| 26 April 2010
I thought I would wait until the end of spring to make a report on what I am hearing. So often the reports from one practice are misleading. I will start with the offense:
Quarterback - Surprises all the way around here. Pryor is "much improved." What you saw Saturday on his second series is what he showed all of spring. Timing was one thing pointed out that he has improved on. That is going to be huge. Confidence is another. We saw it on the touchdown pass. Pryor would not have made that throw. He would ahve takent off because he lacked the confidence to let the pattern mature. Almost as big is the news of the improvement of Kenny Guiton. He is looking like a legit candidate to be the starter once Pryor leaves. He looked so impressive in the spring game. Based on what I was hearing I am not as surprised by his performance as you might have been. This is one of the best scouting jobs since JT has been here. This kid was given no chance to be a quarterback here. JT made his bones as a quarterback coach. He is showing his skills with this kid. I have to wonder if Bauserman is rusty or he is just accepted his role. I can't believe this is the kid who looked like the best quarterback on the roster just two summers ago. I think one of the most interesting things we will watch for this fall is who is the first guy off the bench. Based on spring, not just the spring game, it is Guiton.
Backs - I think it is easy to push this position to fall. So many injuries. Hyde looked good early then a hamstring sidelined him. He ran well in the spring game. I don't know if it is enough to push the top three of Saine, Herron and Hall. I don't think anybody did. Berry did nothing to push his way into the depth chart. Before he was injured the word was Hall was having the best spring of the backs. He is looking explosive and elusive. He has the best vision of the backs in campus. Boren had a memorable srpin game but one contact mentioned that the fullbacks in general looked good on his last time stopping by to watch practice.
Receivers - Posey is Posey. He is going to be special. Hopefully we will not lose him early. I have several sources telling me that Sanzenbacher was as one contact said, "untouchable." Another said, "Gonzo-like." Chris Fields is going to be a star here. He is going to take reps from everyone as he is the one kid in the receiver corps who can take one touch and put points on the board. Grant Schwartz is going to see playing time finally. He had his best spring ever. Great for that kid. On the downside, despite another great spring game Taurian Washington continued to drop balls. A former Buckeye told me he does not think Washington gets it back. He is pressing so much and at this point he does not think he can overcome it. This former player was a receiver. The one that really bothers me is James Jackson. A couple of practice observers could not help notice just how small he is. One used the word "frail." I expected this from Stoneburner. I heard it all spring. The spring game was not just a good game for him. He was that good all spring. Great news.
OL - Looked great all spring. Adams is improving. He ended up taking most of the left tackle reps at the end of spring. An associate told me that he thought they should stick him in there and tell him that he is their guy. Stay with him no matter what. It is a matter of confidence. He is so physically gifted. The rest of the line is as solid as we saw at the end of the year. A couple of contacts said we need to find a way to get Hall on the field. Big nasty and mobile. Linsley and Mewhort have made Connor Smith an afterthought and put Evan Blankenship on defense for a good chunk of spring. That means we have the closest thing to a quality two-deep on the offensive line in the Tressel era. Huge news. Outside of Pryor's improvement I would say it is the most important thing to come out of spring. We cannot continue to have such good luck with injuries.
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