Ohio State’s Urban Meyer addresses media after first spring practice

“[...] things are pretty even with Joe Burrow and Dwayne Haskins. Said it was neck and neck with those two last year before Burrow got hurt, and thinks it’s that way now. Says they’ll take it day by day.”

- Bill Landis, Cleveland.com

The first day of the Ohio State Buckeyes spring practice is in the books. The last we saw of the Buckeyes, J.T. Barrett said farewell after beating USC in the Cotton Bowl. Now a new era begins, and the battle is starting for that quarterback spot. Based off Urban Meyer’s comments, it appears Dwayne Haskins and Joe Burrow will be fighting for that starting spot and are the two favorites heading into next season. Many were assuming that dual-threat Tate Martell would be in competition with Haskins while Burrow took a backseat, but apparently Burrow has been doing well once again.

After a small transfer scare from Burrow and from linebacker Dante Booker, Meyer spoke with both of them—and both will continue to don the Scarlet and Gray. It will be interesting to see how it plays out, but the jobs will still have to be earned. There are plenty of points that Meyer hit on, so be sure to hit the link and read more.

“I’m counting down the days that I’ll be able to put on this jersey and play for this university,” Tate said. “I’m taking it very hard. To be able to say Coach Holt came in here as a first-year coach, we made the NCAA Tournament and finished in the top of the league, I think we wrote a pretty good thing in the history book, but we’re not satisfied.”

- Jae’Sean Tate via Bill Landis, Cleveland.com

The NCAA tournament is only a few days away, as Selection Sunday comes this weekend. Ohio State is pretty much a lock to make the tournament, and most likely as a fifth or sixth seed. The Buckeyes were recently bounced from their first game in the Big Ten tournament to Penn State. That marked the third time in three meetings that Ohio State lost to the Nittany Lions. It also hurt some of the momentum the Buckeyes had gained over the course of the season. But still, Chris Holtmann getting Ohio State back into the NCAA tournament in just his first year deserves quite a bit of credit, along with Keita Bates-Diop really turning his play up a notch.

We won’t know where the Buckeyes land until Sunday but the expectation is most likely that Ohio State won’t make it out of the opening weekend, which is fair, considering they’ll likely have to go through a top-seeded team to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Still, it’s an exciting time as March Madness approaches and just the Buckeyes being back in the tournament should be fun to watch as the tournament progresses.

“But after getting just a taste of experience last season, Thayer Munford is poised to break out and nail down a starting job at right tackle — assuming Isaiah Prince moves to the left side, which doesn’t feel like all that much of a bold projection.”

- Austin Ward, Land of 10

Some storylines are sure to come from the spring practices at Ohio State, and one of the ones to keep an eye on is the progression of offensive lineman Thayer Munford. The second-year player out of Massillon seems to have cracked the starting lineup right now, playing right tackle in the first day of spring practice. With plenty of time left until August comes around, Munford has set himself up nicely for a chance to end up with a starting job when it’s all said and done.

Munford was a four-star prospect in 2017 and with some exits and shifts on the offensive line, Munford has started to stand out in the early goings of practice. Urban Meyer should be pleased and will no doubt have his eye on the young lineman.

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