The Ohio State Buckeyes remain loaded with talent and stand as the prohibitive favorites to notch back-to-back College Football Playoff triumphs. However, there's still plenty of things to be addressed before we start planning another championship parade in Columbus. Here's the 5 Biggest Questions For Ohio State Football Heading Into Fall Camp.
5. What's Ezekiel Elliott Going To Do For An Encore?
He's the Heisman front-runner and a legitimate beast out of the backfield, and while the lion's share of media attention will be saved for the quarterback competition, Elliott's the key to Ohio State's offense going forward into fall camp. A healthy, productive fall is what Ohio State needs out of Elliott. If they can keep him safeguarded while getting him needed reps, he will be close to unstoppable once the regular season finally kicks off.
4. What's The Plan To Replace Michael Bennett?
Overcoming the loss of all-world defensive tackle Michael Bennett will be the biggest hurdle for Ohio State's defense in 2015. Bennett delayed his NFL trip to come back and wreak havoc in his senior season last year, but now he's off to the NFL and Urban Meyer is left to assess and fill the void left behind. There's plenty of young talent to slot in and veteran talent to pick up some of the slack at other positions, but that won't be enough unless Ohio State finds a serviceable contingency plan.
3. How Will OSU Replace Devin Smith And Evan Spencer's Production?
The two aforementioned wide receivers were integral to the team's championship run during their senior years, with Smith providing a major home-run threat and Spencer showcasing a unique mix of on-field leadership and clutch game-breaking plays. The onus is now on the young trio of James Clark, Terry McLaurin, and Parris Campbell to fill the void. There's going to be growing pains, but this fall camp is a perfect opportunity to work through some of those.
2. How Will The On-Field Leadership Situation Shake Out?
The Buckeyes' quartet of Michael Bennett, Jeff Heuerman, Evan Spencer and Curtis Grant were the unchallenged on-field leaders for the Buckeyes in 2014, helping convey Urban Meyer's messages to the team's young talent in the huddle. Now it's a next man up situation, likely to be filled by some combination of Joey Bosa, Joshua Perry, Ezekiel Elliott, and/or a few more of the team's returning standouts.
1. Who Will Be The Starting Quarterback?
Most college football teams don't even have one elite quarterback to call their own. It'd be insane for any program to have even, but Urban Meyer has that blessing/curse to work with in the upcoming fall competition between JT Barrett and Cardale Jones. It helps a lot that Braxton Miller has removed himself from the competition to focus on H-back/punt returning, but it's still a coin flip whether Meyer will go with the natural leader (Barrett) or the athletic freak (Jones) under center.
Follow our Ohio State Buckeyes team page for the latest Ohio State football news!
Back to the Ohio State Buckeyes Newsfeed