Here's how I'd rank how each Buckeye did this season. WDYT?
Rank Name Pos Class Skinny
1 Miller, Braxton QB SO Tapered off noticeably near the end of the year but excellent passing in the first half against Michigan kept OSU in the game.
2 Shazier, Ryan LB SO Started the season slow but was absolutely dynamic in the second half.
3 Roby, Bradley DB SO Excellent pass defense and run support all season long.
4 Hankins, Johnathan DL JR OSU's best talent.
5 Hyde, Carlos RB JR Took over for Braxton the last third of the season. Ferocious, clever, and dependable.
6 Simon, John DL SR Dominant game against Wisconsin a key to undefeated season.
7 Mewhort, Jack OL JR Road grader. Seemed to struggle in pass defense against Michigan however.
8 Boren, Zach LB/FB SR Subpar pass defense but stellar against the run.
9 Howard, Travis CB SR Held up fairly well despite being picked on all season. Fought courageously through painful stingers.
10 Brown, Corey WR JR Solid and versatile, if not dynamic.
11 Williams, Nathan DL SR Gutty, inspiring senior season from a player who exhibited some character problems early in his career.
12 Smith, Devin WR SO OSU's closest approximation of a gamebreaker. Muff against Michigan hurt his ranking.
13 Linsley, Corey OL JR Would rank higher if not for his erratic long-snapping against Michigan.
14 Barnett, C.J. DB JR Finished the season with one of his best games despite missed tackle against Denard.
15 Bryant, Christian DB JR Finished the season with one of his best games despite missed tackle against Denard.
16 Sabino, Etienne LB SR Above average in run support; terribly shaky against the pass. Took some poor angles.
17 Basil, Drew P/K JR Decent at kickoffs. Strong day kicking field goals against Michigan was huge.
18 Norwell, Andrew OL JR Very strong season was a great surprise.
19 Hall, Marcus OL JR Like Norwell, showed a lot of improvement this season.
20 Goebel, Garrett DL SR Dependable but very unspectacular.
21 Washington, Adolphus DL FR Elite, exciting prospect. Great strip of Gardner early on.
22 Smith, Rod RB SO Runs with elite speed and power but needs to hold on to the football.
23 Fragel, Reid OL SR One of the great stories of the season, but shaky game against Michigan dropped him down the list.
24 Johnson, Orhian DB SR Brave tackler but average (at best) in pass coverage and decision-making.
25 Heuerman, Jeff TE SO Good blocker with decent hands. Pedestrian athlete however.
26 Spence, Noah DL FR Showed flashes in limited playing time.
27 Guiton, Kenny QB JR Late-game heroics against Purdue saved the season.
28 Buchanan, Ben P/K SR Surprisingly erratic senior season.
29 Vannett, Nick TE FR Has good hands and blocks fairly well, but like Heuerman, not a plus athlete.
30 Stoneburner, Jake TE SR Very disappointing senior season. Was he overrated all along, or just misused?
31 Bennett, Michael DL SO Provided decent relief for OSU's starting DL.
32 Makridis, George LS JR Zero bad snaps on the season and drew a crucial penalty against Penn State.
33 Hale, Joel DT SO See Bennett.
34 Grant, Doran CB SO Seemed promising in the early going but got absolutely torched in limited playing time later in the season.
35 Hall, Jordan RB SR Heady, shifty player who lacks power and explosiveness.
36 Decker, Taylor OL FR Showed real promise in extremely limited playing time.
37 Brown, Corey DB JR Can't seem to earn time on the field.
38 Reeves, Armani CB FR Very good freshman year on special teams.
39 Dunn, Bri'onte RB FR Promising athlete whose season was cut short by an injury.
40 Spencer, Evan WR SO Simply cannot get open. Blocks well.
41 Thomas, Michael WR FR Better talent than Spencer but penalties far outweighed his limited production.
42 Fields, Chris WR JR Doesn't contribute when he gets playing time.
43 Miller, Steve DL SO Hasn't shown much in limited playing time.
44 Moore, J.T. DL SO Hasn't shown much in limited playing time.
45 Perry, Joshua LB FR Inability to contribute provoked Boren's conversion to LB.
46 Grant, Curtis LB SO Have the coaches given up on Grant? Has he given up on football? OSU could desperately use him playing up to his hype.
47 Griffin, Adam CB SO Ceiling seems to be special teams.
48 Domicone, Zach DB SR Lacked the talent to contribute much during his career.
49 Homan, Adam RB SR With Boren ahead of him, never found a way to see the field on a regular basis.
50 Reed, Verlon WR SO Failed to bolster a very thin receiving corps. Hopefully he'll improve after another year since his ACL injury.
51 Klein, Storm LB SR Did his best, but simply didn't measure up to OSU's standards.
52 Carter, Chris DL FR Converted from OL to DL. He certainly has the size to play NT, but hasn't shown anything yet.
Comments
Reid Fragel at 23? Did you watch the Michigan State game?
~Because we couldn't go for three~
Where would you put him?
Given that Meyer called him our best lineman I would put him above Mewhort.
I'd trust Meyer more than me, sure. I'm just a fan; I watch the ball. Rankings are for entertainment value only.
I put Fragel below Mewhort because a) we seemed to be running left more than right all season, and b) Fragel nearly got Miller killed by letting Michigan pass rushers run free at least once (though that might be on Linsley or someone making the wrong pre-snap call, not Fragel).
From what I could tell, Mewhort didn't have a great game today either.
That is fair here is an upvote!
Thanks!
Braxton almost got Braxton hurt. He just simply does not read defenses well at this point. When the game begins to slow down for him lookout! He will then be Heisman worthy
The hit Miller took on the goaline was definitely his own fault. There were two guys running free; he simply should not have held on to the ball that long.
You also see Miller struggle with his zone reads. But I think he's a lot better at those than Pryor ever was. From what I could tell, it was always predetermined whether Pryor would hand off or keep it. Miller might get it wrong sometimes, but at least Meyer trusts him to try to make the right decision.
No doubt that Miller is already a smarter, more dependable zone read and running QB than Pryor ever was. But when I think back to the Pryor years, damn, I sure do miss some of those stiff arms straight to the face of some superstar DE, turning 10 yard losses into 25 yard gains. And also making some 6'4" 270 pound end look like a fool.
Zach Domicone was captain of the punt cover team, he absolutely deserves higher marks than that
I didn't know that. 33rd-ish?
Around there. You don't realize how valuable these guys are
I think Hyde should be higher.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
In my mind everybody in the top 5 was arguably OSU's best player. What's your top 5?
i think i would switch Shazier and Hyde on your list. Hyde performed well enough to warrant a high spot. I know I may catch some flak for the next statement but, I feel the early season slow start and lack of consistency warrants Shazier being a little bit lower and perhaps maybe even lower than #5 on list. but the list is for season long where consistency should be considered, now I may be slightly unfair here by associating the generally horrendous early season linebacking play of the unit as a whole with Shaziers game, or some of that lack of noticeable production could well be due to the high volume of quick pass spread teams we played in ooc games this year. yes i know the period of time with Sabino out likely hampered his playing style, but to me, we didn't really get the Shazier we all were salivating and expecting to see after coach Mick got hold of him until after the Boren move. that being said if he can produce early in season next year like he did after Boren switched this year we may really be in for something special. at that point i dare say we might have 2 heisman candidates, brax and shazier. hey if teo can get all this love why not shazier next year?
All the games of the season are just practices for that glorious saturday in November when we get to jack Shoelace's invisible cereal bowl and drink our fill of delicious skunkweasel tears ...Michigan Still Sucks!!
plus I'd rank Hyde higher simply for mocking Denard's cereal bowl antics, that's worth at least #3 on the list for that alone.
All the games of the season are just practices for that glorious saturday in November when we get to jack Shoelace's invisible cereal bowl and drink our fill of delicious skunkweasel tears ...Michigan Still Sucks!!
Yeah, that was great! Denard can cram it with walnuts.
I am not sure Hyde was mocking Denard. I think he was copying Denard. It would be funnier if he was mocking him but I have seen him do this several times in other games. Just my worthless 2C
I do wonder if the abuse Miller took this season started catching up with him down the stretch and that contributed to his fade. I also believe in the argument that the hit he took in the Purdue game changed the way he played the rest of the way. He had a great game throwing the ball today and that was the only thing that kept Michigan's defense honest and prevented them from completely shutting us down like Wisconsin did.
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
By the way I love your tagline. Sherman's my third favorite general, after Zhukov and Grant.
Good assessment on Howard Island. He may have seemed like a liability, but he had his moments through the season that the ESPN cameras won't show. Gonna miss having Howard lining up at CB.
"I like to kick Michigan's ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of gum."
Thanks! I'm going to miss Howard too. He got a lot of flak, but he gave everything he had. Hopefully Doran Grant can step up next year.
It's hard to see clearly through the OSU bubble, but I expect Howard to get drafted in about the fourth round and be a decent NFL pro. Am I crazy?
i think mid to late rounds sounds about right for Howard, think he might be just a bit too rough around the edges on some of his coverage skills to warrant a high round pick, but could easily see him getting picked up as a depth through development/possible nickel type early on to refine his craft.
All the games of the season are just practices for that glorious saturday in November when we get to jack Shoelace's invisible cereal bowl and drink our fill of delicious skunkweasel tears ...Michigan Still Sucks!!
Howard has some legitimate shoulder damage. He nursed that all year long. If you payed close attention to him you would see it in the way he delivered a tackle and the way he rose from the ground after delivering a blow. Anytime he hit someone straight up he had to go to the side line for a few plays. I'd take him in the sixth or have him try out as an undrafted. He had decent plays this year but he was no Roby. I don't know how he ranks compared to other comparable players at that position at the college level?
As for Stoneburner- He was definitely a tad overrated as you said. Also, he just doesn't fit in to this type of offense at WR. We need fast, agile wideouts like Devin Smith and Philly Brown. The main contribution Stonburner could have given was his blocking ability, but even most of our runs were between the tackles. A possession receiver like him just didn't get the right play calls.
A few games back Urban said there where a couple players that still "do not get it" and then mentioned they may be moving on. Wonder who those players are? Anyone with insight?
It might just be me, but I have not fallen in love with Bryant. On the positive side, he can lay some pretty tough hits. But he often misses tackles and has dropped countless int's. The one yesterday hit him in the face mask? That could have easily been a pick-six.