I went to the morning practice session last Friday and mostly watched the skill guys on offense. It’s obviously too soon to make any definitive evaluations, but I was very pleasantly surprised with the progress the group overall seems to be making. As everyone knows, the departures of Smith, Pittman, Ginn and Gonzales will put significant pressure on a few of the young guys early in the season. The Tressel machine, however, just keeps humming along.

At receiver, Robiskie looked good. He’s not as fast or as flashy as previous OSU standouts. But he’s steady and very field-savvy. More importantly, he seems to have established himself as the leader of the receiver corps - quiet but effective. Hartline was impressive as well. Along with Small and a few good looking freshmen, this is a very competent and talented group. I wouldn’t be surprised to see solid productivity from them as we head into Big Ten competition.

At running back, I was really impressed with Dionte Johnson. He’s more active and confident than I’ve seen him in the past. The question, of course, is whether he’ll touch the ball much this season. Given what I saw, it might be time to get the fullback more involved in the offense. The tailback position is in solid hands with Beanie and Maurice Wells as well as freshman Brandon Saine. Saine looked a little like a freshman on Friday, but he’s going to be a nice addition to the backfield once he figures it all out. I’ll go out on a limb and say, collectively, the running backs will actually be better as a group this year compared to last.

At quarterback, I’m not sure we’re where we need to be yet. Replacing a starting QB is never easy, let alone a Heisman trophy winner. Both Boeckman and Schoenhoft looked promising, but neither has established himself as the clear winner of the horse race. Boeckman will have the edge going in, and the early soft schedule will give him a chance to learn in a forgiving environment. He’ll need to show rapid improvement during the first 3 games if we’re going to make a run at conference title this year.

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