Ohio Buckeyes backup tight end A.J. Alexander will miss the entire 2017 football season after undergoing knee surgery to repair an injury.

A team spokesman for the Ohio State football team announced on Friday that backup tight end A.J. Alexander, a redshirt sophomore, will miss the 2017 football season due to a knee injury. Alexander has already undergone surgery to repair the knee, which was apparently injured earlier this month while playing basketball.

Alexander had been getting a lot of work with the Buckeyes’ first team offense this spring while No. 1 tight end Marcus Baugh recovered from a shoulder injury. Towards the end of the team’s spring camp, head coach Urban Meyer told The Columbus Dispatch that “Tight end is the most improved position on the team right now.” Given Alexander’s knee injury, Ohio State now lacks the strong depth at that position that they thought they would have for the upcoming season.

In 2016, Alexander appeared in all 13 games for the Buckeyes and recorded 4 receptions for a total of 27 yards without a touchdown.

Urban Meyer will now have to fill in the backup tight end spot with either Luke Farrell or Jake Hausmann – both of whom were 2016 recruits and were labeled as 4-star tight ends by 247Sports. While his programs have long embodied the “next man up” mantra, Alexander’s injury is certainly unwelcome news given the Buckeyes’ intense focus on revamping the offense following a CFP shutout to Clemson, the first blanking of Meyer’s career.

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