Observations from Ohio State’s first preseason camp training: Josh Fryar, Cody Simon take on first-team reps, JT Tuimoloau makes debut

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It starts all over again.

With 29 days until the Sept. 2 season opener in Minnesota, Ohio State returned to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center training ground on Wednesday for its first of 25 preseason camp practices. Members of the media were welcomed back to the facility to watch the first six periods of practice early in the morning, giving us our first glimpse of the Buckeyes in action on the field since the spring game. .

We’re going to start with the mandatory quarterback update: CJ Stroud was at the front of the quarterback line, just like he was every time we’ve seen practice this spring, followed by Jack. Miller and Kyle McCord. Ohio State continued to split reps evenly among themselves during each exercise, but Wednesday did nothing to dispel the notion that Stroud is the favorite to start.

More observations from the first practice on Wednesday in August:

Fryar with those

For much of the offseason, Matthew Jones and Luke Wypler were seen as the two main starting contenders along with Thayer Munford, Harry Miller, Paris Johnson and Nicholas Petit-Frere. However, the first day of camp highlighted why an under-the-radar second-year lineman – Josh Fryar – should be kept in mind.

Just as the media started to roll out of the facility after the viewing period, Fryar ran onto the field with the starting offensive linemen to begin their team running period. He had also lined up alongside Miller and Munford for at least part of the Buckeyes’ individual drills.

Both times, Fryar – a three-star rookie from Indiana who played just four offensive snaps last season – was positioned at left guard.

Should he now be considered the favorite ahead of Jones and Wypler? Is his job to lose? Those are tough questions to know the answer to at this start of camp, especially since he didn’t enter Wednesday’s practice as the presumed leader by those outside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Going forward, however, it’s certainly fair to view this as a three-way battle for fifth place on the starting offensive line: Fryar v Jones v Wypler.

Day 1 first team defense

Everything in this training report comes with a caveat: it’s day one of camp! Things can and will change!

With that in mind, we had the chance to review the starting defense for the first time this fall.

Tyreke Smith and Zach Harrison were on the defensive end, Haskell Garrett and Taron Vincent were between them on the defensive tackle, Teradja Mitchell and Cody Simon were on the inside linebacker, Ronnie Hickman was the ball, Cameron Brown and Sevyn Banks on the cornerback, Marcus Williamson at Security Cover and Josh Proctor at Free Security.

A few takeaways from this group …

  • Garrett and Vincent playing together is new. They are mainly defensive tackles with 3 techniques since their arrival. By lining them up side-by-side, it indicates that the State of Ohio is ready to move at least one of them to the nose tackle – something Garrett mentioned in the spring as a possibility.

  • Simon has only played 14 defensive snaps as a true freshman in 2020, but he is clearly envisioned for significant playing time in his second season. This was Dallas Gant’s first practice since last fall, as he essentially missed the entirety of spring camp with a foot injury, and it remains uncertain whether the transfer from USC Palaie Gaoteote will be eligible for. play this fall (although Gaoteote was on the training ground on Wednesday). So things can change. But Simon is squarely in the mix.

  • Hickman got the first reps of the first team to the ball ahead of Craig Young. It is a key battle to watch. Hickman is a former top-notch rookie who started his career in Ohio State with an ACL tear and two coaching changes. He seems to be settling into his new role.

  • Williamson got a first look at the security of the blanket. Lathan Ransom has been a very popular name this offseason in this role, but he was not working with the starters during the part of practice that was open to the media.

JT debuts

While Quinn Ewers has yet to arrive at Ohio State to begin training with the Buckeyes, the other new Ohio State freshmen were all in the field for Wednesday’s practice, including the Another late five-star addition to the Class of 2021: JT Tuimoloau, who took his first reps with Larry Johnson and the Buckeyes defensive linemen on Wednesday.

While it’s too early to say exactly where Tuimoloau might be in the depth chart, it wasn’t hard to see why he was such a coveted prospect, as his athleticism for a 6-foot-4 defensive lineman inches and 275 pounds stood even while going through individual exercises.

Additional observations

  • Palaie Gaoteote, wearing the number 21, participated in training with linebackers and was on the team’s camp roster, although he has not yet been added to the team’s official online roster .

  • Steele Chambers, who reportedly underwent cross-training between the running back and linebacker, was also with the linebackers (and wore a white defensive jersey) throughout the media portion of the practice. He was also on the list distributed to media present only as a linebacker.

  • Even though Master Teague was back as a full participant in training after being sidelined in the spring, Miyan Williams was the first running back in the training line during the individual portion of training – this which is often an indicator of who is in line to start, particularly if it is a young player ahead of an older player.

  • Demario McCall, who now wears number 1, remained at the cornerback position, where he trained in the spring. He made a pass break during the half-line scrimmage period the media was allowed to watch.

  • Gee Scott Jr. also continued to train with tight ends after leaving the wide catcher there in the spring.

  • Jaxon Smith-Njigba, as expected, was part of the first team’s offense as a starting receiver. He has long been expected to take over there, with Garrett Wilson moving away to join Chris Olave.

  • Kamryn Babb was the only injured player seen working on the side separated from the rest of the practice. Mitchell Melton, who also suffered an injury this spring, did not appear to be on the pitch during the media portion of practice.

  • Little has changed in the way the state of Ohio has structured the practice over the years, including since the Urban Meyer era. They start out the same – stretch, then special teams, then individual exercises, then shortfield, then indoor run, etc. – and seem almost identical in many ways to journalists who have been watching workouts for quite some time.

  • Kerry Coombs still spends a great deal of his time with defensive backs, and Kevin Wilson always helps with offensive tackles, as well as his close duties.



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