Preseason training camp is underway at Ohio State.

The Buckeyes held their first practice on Thursday morning outside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Reporters and hundreds of fans lined the fields as players went through position drills, as well as 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods.

It’ll be a week until the Buckeyes progress into full pads, but the opening of camp offered a look at a handful of position rotations and groupings with the first and second teams.

Shakeup at safety

Ja’Had Carter, a transfer from Syracuse, and Sonny Styles, the uber-talented sophomore from Pickerington, lined up with Lathan Ransom as the primary safeties.

Ransom’s role with the first team was not a surprise. He is the returning starting strong safety and lined up on the boundary side in spring practice.

Carter and Styles were new additions, though, going ahead of Josh Proctor and Cameron Martinez.

While Carter took a majority of his snaps at Syracuse last season in slot coverage and rotated as a nickel safety in the spring, he lined up as the free safety, positioned in the middle slice of the field.

Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles sees him suited to a high safety role.

“He understands the game,” Knowles said. “He sees the whole field. And he processes things quickly.”

Styles lined up as the nickel. At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, he’s a bigger safety than Tanner McCalister, who started in the slot last season, standing five inches taller and outweighing McCalister by nearly 40 pounds.

But Knowles said Styles is versatile enough to handle responsibilities in the role that range from covering slot receivers to defending the run.

“He’s extremely talented,” Knowles said, “and he can do it all.”

No change to first-team offensive line

The starting offensive line from the spring game carried over to the first day of camp despite several spots remaining unsettled.

In the three position battles, Carson Hinzman remained the first-team center with Josh Fryar at left tackle and Zen Michalski at right tackle. Donovan Jackson and Matt Jones, returning as starting interior linemen, were at left and right guard.

The second-team offensive line began with Luke Montgomery at left tackle and Josh Simmons, who transferred from San Diego State after spring practice, at right tackle.

Jakob James, the backup center last season who was out for spring with an undisclosed injury, was also with the second team.

Order of quarterbacks

The starting quarterback competition between Kyle McCord and Devin Brown is tight in the eyes of coach Ryan Day.

Both McCord and Brown are to split repetitions with the first team in the weeks ahead as they look to succeed C.J. Stroud.

But McCord, who has an extra year of experience over Brown, led drills to start off camp as he did in spring practice, followed by Brown and Oregon State transfer Tristan Gebbia. He also warmed up with Hinzman, the first-string center.

New linebackers

The Buckeyes’ group of linebackers have two new faces.

Nigel Glover, a freshman who transferred from Northwestern in the aftermath of the program’s hazing scandal earlier this week, was at practice.

The other was Kourt Williams, who was a safety over his first three seasons with the Buckeyes. Williams, who is listed as 6-foot-1 and 228 pounds, had been a bigger safety.

“He’s a guy we always felt would be better off closer to the line of scrimmage,” Knowles said.

Starting cornerbacks

Knowles said the starting cornerbacks at this point would be Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock, though Mississippi transfer Davison Igbinosun also saw first-team reps to start camp.

Burke has started since he was a freshman in 2021, while Hancock and Igbinosun are looking to replace Cameron Brown as the other full-time starter.

Uniform changes

A few players switched uniforms numbers entering preseason training camp. Igbinosun is No. 1 after wearing No. 20 in spring practice, while Lathan Ransom has gone from No. 12 to No. 8 and Martinez has picked up No. 3 after being No. 13.

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 opens 2023 preseason training camp