(one in a series of position group previews of the 2010 Buckeyes)


The Buckeyes will hit the ground running with a loaded linebacker corps in 2010, returning everyone but Austin Spitler from last season's unit. There are promising youngsters two-deep at every backup position...and the competition for playing time among them ought to be fierce. That's because returning seniors Ross Homan and Brian Rolle rarely take a play off, and defensive coordinator Jim Heacock plays with just two linebackers as much as 50% of the time.

Rolle and Homan...(how 'bout "Ross and Rolle"?) combined in 2009 for 203 tackles, six interceptions, 12 tackles for loss, and three fumble recoveries. No wonder Heacock and linebacker coach Luke Fickell have a hard time taking either one off the field.

The team hasn't announced their official field leaders for this fall but Homan and Rolle are both Buckeye captains waiting to happen as Homan begins his third year as a starter at OSU, and Rolle his second. They learned the job description of senior leader from James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman before them, and both appear more than ready to assume the position.

Etienne Sabino will man the strongside spot in the base defense, as Fickell unleashes one of his best athletes on the opposition after grooming him on special teams and in backup duty for two years. If ever a player looked "ready" to start, it's this 6' 3", 247 lb. junior from Florida. His performance will help dictate on what percentage of snaps Heacock chooses to use three linebackers instead of five defensive backs. Based on what we've seen of Sabino so far, he's going to make that decision a tough one.

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(One in a series of position group previews for the 2010 Ohio State Buckeyes)

The saying you hear around Jim Tressel's coaching staff when they talk about their tailback depth each year is that they’re looking for “a pair and a spare”.  In other words, two primary backs to carry the bulk of the rushing load, and at least one good backup they can count on to get through the inevitable minor injuries that occur over the course of a 13-game season.

When they take stock of their running back situation for 2010, the coaches are more likely to find they have “a pair...and another pair, and a spare”. That’s how deep the Buckeye roster is with quality tailbacks. The veteran ball-carriers are back, and the ranks have been bolstered with several emerging young talents at the tailback position.

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The Ohio State football recruiting machine is piling up early commitments in their 2011 class, and laying the foundation for 2012 by identifying and camping with the best of this year’s high school juniors. But none of those guys will wear the Scarlet and Gray this fall, so we’ll also revisit the incoming freshman class of 2010 as part of this overview of the next generation of Buckeyes.

The project got a little more ambitious as it went along, but I hope it’s still not biting off more than the average OSU fan/reader wants to chew in terms of Buckeye recruiting. By organizing the three-year recruiting cycle by position group, the hope is you’ll get a good feel for the future OSU talent at each spot on the field, and perhaps get a better picture of how each class builds on the last, and predicts the next. First, a little commentary on each class.

2010

It’s no slight to any of this year’s freshmen to acknowledge that OSU recruiting for 2010 didn’t work out the way the coaches had hoped. An unusual number of blue-chip national recruits like Seantrel Henderson, Lamarcus Joyner and Sharrif Floyd had OSU as finalists, but in recruiting there’s no ribbon for second place, and all three chose a school other than Ohio State in the end. The Ohio State coaches had to save spots for the elite players, many of whom don’t decide until on or about National Signing Day. As one example of the problems this can cause, missing on Henderson and Matt James at the final hour left OSU with just one offensive lineman in the class, and led to a change in strategy there for 2011.

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