OSU Buckeyes

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With spring practice in the books and Ohio State heading into its offseason conditioning program, BuckeyeNation is looking at the players who boosted their stock with the program the most during those 15 workouts. The offense went first last week, and it's now followed up by a handful of defenders who will be in line for heavy workloads this fall.

No. 3: Doran Grant

• Who: The flashes of ability off the bench last season made it clear that Grant, a junior, would at a minimum be sliding into a starting position when spring practice opened. But Ohio State still needed to see something more from Grant to feel truly comfortable with him on the field consistently opposite Bradley Roby at the other cornerback. Truthfully, what the coaching staff really wanted to find out was if Grant was capable of being the top cornerback on the field if, for some reason, Roby wasn't available. And while Roby's nagging shoulder injury was a factor in a lighter workload during camp, the Buckeyes also pulled him out of some situations even when he could compete, just to see how Grant would respond to the pressure of playing at the boundary position in the secondary. After passing the test out there, Grant was able to tighten his grip at the field spot heading into the summer.
• Spring progress: Few players on the Ohio State roster can stop a watch quicker in the 40-yard dash than Grant, and with comparable size to Roby, there aren't many physical concerns about his ability to match up in coverage, either. But extensive study of practice and game tapes by cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs suggested the issue holding Grant back from becoming a regular in the rotation last season was his slow read-and-react times in coverage. The Buckeyes have designed a number of drills that all their defensive backs can do to improve that, but nobody has taken to them quite like Grant -- and the results are showing up on the field.
• Jockeying for position: There will be no shortage of challengers for Grant's spot when the Buckeyes report back to practice in August as one of the most talented signing classes of defensive backs in the country arrives. But the competition was already pretty intense for the Buckeyes in the spring, with Armani Reeves, Tyvis Powell and early enrollees Eli Apple and Cam Burrows all in a group pushing for a role in a deep secondary. Grant has a head start thanks to his game experience and some previous success in limited chances, but maintaining that edge will require more than just showing up.
• He said it: "Our ideal situation is all of those guys play, all of them contribute. I think that’s healthy, and that way if a guy gets dinged or a guy gets tired, you don’t feel like you can’t do this, the sky is falling. My expectation is that there’s good, healthy competition among all of those guys and those young guys coming in are going to push them for playing time." -- Coombs, on adding more depth at cornerback
• Closing number: Grant wasn't able to get his hands on the football as spring practice wrapped up with an exhibition in Cincinnati, but he did chip in four tackles while continuing to handle Roby's role. Roby was held out to rest an injured shoulder.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Urban Meyer cut down the distance. He apparently dialed up the intensity in the process.

That's typically the formula when the Ohio State coach designates a practice to work on short-yardage situations, but this time it also seemed to come with an attitude bonus.

After taking some criticism for their lack of intensity in the first workout after spring break a week ago, the Buckeyes were clearly energized by the physical challenge thrown at them on Tuesday afternoon at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. And while there were still some things that Meyer isn't all that thrilled about after the sixth full practice, competitiveness wasn't one of them.

"Any time you do short-yardage and goal-line [situations], there’s going to be a lot of collisions," Meyer said. "They start chirping a little bit, and it was a good practice."

Both sides of the ball had reason to make a little noise in a spirited session that stood out not just for the amount of hitting, but also for a larger number of reps for the backups as the Buckeyes start evaluating their depth.

Here's a closer look at four of the developments from the latest practice open to the media.

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With national signing day in the books, the next big date on the Ohio State calendar as it continues working toward an encore for an undefeated season in 2013 is spring practice. Before those workouts begin, BuckeyeNation will take a look at each position to see where the roster is at -- and where it's going.

KICKOFF RETURN/PUNT RETURN

• Who's back: The jokes about Philly Brown not being able to make anybody miss at wide receiver had already started subsiding, but he put them to bed for good on special teams. The rising senior put two exclamation points on a breakout individual season with a pair of punt returns for touchdowns, including a pivotal one in the overtime thriller on the road against Wisconsin that helped save the undefeated campaign. The kickoff return gig wasn't quite as stable and the unit overall was never able to really provide the type of spark coach Urban Meyer wants in that phase of the game. But before a freshman class loaded with speed arrives in the fall, he's got a handful of guys with experience to look at this spring -- starting with running backs Rod Smith and Bri'onte Dunn, wide receiver Devin Smith and perhaps cornerback Bradley Roby.
• New faces: The Buckeyes have two new additions already on campus at a skill position, though Eli Apple and Cam Burrows will likely be focusing more on learning the schemes and techniques at cornerback than trying to provide competition at the return slots. But when training camp rolls around, though, Meyer might be looking closely at burners such as Dontre Wilson, Jalin Marshall, James Clark, Corey Smith or touted tailback Ezekiel Elliott to help carry the load.
• Projected spring depth chart: Brown should head into camp with the edge on the punt-return unit, with fellow wideout Devin Smith in the second slot. Kickoff return could easily be staging a wide-open competition, though Rod Smith and Dunn ended last season as the top two options and figure to start camp there as well.
• Numbers game: The Buckeyes finished the season ranked just No. 84 in the country in average kickoff return yardage, managing less than 20 yards per attempt and never posting one longer than Rod Smith's 36-yarder. The junior running back was also the most consistent threat among the handful of returners the Buckeyes tried, leading the team with an average of 23.3 yards on his 13 attempts.
• One to watch: The influx of speed at the skill positions in the fall should give Meyer even more options to play with, but he could be faced with the same decision then that he does now. Is it worth exposing Roby to a few more hits to take advantage of his speed? The junior cornerback has a gear that few other athletes can match and it's not hard to imagine him putting that speed to good use with the ball in his hands on special teams. But he's also integral on defense with his lockdown coverage and disruptive ability in the secondary, which will give the Buckeyes something to ponder as they try to find some explosiveness in the return game.
• He said it: "We maybe didn't have the home-run hitter, explosive, open-space player on offense, but you know what? Some guys really grew up and did a good job for us. Philly Brown did a nice job." -- Meyer on signing day

With national signing day in the books, the next big date on the Ohio State calendar as it continues working toward an encore for an undefeated season in 2013 is spring practice. Before those workouts begin, BuckeyeNation will take a look at each position to see where the roster is at -- and where it's going.

CORNERBACKS

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Kirk Irwin/Getty ImagesBradley Roby will return as one of the top corners in the nation.
• Who's back: Bradley Roby took his time weighing his options, so Ohio State had no choice but to wait and see if it was replacing both members of a talented twosome or just half of it. Eventually it got the good news it had been hoping for and largely expecting, with Roby ultimately deciding to stick around and build on a banner season as a redshirt sophomore. With or without him heading into 2013, the Buckeyes had been loading up on the recruiting trail and signed what appears to be the best crop of defensive backs in the country, and with Travis Howard moving on to the next level, they could see some action opposite Roby pretty quickly. But there is one other returner who could block the path to the starting lineup after Doran Grant impressed when called upon last fall and could be even better heading into his junior campaign.
• New faces: The Buckeyes will no shortage of talented cover guys to sort through in the freshman class, and two of them are already on campus to give the coaching staff an advance look at what they can do. Eli Apple was the crown jewel in RecruitingNation's third-rated classl, and he could make himself a factor for playing time right away thanks to the extra reps and head start he'll be afforded in spring practice. The same is true for Cam Burrows, the ninth-ranked cornerback in the nation coming out of high school and another option who could potentially fill a short-term and long-term void for the Buckeyes.
• Projected spring depth chart: Roby is locked in at one cornerback spot, and Grant should have the edge when the Buckeyes report to work next week thanks to his experience and knowledge of the defense. But Apple and Burrows have the physical tools to push for first-team reps, and rising sophomore Armani Reeves also caught the eye of the coaching staff last fall with his contributions on special teams.
• Numbers game: No secondary in the Big Ten was more opportunistic than Ohio State's, which tied for the conference lead with 14 interceptions and made quarterbacks think twice about testing its defensive backs all year long. But half of those picks belonged to players who won't be back this spring, led by Howard and his conference-leading four interceptions and two more from safety Orhian Johnson. If Roby is able to turn a handful of his head-turning 17 passes broken up into interceptions, though, the Buckeyes could offset those losses somewhat easily.

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We can almost put a bow on the 2013 recruiting class -- punter Johnny Townsend has not signed his letter of intent and is apparently having second thoughts -- and it was one of the best recruiting classes in school history.

The Buckeyes signed 24 players and finished third in the ESPN class rankings behind SEC powers Alabama and Florida, with 19 of the 24 signees at four stars or more.

Here's a recap of how the day unfolded. Follow the live blog after the jump.

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Quint Kessenich talks with Ohio State coach Urban Meyer about his recruiting class, namely Eli Apple, Cam Burrows, Gareon Conley, Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson. The Buckeyes entered national signing day with the No. 3 recruiting class, and moved up to No. 2 this morning.