COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State football opens the 2017 season Thursday at Indiana. We're counting down the top 50 Buckeyes for this season, taking into account talent, past accomplishments, team need and potential.
No. 1: Billy Price, Senior, Center
Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 312 pounds.
Hometown: Austintown, Ohio.
Where he was ranked last year: Price was No. 8 last year, coming into his third season as starter at guard. That put him second among the returning offensive linemen last year, behind center Pat Elflein, who was No. 2.
What he's done: Continued to progress throughout his career from a redshirt freshman who was overwhelmed at the start of the 2014 season until now, where has the standing as one of the top offensive linemen in the country. Price has started 41 consecutive games at guard, and now makes the move to center where the 2016 All-American will look to follow in the footsteps of Pat Elflein.
Why Price is No. 1: Price enters his second season as a captain at Ohio State, fully immersing himself in everything that role requires, and basically serving as the spokesperson last year for an offense that struggled in most of the season's most important games. He likes being Captain Billy, and wears that badge well.
That, combined with his talent made him the top player on our list entering this season.
It's hard for offensive linemen to garner a lot of positive attention, but what Price has done over the course of his career has been impressive. That kid starting against Navy in 2014 didn't know what he was doing. He turned into a man that was named an All-American last year. He's also been a scholar athlete, and graduated from Ohio State's business school last year.
He's done all of that while putting himself in a position to break Luke Fickell's school record of 50 starts (career and consecutive) this season.
Now he moves to center, naturally holding down the most important position on the offensive line and tasked with following Elflein, who moved from guard to center last year and then won the Rimington Trophy. The strongest player on the team, and one in contention for best athlete, Price has the chance to be even better than Elflein was last year.
"I think that's what the expectation needs to be," Price said. "I am not Pat Elflein. I've got my own personality. I'm an inch-and-a-half taller than Pat. I've got my own aspects to work on. I am not a Rimington winner right now. I have a lot of things to work on.
"I wouldn't say I'm that good. I have a lot of things to continue to be better at. I think they've put me in a position to succeed at a high level and perform at a position I can really excel at."
The top 50 Ohio State football players for 2017:
* Catch up with players 50-26 here.
* See players 25-11 here.
No. 10: Denzel Ward, CB
No. 9: Sam Hubbard, DE
No. 8: Mike Weber, RB
No. 7: Chris Worley LB
No. 6: Jamarco Jones, LT
No. 5: J.T. Barrett, QB
No. 4: Nick Bosa, DE
No. 3: Tyquan Lewis, QB
No. 2: Jerome Baker, LB
No. 1: Billy Price, C