What we saw from Ohio State football's eighth practice of preseason training camp

Ohio State’s preseason training camp continued Friday as the Buckeyes held their eighth practice at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

It was a lighter practice with the Buckeyes due to hold their first scrimmage of camp on Saturday, but reporters and a crew from the Big Ten Network were in attendance to observe all 12 periods. Below are the highlights.

Offensive line shuffle

Josh Simmons, the transfer from San Diego State, lined up as the left tackle with the first-team offensive line, moving Josh Fryar over to right tackle.

For spring practice and the start of camp last week, Fryar was the first-team left tackle, but the Buckeyes appear to also be giving Simmons a hard look on the blind side.

It wasn’t until the summer semester that Simmons enrolled at Ohio State, so he was not a participant in spring practice.

Among the candidates to start at left tackle, Simmons is the most experienced, having started for the Aztecs all of last season as a redshirt freshman, though it was at right tackle. Simmons also had his black stripe removed on Thursday, the first among the summer enrollees to go through the ritual.

Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said this week that redshirt freshman Tegra Tshabola and freshman Luke Montgomery are also among the leading contenders to start at the tackle spots.

Tshabola and Montgomery went out as the second-team left and right tackles on Friday.

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Quarterback reps remain split

Kyle McCord and Devin Brown continue to split first-team reps in an ongoing competition that Day has framed as a tight battle.

At least on Friday, there wasn’t an obvious gap between the passers and both had their highs in a limited script.

In a team period, Brown connected with Jayden Ballard on a deep post route, with the wide receiver getting a step on sophomore cornerback Ryan Turner.

During a 7-on-7 drill that followed, McCord found freshman receiver Brandon Inniss open downfield.

Neither threw an interception.

Day said on Wednesday that he expects the scrimmage to help provide some clarity on the competition.

Potential position switch

Arvell Reese, a freshman who was the lone linebacker to sign with Ohio State last winter, practiced with the defensive ends during position drills.

The Buckeyes addressed their long-term depth at linebacker when they added Nigel Glover as a transfer from Northwestern earlier this month. Glover is also a freshman and could allow the staff to look at Reese at another spot.

It’s possible Reese is a candidate at the “Jack,” the hybrid defensive end-linebacker position, or providing support on the defensive line after Omari Abor underwent an undisclosed surgery that will sideline him for an extended period of time.

Notable absences

Running back Miyan Williams was not at practice and was described as unavailable by a team spokesperson.

It left Chip Trayanum to follow TreVeyon Henderson in drills and as the second-team back.

Defensive tackle Tyleik Williams was also not spotted, and the defensive tackles who lined up with what looked like the first-team defense were Ty Hamilton Jaden McKenzie.

Injury update

Trainers looked at defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr., who was limping a little late in practice and had his left ankle wrapped with tape.

It didn’t appear too significant as Hall returned to participate in non-contact drills in the later periods.

Punt returners

Marvin Harrison Jr. has continued to return punts as he did in spring practice, lining up with a small handful of other receivers that included Emeka Egbuka.

After Jaxon Smith-Njigba went down last season, Egbuka became the Buckeyes' primary punt returner and is expected to continue in the role.

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com or on Twitter @joeyrkaufman.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football holds eighth preseason training camp practice