Ohio State Football: Buckeyes’ 2016 Offseason Summer Checklist

With a number of key players working their way back to full health and the height of recruiting season on the horizon, head coach Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes are on the brink of a busy and pivotal summer in Columbus.

The championship expectations haven’t faded for Buckeye nation, even after Ohio State sent a historic 12 players to the NFL draft and lost 16 starters total. That’s because quarterback J.T. Barrett is back as the clear leader of a young but explosively talented team.

True, on-field preparation for the 2016 season won’t commence until the start of fall camp, so what should Meyer and the Buckeyes focus on over the next two months?

Get (and Stay) Healthy

Ohio State escaped the spring session relatively intact, at least from the first-team perspective, as the only major injury befell third-string quarterback Stephen Collier (ACL tear).

Meanwhile, a trio of key wideouts—Noah Brown, Corey Smith and Curtis Samuel—spent the spring working their way back from injuries that either ended or hindered their 2015 campaigns.

Brown and Smith both suffered season-ending broken legs. Brown’s injury came in fall camp, derailing what many anticipated to be a breakout year for the bulldozing playmaker. Smith stepped up in his absence, but he suffered the same injury in Week 5 against Indiana.

Samuel, however, fought his way through a nagging foot injury that required surgery after Ohio State’s Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame….

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