By: Doug Lesmerises (meds online without prescription target=”_blank”>Cleveland Plain Dealer) –

Breaking down the best 20 Ohio State players on the roster right now as the Buckeyes prepare to report for preseason camp on Sunday.

No. 17: Senior kicker Aaron Pettrey

With the graduation of Ryan Pretorius, Pettrey will handle all the kicking duties this season, kickoffs and field goals.

A year ago, his leg strength tied the Buckeyes for 17th in the nation in touchbacks on kickoffs. Good leg. Big deal to Jim Tressel.

And as the long-distance field goal kicker, Pettrey was 7 of 8 on field goals, and he only attempted one under 40 yards. He was 4 of 4 from 40 to 49 yards and 2 of 3 on tries 50 yards or longer.

So he made 88 percent of his kicks and he didn’t get any easy ones. Pretorius was 8 of 8 from 29 yards and in. Give those to Pettrey, and he might be one of the most accurate kickers in the country this season.

Now, the reason he didn’t have those chances before is because he’s had some trouble in the past with his accuracy on shorter kicks. I think he had that licked for most of last season, but Pretorius had already won the job. But Tressel started giving Pettrey the long ones because he liked what he saw.

Ohio State hasn’t needed a game-winning field goal try since Mike Nugent’s 55-yarder beat Marshall in 2004. If given that situation this season, I think Pettrey is as likely to make that pressure 55-yarder as any kicker in America.

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