By: Greg Cooksey (BleacherReport.com) -- It is just a little more then a week left before Jim Tressel and company hit the practice field for fall practice . With the old faces that you have become familiar with over the past few years now gone, you may wondering who it will be to step up and fill the roles left by others. So in this very first edition of Bucket Full Of Buckeyes we will give you some names that you can look for came Saturday this ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Who are the best 20 players on Ohio State's roster right now? This is a venture with no right answers, but I think it's an interesting way to evaluate just how the 2009 Buckeyes are going to come together. A year ago, this was a much easier list to make. Starting with Beanie Wells, Malcolm Jenkins and James Laurinaitis and running through veterans like Marcus Freeman, Brian Robiskie, Brian Hartline, Donald Washington, Alex Boone, etc., you had a ... Read More

By: Adam Rittenberg (ESPN.com) -- CHICAGO -- Ohio State senior tight end Jake Ballard didn't have to search for the subtle signs showing Terrelle Pryor's growth as a leader this summer. Pryor made it plainly obvious during 7-on-7 workouts. If a Buckeyes receiver dropped a pass, Pryor let him have it. "If you drop one or two balls, he's going to try and get you out of there and put somebody else in," Ballard said. "If it hit your hands, he's going to take ... Read More

By: MATT MARKEY (ToledoBlade.com) -- COLUMBUS - After humbling losses in high-profile bowl games the past three years, it seemed like the only consensus reached about Ohio State was that its national reputation had been sullied, its armor chinked and its complexion pock-marked and blemished. Buckeye football had been deflated, the media saturation bombing contended, over and over, ad nauseam. But as the 2009 preseason predictions, rankings and polls continue to be rolled out, it looks like not everyone guzzled that Kool-Aid. Ohio State ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Walking through the local mall here in the Columbus suburbs today and I saw the new Ohio State jerseys for the first time. Each year, there are five or six numbers put out before the season, representing the best guess at the Buckeyes the fans are most interested in. Last year, it was Beanie Wells (28), James Laurinaitis (33), Malcolm Jenkins (2), Brian Robiskie (80), Todd Boeckman (17) and Marcus Freeman (1). As the year went ... Read More

By: Jeremy Jeffries (BleacherReport.com) -- You are not going to hear names like Brian Robiskie, Brian Hartline, Teddy Ginn or Anthony Gonzalez. For the first time in quite a few years the Ohio State Buckeyes will be starting the season without a legitimate star at wide receiver. The Buckeyes have always had great receivers names like Carter, Glenn, Galloway, Boston, Jenkins, Germany, Gamble, Holmes, and the before mentioned Ted Ginn Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez. The 2009 Ohio State Buckeye receivers have not yet made ... Read More

By: Tim Bielik (BleacherReport.com) -- With the great senior class departing to the NFL, one might be quick to say that the Buckeyes don't have enough to replace their holes. Another look plus considering past history shows that they will be just fine in 2009. Gone are the Brians: Robiskie and Hartline, along with James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman among other talented players. Conventional wisdom tells us that Ohio State will reload as they always have in the Tressel era. Buckeye fans might not also be used ... Read More

By: Matt Hinton (Yahoo.com) -- One of the themes of the last couple weeks is contenders, and what makes (or breaks) a team's shot at No. 1, and as I indicated in premature assessment of Ohio State, OSU -- a ubiquitous contender the last four years -- looks like a definite "break." This has much less to do with the Buckeyes' recent failures in their biggest games (though they've become too obvious for even an OSU defender to overlook) than with the much ... Read More

 By: Jon Moffett (Vindy.com) -- Brian Hartline and Brian Robiskie signed autographs for fans at the Eastwood Mall in Niles. NILES — Brian Hartline and Brian Robiskie have made a career out of catching a football. Now, the former Ohio State Buckeye wide receivers hope to catch on in the NFL. Both were selected in last month’s NFL Draft. Robiskie was selected in the second round by the Cleveland Browns. Hartline was the fourth-round pick of the Miami Dolphins. The rookie receivers participated in an autograph signing ... Read More

By: STEVE HEMMELGARN (NewsAndSentinel.com) -- There may be more Ohio State football players in the NFL as rookies this season than just the seven who were drafted. Three have already signed as free agents: punter A.J. Trapasso with the Titans, offensive lineman Alex Boone with the 49ers and defensive lineman Nader Abdallah with the Jaguars. There are others getting free-agent shots at the pros: tight end Rory Nicol (Redskins), fullback Brandon Smith (Bears) and offensive linemen Ben Person (Lions) and Steve Rehring (Bengals) But of all ... Read More