Will Ohio State's LB rotation go two-deep or six-deep? James Laurinaitis on Buckeye linebackers

"We're just trying to figure out how many guys can we depend on when it comes to a Saturday and then what roles can we give them."

James Laurinaitis is entering his third season as Ohio State’s linebackers coach, and he spoke with reporters on Thursday. (Photo by Doug Lesmerises)

COLUMBUS — Ohio State linebackers and tight ends, along with assistants James Laurinaitis and Keenan Bailey, spoke with reporters after the Buckeyes’ No. 7 practice of spring football on Thursday. Here are highlights from the linebacker talk.

• We theorized on the depth podcast Wednesday that the Buckeyes could feel good about playing as many as six linebackers this season. That would be junior middle linebacker Payton Pierce, senior transfer Christian Alliegro, redshirt sophomore Garrett Stover, true sophomores Riley Pettitjohn and TJ Alford, and true freshman Cincere Johnson.

Laurinaitis didn’t back away from that depth potential.

“The standard was always to try to get our room to a point where you felt a healthy amount of pressure to perform, in the sense of, ‘If I have a bad day or two, I could be passed up by the next guy,’ because of the talent level in the room,” Laurinaitis said. “I tell the guys every day, your practice reps will determine how many guys that we will play and rotate, and that’s that’s reality.