The day has finally arrived as Ryan Day and the Buckeyes took to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for day one of fall camp.

Beyond the jubilation of the fans and the energy inside the facility, fall camp is already full of storylines. Right away, it was noticeable that there was a key player missing from the mix in Legend Bey. Coach Day addressed that after practice, stating that Legend was not participating today due to a “violation of team rules” and did not elaborate further. Certainly, something to watch as camp moves forward.

Offensive Line

The storyline continues for the depth and development of the offensive line. O-Line coach Tyler Bowen went to work right away with his unit as they began exploding off the line in technique drills. Bowen urged his guys to “work in a cage” when attacking their individual matchups. During drills, he was detail-oriented and very persistent in his goals for each player.

For a considerable chunk of individual drills, Bowen had his guys thoroughly work on blitz Identification. Considering how last season ended, this is sure to be a major point of emphasis moving forward. The offensive line will be a looming topic through all of camp as Day tries out different combinations.

Running Back

Coach Day commented that the running back position was an under-the-radar position group, saying, “I think the running back position is very unique. In the room we have talent and a little bit of experience, but to get to where we need to go, we need major runs out of our backs.” Day pointed to the impacts that Ezekiel Elliot, TreVeon Henderson and Quinshon Junkins had on their respective teams.

With Bo Jackson and Isaiah West being the clear frontrunners at that position, this appears to be a challenge for them to take the next step. There’s certainly room for growth for each back, but both show exceptional explosiveness. Both backs are also healthier this year after coming off leg injuries prior to last year. Look for this competition to start heating up as camp moves on.

Edge Rusher Depth

With the return of Kenyatta Jackson, Ohio State retained a dependable and athletic edge rusher to further develop. Beyond that, the production and experience become more of a question mark. Beau Atkinson clearly has experience but lacked the production that most expected from him last season. Qua Russaw came over from Alabama as a linebacker. Matt Patrica and his staff have decided to move him to a pure-edge role, meaning Qua will have to develop in and learn a new position entirely.

Zion Grady and Epi Sitanilei took plenty of reps in camp, but both are heavily inexperienced. With Eddrick Houston likely taking a chunk of snaps at DT this year, a second edge rusher is going to have to step up in camp to take the pressure off Kenyatta and the defense as a whole.

With camp comes endless speculation and storylines. Expectations remain sky high for this program. All of this means one thing: Football is officially back in Columbus.