Ohio's 2012 Two-Deep Depth Chart Released

Playing against us, Sabino looked like he was Obi Ezeh. Shazier scares me, I'll give you that, and Grant is definetly good. But Sabino is meh.

Please please please have Taylor Decker going 1 on 1 with Death Roh..

if Williams is back to form, the D-line will be excellent. Sabino hasn't lived up to the hype, and as noted below, Grant was a fat guy last year. Roby is really good, but the safeties aren't. Every year surprises; I'd expect Ohio's D to be very good but not the same as some of their better ones in the last 10 years.

We could see our own dropoff at OL if Lewan leaves early for the NFL, having to replace Lewan, Barnum, and Omameh.  Mealer leaves too, leaving only Jack Miller and Chris Bryant and a group of RS freshmen (Kalis, Mags, Braden, Bars, Williams?) to fill in.  We have some talent and potential, but we will be very young.

Receivers and offensive line are by far our two biggest issues.

The fact that all the receivers got on the field last year is nice, but our offense being an absolute mess didn't lead to them really doing anything with their playing time.  Unless Philly Brown really steps it up there probably aren't any legitimate playmakers.  However, Jake Stoneburner should be able to do some serious work in a TE/WR hybrid role.

While Brewster and Adams are huge losses, I expect the OL to play better than last year because of the move to a much simpler blocking scheme/better coaching.  Pass protection will still be a big issue, and this is by far the biggest weakness of the team (Not to say we're absolutely loaded everywhere).  They should be very good at creating space in the running game though.  I think the biggest concern here is the fact that there is literally no quality depth unless some true freshman step it up (Taylor Decker has supposedly looked very good and may end up starting at RT though).

The one thing that should be very good is the running game.  Jordan Hall has the ideal spread running back skill set, and Carlos Hyde is a big, powerful runner with deceiving speed.  Neither are exceptional, but collectively they should make for a very nice outside/inside running game.  Hall's ability as a receiver will also allow them to get on the field at the same time too.  Of course, the biggest factor in the running game will be Braxton Miller.  Having more than two designed QB running plays (Pistol speed option and 5 wide QB draw) will be beneficial to both the execution and aesthetics of the offense, and Miller has already proven he is a lethal runner.

Another thing on Miller.  Even though he looked like a much better passer in the spring game, I don't think that will be a truly dangerous part of his game for another year (If ever). Both his play and production as a passer should be much better than last year for an assortment of reasons, but defenses are definitely still going to have the most success against us by shutting down the run and making us throw.

And considering their offensive "explosion" was almost 100 yards on 2 passes with broken coverage, I like our chances.

Also, stats wise, Miller would have been 48% with a YPA of 5.7 without those two passes. 

From what I read this spring, they were basically gonna live and die with Grant at MLB.  He was highly regarded coming out of HS, but I don't remember them raving about him as the center of their defense.

From what I heard, Grant showed up pretty out of shape last fall.  He was a lot slower than Vrabel wanted, which is why Grant didn't get a lot of playing time.  Seems like Grant really brought into Marotti's conditioning program this offseason and has now officially jumped the incumbent starter, Storm Klein, on the depth chart.  

Shazier has reportedly gained about 10-15lbs of muscle, so that should be adding a little more pop to his already devastating hits. Then there's Sabino, who after 4 years still seems to struggle grasping the cerebral aspects of the game, which results in him always being out of place.  Most of us are hoping that as a 5th-year senior, he'll finally be a consistent contributor and become worthy of his #1 MLB rating in HS.

Yeah but that one receiver was everything to that offense. It was 1 stud and then everybody else. All 4 of everybody else isn't much.

True that a mobile QB can alleviate some concerns of an inexperienced OL in scrambling to buy time, but even mobile QBs throw a lot better when they have time to set their feet and keep their eyes down field.

More problematic than in the passing game, that OL is going to struggle to open holes for their RBs.  See MSU last year.  They had pretty talented RBs in Baker, Bell, and Caper, and finished near dead last in the B1G in rushing because their line sucked ass.

Guiton is actually going into his fourth year (RS Junior).

Their defense is a mortal lock to be better than it was last year. They have just about everyone back, and most of them have room to grow. It should be one of the top units in the conference, although I don't expect it to be in the class of some of the really dominant OSU defenses of years past.

Yes, I remember seeing him in their spring game.

Carlos Hyde is 6'0'' 230, and even though Meyer's offense is almost entirely shot gun based, there are a lot of power running plays.

That's because he was suspended for most of the season, then showed up for The Game. Last year Ohio was one of the worst passing offenses in the NCAA.

Double post again? Hmm.

He looked misserable on the OL last year, and I seriously doubt he was ever going to get much better.  He looked pretty good at DT for a guy switching over from the offensive side of the ball, and his size along makes him an intriguing prospect at the position.

Except I like Denard running crazy on tsio MOAR than Miller doing the same to ours.

All the more reason to tell recruits what they want to hear, and once you have them in your program, show them where they will develop and get playing time.

This is the same thing MSU did with Will Gholston.  He wanted to play LB because thats where he played in HS.  Everyone in the world knew he was too tall and not quick enough to play LB in college, but they let him come to that conclusion after about two weeks of practice.

I have a feeling that Wyatt Shallman will end up playing something other than RB at UM.