PHONE'S RINGING -- IT'S URBAN ON THE LINE
•Football Schedule•Basketball Schedule•Forum•About•Contactnot named Spielman, to take the field with OSU in the Gator Bowl, assuming this LB was in their OSU playing days shape, who would it be? OSU is a little thin at LB, so who's the best after Speilman? I think we can all agree Speilman was the best that ever was, in Scarlet and Grey.
I would take Andy Katzenmoyer
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A.J. No question.
A few LBs have better stats, but I'd take AJ Hawk. His intensity, instincts, and lateral movement were second to none. No one dared to run to his side. I have never seen a linebacker with a quicker 10-yard burst or sideline to sideline movement than Hawk. Andrew Sweat moves like a goddam turtle compared to Hawk. Obviously, Hawks lack of height as hurt him in the NFL, but the quickness and instincts are still there, and he's still a sure tackler. He's silently having a very productive career (averaging about 100 tackles per year), and with seven or eight more solid years of 100+ tackles, he may be one of the few people to warrant consideration for Canton without ever making a Pro Bowl.
This is a VERY hard question bcs AJ Hawk, Andy Katzenmoyer and Co. were the big dawgs in there own rights, but if i had to chose i guess it would be...
James Laurinaitis - The guy was just a baller & i loved to watch him play!
Id also take the lil animal. dude already calls the D on the field on sundays, really says something about him.
1. Katzenmoyer
2. Laurenitis
3. Hawk (my wife says #1)
4. Tovar (6 year early version of lavarr arrington)
5. Wilhem (when he broke the dynasty in 2003 BCS NC game was awesome)
Randy Gradishar was very good.
Dustin Fox was our leading tackler as a corner.... because his guy always caught the ball.
No love for Spielman I see. Too many youngsters on this site.
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
Katzenmoyer was the guy who impressed me the most, from seeing him myself. He was a force of nature. Thrilling, and scary, to watch.
Randy Gradishar and Tom Cousino next; they were both among the best in the Conference in their day. Truly great players. Gradishar, Cousino and Speilman all reminded me of similar position-players. Great athletes, that you imagine being great as point guards, or small forwards, or shortstops, or defensemen.
To me, AJ Hawk is a rank below the others, notwithstanding his success as an NFL player.
NC_Buckeye read the question again :)
I go with AJ Hawk. Dude was simply an amazing athlete with phenomenal instincts.
Marcus Marek was a mean SOB, doesn't get a lot of attention and doesn't care for the spotlight much. I can't remember him returning to OSU since he left.
katzenmoyer. how quickly we forget.
hgvyt54trtfvt56
All I have to say is, watch some videos. Everyone looks slow compared to Hawk.
Pepper Johnson
I can't really give a fair vote as I haven't seen all of them play, but hawk and laurinaitis were a blast to watch... Those guys made it fun to watch buckeye defenses....
O-H-I-O
Ike Kelley needs mentioned. He was a 2 time All-American and a tough SOB
Cie Grant for sealing the MNC in 02. No, in all seriousness, Laurinaitis cause hes got major swagg.
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog
Wilhelm for sure! Made play after play after play to help us win the NC! Hurt Dorse's shoulder! Dorsey's a puss but still!
"Anything less than flagrant is just playing grab ass!"
I'll never forget AJ chasing down Vince Young in the Texas game. His lateral speed was incredible considering his size. Big Kat (Ie- Corby Jones hit in the Mizzou Game) was the same mold but lacked AJ instincts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfkWuDTsicg
I have been known on occasion to howl at the moon. - Crash Davis
The big Kat , no Doubt
kvn
Nice nod for Pepper Johnson. He and Spiels were my childhood heroes. Who is our best cover LB? I remember Hawk, Animal, and others getting burned trying to cover TEs and RBs. Would piss me off to no end. Katz seemed to cause the most damage, but my memory could be off.
I'll even go with Katzenmoyer over Spiels.
"It's just another case of there you are". ~ Doc (1918-2012)
Of people I have seen play, it has to be the Big Kat. I like Laurenitis over Hawk. AJ is an athlete from hell, but his instincts are not better than Laurenitis. Katz is like a combo of them both.
Randy Gradishar - without a doubt. Possibly the best to ever play that position here, even if he did end up with the hated Broncos
Check out his stats if you don't recall him
Hawk.
"Did you push yourself to be great today? If you didn't do it you lost a day. We ain't got many days to lose. We're going to push your a$$ like its never been pushed because what you've got in you were going to find out" UFM
Hawk and lil animal were great, but Katzenmoyer was Amazing. To bad he wasn't around during the YouTube era. Be a lot more votes for him.
I've only been alive long enough to see Katzenmoyer, Lauranaitis, and Hawk play. I'd probably go with Cousineau, then Marek based off of stats. The best LB I've ever seen play at OSU is Lauranaitis.
Spielman. Then all others.
1986 Michigan game.
29 tackles. One game.
Against those Assholes.
OSU record for most tackles in a game.
Spielman. Then all others.
FUqU, e!spin!!
Spielman hands down, undersized and "slow" for the position. The guy never was injured, intensity, work ethic and love for TOSU was like other. I had the honor of meeting Chris after the 87(?) Cotton Bowl after we beat T A&M and he posed for a pic with me. He had like 14 tackles, 2 INTS and one for a TD.......the man was the epitomy of an OSU LB
Whoops. Thanks for the heads up 3Cent.
Even though the question says not to. First Speilman. Then Katzenmoyer but very close behind is Hawk. It might even be a tie between the two.
So when you think about the number and quality of LBs we produce, someone want to tell me why Penn State is considered "Linebacker University". Anyone?
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
The best I've seen since I started watching tOSU football is Marcus Marek. Easily.
GRADISHAR!!!!!
I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then.
The Gentleman who wore # 36 the one and only Chris Speilman!!!!!!
Sorry Correction SPIELMAN!!!!!!!!!
OP: If you could pick 1 LB from OSU history ... not named Spielman
NC_BUCKEYE: No love for Spielman I see. Too many youngsters on this site.
At least us youngsters can read! :) (and I'm not all that young honestly)
Aside from obvious #1 Spielman, here are my top rankings:
AJ Hawk
Katzenmoyer
Gradishar
Lauranaitis
GO BUCKS!
Katzenmoyer, hands down.
Or a "mini-Ditka".
1) Big Kat
2) Spiels
3) Hawk
4) Laurinaitis
Too young to have seen them play so I can't judge any of the other big names. Big Kat was ridiculous as far as size + speed combination. He was easily the hardest hitting linebacker I've ever seen at OSU.
Tom Cousineau needs some love here. I think Speilman had more heart than anyone, Katzenmoyer more talent but Tom Cousineau had everything you would ever want.
Thomas Michael Cousineau.
Trivia: Cousineau was drafted first overall in the 1979 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills, who acquired the pick from the San Francisco 49ers in a trade for O.J. Simpson.
As much as I loved A.J., gotta go with the Big Kat. Would've been a Pro-Bowler if not for the neck injuries.
Mike D'AndreaBig KatIf we were talking units however, it would be Hawk, Carpenter, and Schlegal
If Denard Robinson isn't careful with spooning all that food into his mouth, he's going to end up lookin' like Whoopi Goldberg
Heh he sd unit...
Yeah but Spiels, Johnson and Kumerow inspired me to play LB on my pee-wee league
Marek did what a LB is supposed to do better than anyone who has worn the scarlet and gray....make tackles.
vacuuming sucks
I'll take Hawk. I don't recal a guy being as dominant for 3 (parts of 4) full seasons at OSU. He took over nearly every game he played.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
You can't really pick one. That's how great the LBs have been over the years. I'd go Katzenmoyer, but it's like picking between 30 different brands of mint chocolate chip ice cream. You can't really go wrong.
Cousineau. Simply because he looked really good in a pair of leather pants that he used to wear to Marketing 750 (or something like that) class occasionally. Most guys look really bad in a pair of leather pants. He also had the attitiude to wear those pants. Now of course we are talking 1979 (ouch!), where it was possible to find such pants at your local mall's Chess King and Merry Go Round.
1973 Heisman voting
1st John Cappelletti, Penn State, RB, Sr. 1,057
2nd John Hicks, Ohio State, OT, Jr. 524
3rd Roosevelt Leaks, Texas, RB, Jr. 482
4th David Jaynes, Kansas, QB, Sr. 394
5th Archie Griffin, Ohio State, RB, So. 326
6th Randy Gradishar, Ohio State, LB, Sr. 282
7th Lucious Selmon, Oklahoma, NG, Sr. 250
8th Woody Green, Arizona State, RB, Sr. 247
9th Danny White, Arizona State, QB, Sr. 166
10th Kermit Johnson, UCLA, RB, Sr. 122
Andy KatzenMonster.
Keep Calm and Ignore the Trolls.