Ohio State began its spring camp on Monday nearly two months after its national championship win, and with so many starters gone to the NFL draft, there are quite a few position battles to watch. There wasn’t much actual football played during the session that was open to the media, but there did seem to be some separation in terms of which players were getting first reps in drills.
One of the battles is at safety where sophomore Jaylen McClain and junior Malik Hartford are competing for the starting spot. During their first practice, Hartford was practicing with the ones while McClain followed, although McClain seemed to earn a bigger role down the stretch of the 2024 season.
Senior C.J. Hicks was working with the defensive line and was rotating in with the second team while Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Caden Curry were on the edges with Kayden McDonald and Eddrick Houston on the interior. Tywone Malone, Will Smith Jr. and Logan George worked in with Hicks.
As expected, Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles were the two linebackers who were working through drills first while Jermaine Mathews Jr. and Davison Igbinosun were at corner and Lorenzo Styles Jr. was at nickel.
On the offensive side of the ball, the transfers are going to have to earn their way into roles with Ethan Onianwa and Phillip Daniels both not practicing with the starts. On the offensive line was Austin Siereveld at left tackle, Luke Montgomery at left guard, Carson Hinzman at center, Tegra Tshabola at right guard and Ian Moore at right tackle.
Lincoln Kienholz, Julian Sayin and Tavien St. Clair were all getting an equal amount of work in but were throwing in order of seniority. James Peoples was getting first reps at running back with transfer CJ Donaldson behind him, and at wide receiver and tight end it was Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss.
These aren’t likely all starters working through drills first today, but as the spring continues, the depth chart will likely start to take shape a bit more.
