By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) –

Breaking down the best 20 Ohio State players on the roster right now as the Buckeyes open practice today.

No. 5: Junior linebacker Ross Homan

I don’t know which Ohio State linebackers are going to start where, and how the rest of them might rotate in, but I’m confident in the idea that Homan is the best linebacker on the roster. Even before Tyler Moeller’s status for the season was called into question by his hospitalization for a head injury, it was hard for me to imagine Homan sharing time with anybody, at least not very often.

Whether in the base defense or the nickel, Homan seems to me like the one linebacker you know you want on the field.

Two years ago, before a turf toe injury curtailed his season and led him to redshirt, Homan was splitting time with Marcus Freeman, taking snaps away from a guy who might have been a second-round or third-round NFL pick had he turned pro after that season. (Freeman eventually went in the fifth round after playing with an ankle injury last year.)

On the weakside, Homan attacks the ball and after making 67 tackles a year ago, should be looking at 100 tackles this season. When A.J. Hawk was Ohio State’s Will linebacker, the Buckeyes did some things with their scheme to help him make plays. When Hawk graduated and James Laurinaitis became the dominant linebacker playing in Generic pharmacy the middle, they did some things to help him get to the ball.

Now, the idea should be to get the weakside linebacker to the ball once again, in the form of Homan. There are reasons to expect good things from other OSU linebackers like Austin Spitler, Brian Rolle, Etienne Sabino, Andrew Sweat and maybe even true freshmen like Dorian Bell and Storm Klein.

But Homan is the only one of the linebackers who has already shown what he can do.

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