault series of old film from way back...Red Grange...Hopalong Cassidy type stuff.

Wonder if showing the Spring game live will hurt attendance. They say they have already sold 15,000 tickets...more than normal pre-sale. As usual, turnout will probably depend mostly on the weather, but it's fair to say enthusiasm is high.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

From 97.1 The Fan.

Camp Urban.

[jb]

A bit off-topic, but probably not threadworthy on its own...

Spring Game (April 21) will be televised live by BTN, it was announced today.

BTW, if your cable provider carries BTN, you can get the channel on your smartphone at no additional cost. (Not exactly new...looks like it's been available since 11/11, but I'm just getting around to grabbing it.)

BTN2Go.com is the place to go find out about it, or just search for the app on your phone, and it will prompt you to log in with your cable provider account info.

In addition to being able to watch BTN live, there is a TON of other on-demand content available...their original content...Icons series, Journey series, etc, plus replays of lots of games. Best is probably the Vault series of old film from way back...Red Grange...Hopalong Cassidy type stuff.

Wonder if showing the Spring game live will hurt attendance. They say they have already sold 15,000 tickets...more than normal pre-sale. As usual, turnout will probably depend mostly on the weather, but it's fair to say enthusiasm is high.

How do you buy fix to the spring game, Dan?

[e0y2e3]

Meyer, uhm, pulls no punches: http://ohiostate.scout.com/2/1174468.html

Free updatae on the offense installation.

[furls]

Interesting that Meyer said that he was not high on Bennett in the offseason, but is a fan now. I thought it was pretty obvious last year that Bennett was going to be a big playmaker. Hell he made a lot of big play as a freshman. Now we just need to find the ends that will allow them to move Bennett to his more natural inside position.

Bennett could also be an all world guard too. As good as he was on D in HS, he was significantly better as an OL.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

A bit off-topic, but probably not threadworthy on its own...

Spring Game (April 21) will be televised live by BTN, it was announced today.

BTW, if your cable provider carries BTN, you can get the channel on your smartphone at no additional cost. (Not exactly new...looks like it's been available since 11/11, but I'm just getting around to grabbing it.)

BTN2Go.com is the place to go find out about it, or just search for the app on your phone, and it will prompt you to log in with your cable provider account info.

In addition to being able to watch BTN live, there is a TON of other on-demand content available...their original content...Icons series, Journey series, etc, plus replays of lots of games. Best is probably the Vault series of old film from way back...Red Grange...Hopalong Cassidy type stuff.

Wonder if showing the Spring game live will hurt attendance. They say they have already sold 15,000 tickets...more than normal pre-sale. As usual, turnout will probably depend mostly on the weather, but it's fair to say enthusiasm is high.

How do you buy fix to the spring game, Dan?

Ticketmaster. (I assume you meant "tix")

http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports ... 10aaa.html

It also gets you into the OSU men's LAX game..........

[jb]

Thanks Man.

Easiest places to park that day?

[danwismar]

Easy is defined by how early you get there of course. Lots of public parking along Olentangy River Rd north of Lane...near the Woody Hayes practice building...or if you get lucky, somewhere off of High Street north of Lane. If you come in from 71 on 17th, you can find parking in the residential neighborhoods just east of High St and 15th.

[danwismar]

Interesting that Meyer said that he was not high on Bennett in the offseason, but is a fan now. I thought it was pretty obvious last year that Bennett was going to be a big playmaker. Hell he made a lot of big play as a freshman. Now we just need to find the ends that will allow them to move Bennett to his more natural inside position.

Bennett could also be an all world guard too. As good as he was on D in HS, he was significantly better as an OL.

The guys who were at practice Wednesday said Bennett had displaced Bellamy, taking the reps at SSDE with the 1's. Meyer was also quoted saying Steve Miller had shown well as a pass rusher.

[danwismar]

Meyer, uhm, pulls no punches

eO, the most striking difference I notice between Meyer and Tressel is that Meyer tells you exactly what he thinks when asked a question. Tressel was famous for wrapping everything he said in euphemisms and non-offensive blather that said essentially nothing, but sounded serious.

Meyer pretty much tells it like he sees it. He's not happy with the shape the players are in...he has no idea who the playmakers on this team will be...the second string offensive line is "a problem"....this was the kind of stuff we never heard about player personnel under JT.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Thanks Man.

Easiest places to park that day?

What Dan said about getting there early, this SG will break the attendance record.

I use my friend's pass for A Lot and just take the free shuttle.

There should be a link to parking info on the OSU page.

[mattvan1]

I use my friend's pass for A Lot and just take the free shuttle.

Is this an imaginary friend or a real one? Just curious.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I use my friend's pass for A Lot and just take the free shuttle.

Is this an imaginary friend or a real one? Just curious.

I have lots of friends. Way more than you.