Drew Thurman (7:07 pm)

Today Tressel hosted a press conference to kick off things officially for the spring. He had a lot of juicy nuggets, as always, but his comments on two players in particular intrigued me. The first was Brandon Saine. Many of us fans have already written Saine's career with the Buckeyes off, but Tressel sounded excited about having him at running back this year. He also made it clear that Brandon Saine is finally healthy, which could mean an increase in Saine's minutes. Tressel had this to say about the running back situation, including Saine:

“I think when you lose a Beanie Wells, you have to get a little more creative in some other areas,” Tressel said. “You’re not going to have a turn-around-and-hand-it-off guy 20-25 times a game like you had with Beanie. But I like our guys. Boom and Brandon Saine can play.”

We will see if the arrival of Berry and Hyde changes this.

The other name Tressel had some information on was Jake Stoneburner, which finally put some speculation to rest. He made it clear, that as the rumors had guessed, Stoneburner will be moving to tight end. With a shortage of acceptable tight ends and Stoneburner's naturally large frame, it seems to be a good fit. This is what Tressel said:

“We knew when we recruited Jake that he was either going to be a big receiver, or he was going to become one of those inside receivers. We’ll have to teach him enough about the blocks to make him adequate there. I don’t know if he’ll ever be a crushing blocker at tight end, although his hip strength is incredible. His power clean and so forth is better than a good portion of the team. He does have a lot of natural ability there."

I really liked the news for both of these young men. Having another experienced back like Saine is never a bad thing, though I know critics are going to have a field day. Just remember everyone, it has been a long time since we have seen what he can do when he is healthy. Also, I think the move to TE for Stoneburner will be a good one. My only issue with this is if we don't use him as a pass catcher, because Stoneburner is not a blocker.

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