Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, August 17, 2012
The BTN bus heads west to Columbus, Ohio, to check in on Urban Meyer and Ohio State. Yes, the head coach gets billed over the school in this instance, as Meyer was the biggest coaching hire in the offseason. It will be fun to watch the swagger he brings to the field.
[Related: Watch the Ohio State Preview Show at 10 p.m. ET Sunday]
I will be curious to watch the offense. The line was a huge question entering the spring but seemingly has come together under assistant Ed Warinner. How is true freshman tackle Taylor Decker looking along with converted tight end Reid Fragel?
[BTN.com: 10 reasons to be excited about Ohio State in 2012]
And a lot of focus will be on the receivers, a much-maligned unit that still is in search of playmakers. Who looks good? Michael Thomas? Devin Smith? Philly Brown? Chris Fields? Verlon Reed? And former tight end Jake Stoneburner also is now a wideout.
Quarterback Braxton Miller also will be interesting to watch as he continues to pick up the new spread scheme. I want to see how accurate and proficient he is in the short-passing game.
The defense will be fun to check out, as I think we may see the top unit in the Big Ten. I look forward to watching intense end John Simon and tackle Johnathan Hankins, a mammoth man in the middle of the defense.
[BTN.com: Ohio State's 2012 schedule analysis]
And the secondary will be special and maybe tops in the Big Ten. Bradley Roby and Travis Howard are a great corner duo, and safeties C.J. Barnett and Christian Bryant are standouts. The linebackers also supposedly have made great strides, so I wanna see guys like Curtis Grant, Ryan Shazier and Etienne Sabino.
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