Will preseason honors follow OSU, Pryor to regular season?

CHICAGO — Once again, Terrelle Pryor went to the head of the class, passing more experienced quarterbacks along the way.

Ohio State’s sophomore quarterback was named the Big Ten preseason Offensive Player of the Year by the media members covering the Big Ten football media days on Monday.

Ohio State was also selected as the favorite in the Big Ten, followed by Penn State and Michigan State.

Two senior quarterbacks whose statistics were quite a bit better than Pryor’s last fall – Penn State’s Daryll Clark and Illinois’ Isiah “Juice” Williams – finished behind him in the voting.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said he was a little surprised to see Pryor outpoll the veterans.

“I really was. I guess I’d forgotten they do such a thing. When it was mentioned, I got to thinking, “Man, there are a lot of good guys coming back in this league. Daryll Clark and Juice Williams have been around a long time.’ You can go down the list of guys in our league. I guess it’s a good reminder of the respect they have for his ability,” he said.

“From a team standpoint in the preseason rankings, with 31 guys gone (to graduation), it’s a reminder of the proud history Ohio State has and the expectations they have. I was a little bit surprised, but it’s a neat thing.”

Ohio State has won at least a share of the last four Big Ten titles.

A harder election for Pryor to win might be on the horizon, though. Being preseason Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year won’t necessarily translate into becoming one of the Buckeyes’ captains.

“I don’t know if I’d allow it. I have a lot of votes,” Tressel said. “Sitting here at this moment, I’m not sure if that’s something you would want to add to a sophomore’s plate. But, we’ll see how things evolve.”

Tight end Jake Ballard, one of three OSU players at the Big Ten media days, also indicated the voting for captains was one time Pryor might not go around the upperclassmen.

“He’s one of the leaders of the team but I don’t think that’s really a question now. I think next year he might become what James Laurinaitis became, a two-time captain. He’s definitely a leader of our team but I don’t know if he’s ready for that full of a leadership role. But a lot of people look up to him and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did happen,” Ballard said.

A year ago at this time, Pryor was a backup to senior Todd Boeckman. This year, he is unopposed as the starting quarterback, but many of the other offensive threats from last season’s team, like tailback Chris “Beanie” Wells and two NFL-caliber receivers, Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline, are gone.

What OSU will get from its tailbacks remains one of the biggest questions going into the start of practice in August.

Dan Herron gained 439 yards last season as Wells’ backup. Brandon Saine gained just 65 yards while battling injuries most of the season. Those two will get the first chances to carry the ball this year.

“It’s difficult to replace a Beanie Wells,” Tressel said. “We feel real good about Dan Herron. Danny Herron and Brandon Saine, it’s their time to step up.”

Freshman Jaamal Berry was rated one of the top tailback recruits in the country. But Tressel downplayed him for now because his only Ohio State experience has come in informal workouts without the coaches present.

“I’ve never seen Jaamal do anything,” Tressel said. “I hear from some of the kids, he’s an explosive guy and all those kind of things. But you have to do it when the helmets go on and we’re not out there in shorts.”

Coldwater’s Adam Homan, who drew praise from Tressel last spring during spring practice after he enrolled early, also could figure into the fullback equation.

Tressel said, “Jermil Martin is a guy we’ve kind of put back and forth from fullback to tailback. We’ll probably use him at tailback because we were really happy with Adam Homan (at fullback).”

Homan and another freshman, Zach Boren, are two of the top fullbacks on the team already. “With Adam and Zach, even though they’ll be youngsters, we think they’re the kind of guys who will be good at that,” Tressel said.