Open competition at PR, KR
There are some very interesting tidbits amongst OSU’s pre-spring depth chart.
Plenty of position changes and lots of new faces.
Here’s a closer look at the Pokes special teams, position-by-position.
Punter Quinn Sharp returns as one of the nation's best
Punter
Quinn Sharp was a very pleasant surprise as a redshirt freshman. The Cowboys should be excited to have him for three more seasons. His backup is Michael Reichenstein, who, if he plays at some point, will test my ability to spell his name right.
Kicker
Senior Dan Bailey is a solid starting kicker and Sharp was recruited to be a kicker so the Pokes should feel pretty good about the position.
Long Snapper
Most people have no idea who Marc Yerry is which means the junior is exceptional at his job. Yerry is a very solid deep snapper, off the top of my head, I don’t remember any poor snaps in the kicking game a year ago. His backup is sophomore Randall Arbuckle.
Holder
Sophomore Wes Harlan is a solid holder and Sharp backs him up at that spot.
Expect Josh Cooper to compete for punt return duties.
Punt and Kick Returner
Open competition has won both the Punt Return and Kick Return spots. He’s the new Perrish Cox!
But seriously, this is where I expect to see some of the freshmen like Justin Gilbert make an immediate impact this fall. In the meantime, Josh Cooper has experience as a punt returner and will likely see some time back there this fall. Colton Chelf can also do the job.
Johnny Thomas has returned kickoffs during his first two seasons but may be too valuable to put back there. Jeremy Smith saw some time back there against Grambling State and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Travis Miller and Isaiah Anderson both get the chance to compete for both return spots. Both players have excellent speed.
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