By: Jim Naveau (LimaOhio.com) — COLUMBUS - So what have we learned about Ohio State during the first two weeks of spring football practice?
Based on Saturday morning’s Jersey Scrimmage - which the defense won - that maybe that unit might be a little ahead of the offense.
OK, what else have we learned?
For one thing, quarterback Terrelle Pryor is bigger, stronger and more knowledgeable about the game than he was last season as a freshman.
Pryor has put on seven or eight pounds of muscle and now checks in at 6-6, 238 pounds.
After a recent practice, the OSU quarterback proclaimed himself very unhappy with the way he played at times last season when he watched films this winter.
He says he knows the game better and some of his teammates Viagra Online back him up.
Safety Kurt Coleman says Pryor has “learned the game a lot” and is reading defenses much more quickly than he did as a freshman.
Pryor has been working hard on his passing this spring, to the point that he developed a sore arm. Nothing serious, OSU coaches say, when asked about the arm pain.
We’ve also learned Michigan transfer Justin Boren will be solidly entrenched at one starting offensive guard position and that there could be some shuffling of positions as OSU looks for improvement on the offensive line.
Jim Cordle, who went from center to guard last season, has played some at tackle during the spring. Bryant Browning, a tackle who had trouble picking up pass rushers on the outside last season, has been working at guard.
Mike Brewster, a starter as a freshman, remains at center. The other highly touted sophomore offensive linemen, Mike Adams and J.B. Shugarts, are still trying to live up to their reputations and, in Shugarts’ case, battling injury.
We’ve learned OSU will go into the season without a no-doubt, give him the ball 25 times a game-type running back like Chris Wells.
Dan Herron, who was Wells’ backup last season, at 195 pounds, is nearly 40 pounds lighter than Wells.
But he says his ability to run inside shouldn’t be doubted. “I think I have a little bit of power myself,” Herron said after a recent practice. But it remains to be seen how he stands up to the pounding of being a No. 1 running back.
Returning backup tailback Brandon Saine ran well in Saturday’s scrimmage but has not yet given Herron a depth chart-changing challenge for the starting job. And who knows what incoming freshmen Jamaal Berry and Carlos Hyde can do?
Most of the personnel changes for OSU are like the change at tailback. They are changes of necessity.
Somebody has to replace Macolm Jenkins and Donald Washington at cornerback. Somebody needs to fill the holes left by the departures of people like James Laurinaitis, Marcus Freeman, Malcolm Jenkins, Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline.
But the little changes, in which coach Jim Tressel is looking for something different, are also interesting.
For example, wide receiver Jake Stoneburner has been working at tight end this spring. Could this mean OSU will be throwing more to its tight end this season? Or will it be like the much talked about Curtis Terry move from linebacker to fullback last season that turned out to be nothing?
It’s all interesting to speculate about as OSU heads into its final week of spring practice, finished off by the spring game on Saturday.
But just remember, maybe the most outstanding spring player in recent memory was a non-factor in the fall - Bam Childress.
The diminutive wide receiver lit it up in the spring several years, including a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and 109 receiving yards in the 2003 spring game, only to letter in sideline standing in the fall.
Being Mr. April doesn’t always mean you’re going to be Mr. October. But April is a great time for speculation and anticipation.
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Apr 19th, 2009