Ohio State tackle J.B. Shugarts says feet feel good, which is good news for the offensive line

Ohio State needs its offensive linemen to stay healthy this fall, and right tackle J.B. Shugarts has good news on that front.

Marvin Fong / The Plain DealerFoot problems have limited J.B. Shugarts' playing time at Ohio State, but the right tackle says his feet feel great after an off-season of rehab.

Columbus -- With everything else Ohio State has to worry about during the first five games of the season, there isn't much room for concern about J.B. Shugarts' feet. The senior right tackle was forced to the sidelines after halftime of two games in the middle of last season, but he said after Saturday's scrimmage that those foot problems are behind him.

Good thing, because if the Buckeyes have to replace four offensive linemen during September -- Shugarts as well as suspended left tackle Mike Adams and graduated guards Bryant Browning and Justin Boren -- they'll be cutting things very close.

"I'll be fine," said Shugarts, who said he spent the off-season rehabbing his feet and getting new shoe inserts to help take the pressure off his feet. "They haven't bothered me at all this spring or this winter."

And he has been put to the test. Counting a new walk-on, only 11 offensive linemen took part in Ohio State's scrimmage Saturday, and that's who has been rotating through at practice, meaning senior starters such as Shugarts, Adams and center Mike Brewster have been working with the third-team offense at times, because there is no third team on the offensive line.

"Most schools might have 15 [offensive linemen], some might have 20. We go at it every day with 10," Shugarts said. "When you think about your senior year spring ball, your last spring ball, you're not walking into practice expecting to take 30, 40, 50 reps, but you've got to do what you've got to do to get the team better. To get those young quarterbacks better, we've got to give them time in the pocket, and we've got to keep doing that. It all works together."

There's also a lot to figure out on the line. Those 11 linemen include seven the Buckeyes can trust at this point, the three senior starters plus redshirt sophomores Corey Linsley, Jack Mewhort and Marcus Hall and true sophomore Andrew Norwell. From that group will come the two starting guards, the starting left tackle while Adams is out and the top backup in case anyone goes down.

"It's the first time since I've been here there's two guard spots and the left tackle open all around the same time," Brewster said. "It's not like it's going to separate anyone on the line, because guys rotate so much and are playing a lot of spots, and I'm doing everything I can to try to be a coach on the field. It makes it fun to be out there with them. Everyone makes mistakes, but learning from those mistakes is the only way we can get better."

Norwell and Hall -- a Glenville grad who played as a true freshman, sharing some time with Shugarts at right tackle, but redshirted last year for academic reasons -- have been playing tackle and guard, and one of them should be the left tackle while Adams is out. Mewhort is working as the starter at left guard and Linsley as the starter at right guard, but both also take snaps at center, where someone has to be ready if something happens to Brewster.

It's a solid, potentially very good group, but behind them are only walk-ons and true freshmen. That's why Shugarts and Brewster are so important.

"We feel like we've got a solid seven or eight guys that are really good enough to play," Shugarts said. "I think we won't miss a beat."

As long as the guys they're counting on can stay on their feet.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2011/04/post_44.html

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