With the lack of talent/depth at LB, is it too far fetched to believe that Bryant is worth a look at linebacker? He is often a step behind in coverage, yet is a great run stopper and loves to hit. The secondary really wouldn't hurt from this move as Ohrian Johnson could slide to FS full time, Barnett at SS and Pittsburgh Brown playing while we are in STAR. Just an idea, but I'd like to see him used inside the box. Thoughts from the dub galllery??
PHONE'S RINGING -- IT'S URBAN ON THE LINE
•Football Schedule•Basketball Schedule•Forum•About•Contact
11W Poll
Buckshots
Buckshots Block
-
Fifty is Nifty
Happy Birthday, RichRod!
-
Oct. 19 Homecoming Game vs. Iowa Slated for 3:30 p.m.
Hawkeyes make first trip to Ohio Stadium since 2009.
-
Ray Small Apologizes to His Coaches, Teammates and Buckeye Nation
“My former teammates were the world to me and I treated them like they were nothing.”
-
Dante Booker: What This Means
How does the commitment of 2014 Ohio star Dante Booker impact Ohio State moving forward?
-
50 Twitter Accounts Every College Football Fan Should Follow
It must be Twitter list day around here. Also: humble-bragging.
-
The 8 Most Entertaining College Football Assistant Coaches on Twitter
#KINGOFTHEHASHTAG makes the cut.
Recent Blog Posts
- So... You've Encountered an Internet Troll
- My Interview with Al Borges
- Wrestling: A Look Back at the Career of 4-time NCAA Qualifier CJ Magrum
- 2013: The WR Rotation
- The Dontre Wilson Impact
- Better know a ... Mountaineer?
- Joey Bosa = perfect OOS recruit!
- Wrestling: Stieber defeats #1 Ranked wrestler in the world at Rumble on the Rails
- Response to Johnny's "There's so much money going around, well, mostly"
- My Worst Ohio State Football Experience Ever
Active in the Forum
- 2014 QB Brandon Harris Will Visit Columbus Next Week
- Michigan Takes Over at #1 in ESPN's Class of 2014 Rankings
- Deshaun Watson visited Auburn today
- Mike Mitchell Is A Freak
- A new name for Mark May
- Initial Top 247 for 2015 Out
- Buckeye military promotion!
- SuperTroll Mark May does not have OSU in his top 10
- First 9R 11W Award!
- God I HATE soccer.
- 2014 DE Harold Landry
- Bama's Key Departures More Significant Than They Appear
- Quick Bits (Memorial Day Weekend)
- Aint Nuthin but a Gee Thang - Snoop Lion's Kid is a top 100???
- Alabama Offers Kyle Berger
Want to say hello?
We love hearing from you! Whether you want to work with us, discuss advertising opportunities, or pass us a hot tip, you're more than welcome to drop us a line.
Too undisciplined IMHO.
vacuuming sucks
Bryant is too little to be a linebacker.
By the way... Whatever happened to Byant's HS teammate that Ohio State was recruiting heavily... I think his name was LaTawn Anderson?
I'll be honest: I was thinking the exact same thing. It would at least be worth trying, personally I'd also love to see him in at STAR.
I don't think his size would be an issue. He's hardnosed and has no trouble running through the ball carrier. Brian Rolle was shorter, albeit much heavier, but I don't see his weight as an issue when he's blowing up running backs once they've gotten past our linebackers. He lacks the speed to keep up with shiftier wideouts, but I don't think he would have trouble covering a RB coming out of the backfield...perhaps a size mismatch against a TE, but then we must rely on the coaches (ugh) to make those adjustments.
I like your thinking!
LBers we have now can't get off of opposition's OL blocks, to make a play near the line of scrimmage, what makes you think a 195lb safety would do better?
Bryant does well tackling from his safety spot, move him to linebacker, and he faces fullback lead blocks, OL and TE's cracking back.
This move results in more negative than positive. The secondary becomes weaker from Bryant moving. Johnson is clearly not as good as the two starting safties. Also Bryant would have a lot of trouble dealing with lineman blocks which would probably flatten him.
Speed and instincts can go a long way when it comes to getting to the ball carrier. Shouldn't our D line be able to stiffle the oppostion's OL? Maybe he would have trouble with a fullback lead blocking but I'd at least like to see how he would do. Most fullbacks will attack the Mike on dive plays, leaving enough time for Bryant to make the tackle. He's going to be faster than a TE. I agree that he is better in the secondary than Johnson but our secondary is much deeper than our LB corp. Is this switch actually going to happen? No, but it's an intriguing thought
Theres no way Bryant could play LB guys. Could you imagine him trying to shed 275lbs+ blockers coming through the hole?? Not gonna happen....
Anderson went to Miami to run track and play football. He never played football there and last I remember he was trying to get back into football in a lower division.
vacuuming sucks
a linebacker has to be able to read his keys.... center, guards then up through the QB, and end up with the running backs.... that will tell him where the play is going and what the play is (pass/run run inside/run outside). So Bryant is doing this as 6-3, 285 pound OL are running at him or 6-4, 245 pound TE's are crashing his side. Dude isn't strong enough to fight these things off to get into position, so once he reads his keys, he can attempt a tackle.
Linebackers also have to use leverage to close down holes. They have to be able to use their correct shoulder and push an OL a certain way to eliminate a potential hole/cutback gap in the defensive scheme, if the ball goes away from their area.
Who knows, I hate to doubt the kid, definitely hate to doubt him over a hypothetical, but dude isn't big enough. Fast gets you running around a blocker- the blocker has won. 85% of linebacking plays are made going through blocks.
Hell Shazier still gets pushed around a little so you know Bryant wouldnt stand a chance!
If Rod Smith got a look at LB last season, why is it so far fetched to think Bryant is at least worth a look? It's not going to happen, but I don't think its too outrageous of an idea for a look at least...totally hypothetical. I understand that he would have trouble getting through guys that outweigh him by almost a hundred pounds, but after all, isn't the STAR position technically a safety/LB hybrid? He's almost a LB at times, perhaps I'm just searching for anyone to step up for us at LB. Man do I miss the Hawk/Little Animal LB days...but just wait Buckeye faithful...there IS another...just a matter of time! Go Bucks!
Umm Rod Smith is alot BIGGER than Bryant. Probably outweighs Bryant by a good 40lbs. I just cant figure out what the hell is wrong with Curtis Grant! Is he really struggling that bad for a starting FB to take his spot!!! GEESH!!!
I've been waiting to see him slide over to SAM. Doesn't seem like he's getting the mental aspect of the MIKE position. Wasn;t he the #1 rated OLB in his class anyway?
Why play one of the 5 LBs we recruited when we can play FBs to play LB(sarcasm). This coaching staff is ridicous sometimes.
Follow me @jaythesportsguy
Move Bryant to LB? Then who fills Bryant's DB position? Makes far more sense to move Nathan Williams to MLB and have Spence start at DE.
Creative thought, but I would prefer to play the young guys we already have there. I respect Boren, but shouldn't the goal be to prepare for next year? Nathan Williams is a move similar to Boren, not really adding up long-term to me. I know Curtis Grant has struggled, but it would be good to see some of those freshmen get a shot to figure out a depth chart for next year.
You see in order to be a good linebacker, you have to be a sure tackler. Being that he almost always goes for the big hit and misses a lot of tackles....no thanks we already have enough troubles at linebacker
@Max yeah he was the sure thing cant miss #1 LB coming out of HS! Man he looks the part when he suits up but im not sure whats going on once he steps on the field. But I agree with you guys, start some of the younger players and lets see what they got. I mean it cant get any worse. Switching Bryant to LB would really make no sense at all considering we have players like Cam Williams, David Perkins, Jamal Marcus, & Josh Perry (injured) to fill the gap.
He over runs plays and takes bad angles at safety. There is even less room for those sorts of errors at LB.
He'd be the smallest LB in the country lol..he's 5'9" 185lbs.
No way.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
Bryant is actually one of my favorite players despite his inconsistencies, but he is barely 5'9 and does not wrap. He would be a very poor man's Ryan Shazier.
Two years ago our LB/LB/Star positions were:
That is as solid of a trio that we've had in the past decade. How quickly times have changed.
How firm they friendship...
Well I wouldn't say that that LB group was as good as Hawk/Carp/Schlegel but it was a good group.
I don't think it's an issue of being talented at LB; all our freshman have the talent and if 3 of 5 work out we'll be fine in a year or two. It's just they can't step in and play right now. I mean I'd be surprised if LBer isn't much improved next year with the raw talent the guys have and a year in the system.
I'm not as concerned since this season is going ok, and we should get to 10 games or so without any improvement in the D. They will have a long time to look at themselves on tape and improve next year, which is when it really counts again. Add in the fact that the O should be fine early next year, and they have about 10 more games to be solid before next years BIG schedule kicks in
Yes, we have a lot of young talent at LB, but how can Zach Boren learn the D in a week and start while the young guys can't seem to get it? I know some of the guys were hurt like Perry and Crowell. Did I also hear that Cam Williams was dinged up? I like Zach just fine, but I had a bad feeling when I first heard he would play LB. Yes, he's a tough guy, but he lacks the speed I prefer to see at the position. It was almost like having two Storm Kleins out there. Speaking of Storm, any word on his injury?
what about Adam Homan? He was pretty good in high school, and his brother Ross was a stud for us too.
Wow, this trying to find a LB is getting pathetic. He'll, ill go out there and play Mike.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
Let's just do away with the LB position. We'll play one (Shazier), play 6 dlinemen (Simon, Hankins, Bennet, Goebel, Spence, Williams), and 4 DB's. We'll completely abandon covering the 5th man out (2 CBs and 2 safeties will be on the first 4 guys), since we pretty much do that anyway. We'll bring the heat every play. If one of the DL or Shazier notices a guy running past them, they'll just light them up and knock them down. Hope we get to the QB before the QB can get it off. Sure we'll give up lots of huge plays, but the QB will be $hitting his pants by the middle of the second quarter after getting lit up EVERY TIME he throws the ball. Tell the DB's to completely sell out going for picks. At least we'll be the ones doing the attacking. I'm trying to decide how much I'm kidding. I think I'm like 60% joking, 40% serious. But I may be actually talking myself into it.
It'll at least be more fun to watch than our last couple of debacles.
On a more serious note, I think we will see a much better performance this week. Whether it's more discipline, a better/easier scheme, whatever. Meyer is probably just drilling this into them all week. Today's practice is going to be ugly for the d. Real ugly.
When told OSU set school record for 50+ games this year, UFM said "That's good. We're gonna break that next year."
Our LBers only get better next year with the freshman getting experience. No one coming in would start as a freshman, we have no transfers in the works. it really comes downt to guys "getting it." It is our only hope.
@OSUBIAS
That is a completely ridiculous suggestion and I am about 56.7% in favor of it anyway.
@CPLUNK, Ha, yeah that's sort of the progression I went through. It started out 100% sarcastic and then I slowly thought "well I mean it can't really be THAT much worse, right?" So I went with it.
When told OSU set school record for 50+ games this year, UFM said "That's good. We're gonna break that next year."
there is also the problem that Christian Bryant hits hard but he does not actually wrap up on his tackles. That would be even worse if he was at linebacker vs. how bad it is cureently with him at safety. Dont get me wronk I like CB a lot but if he would just wrap when he tackled or made a secure tackle vs a ig hit that the rb just bounced off our defense would be a little better. That also goes for a lot of starters on defense
I'd love to see Orian play safety and Bryant drop down to shadow denard during The Game.
I like the idea of moving Williams to LB and starting Noah Spence. I was at the game last week and the tackle couldn't stop him. The only thing that stopped him from racking up sacks was the quick throws IU was making.
being a full time linebacker inbetween the 20's wouldnt be a bad idea. That is where our biggest issue is. He would be replaced at LB inside the redzone. I think it would be better than having Boren in there to be honest for just Defensive IQ reasons,
We play nickel a lot. The Star/nickel position which is sort of a hybrid LB/DB seems to be a perfect fit for Bryant but our coaches must value him more at safety at the moment.
This thread is essentially a request to play with a dime package. I think it could work well against spread to pass teams but we would have to spend a lot of time practicing it with different responsibilities. Basically play lots of DBs but still have a 7 man box.
I am envisioning Bryant playing Star and blitzing from that position rather than dime. This would make him more like Tyrann Mathieu last year for LSU than a in the box all the time LB.
lol He is 5'9 175. No.
I'm still confused how Boren learned our playbook in 3 days and the other LBs have had 4-18 months to learn how to play line backer and our play book and still don't know it.
That's a very good question.
"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
Bryant is just out of position too often. He looks a step slow, and isn't taking proper angles to compensate for that. Not to mention he seems too obsessed with delivering that slobber knockin' hit instead of making a solid open field tackle. Orhian johnson isn't much better, but at least once he's burned he takes better angles to attempt to make a tackle downfield. I don't see moving him closer to the line fixing any of the issues. Its a technique issue, which should be correctable. Just takes coaching and drilling it into him to be in the right place, and keeping your head up, wrap your arms and drive through with your hips. Don't leave your feet to make a tackle. Keep them firmly planted.
I love how people instantly dismiss it because of his size without offering a scheme reason why.
^ read the first post and the one above yours.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
I read that post, that was a really good assesment- I obviously was not talking about LuckyNutz post.
People are going to comment on his size because that's an important part of being a LB..it's hard to get off blocks by huge O-lineman when you're 185lbs.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
I get that, but our issue isn't shedding blocks, its making tackles in space by our LB's. Our LB's are not matching up well with backs or their pickups of guys in motion. That would be the thing that Bryant could do. I know they are on completely different levels, but Charles Woodson was playing an OLB Sunday night against the Texans and he was pretty effective. Woodson has slowed a bit and the guys he was going up against were bigger and/or faster.
I see your point..and it could be effective poissbly but I really can't see Fickell making that move.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
I seem to remember people saying Rolle was too small too (5'10, 200 out of HS). I stood next to Rolle for a photo and know for sure his size was over rated in the roster.
Kevin
OH!!!!!
Proud parent of a Senior at The Ohio State University
Difference is Rolle played LB in H.S. and was brought here to play LB.. he was also thick and powerful..quite different from a corner/safety esque 185 lbs.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
@ Smithwessonbuckeye I have to disagree with you about the size issue. I rewatched the game last night on BTN and really only watched defense to see what the issues were. One is lbers being out of position way to often especially on running plays or short pass plays( screen plays). Perfect example was Houston's run for 50 or 60 yards whatever it was. Also a good example is Wynn's 70 some odd yard touchdown (where Christian Bryant got put of position by a blocker in the open field and couldn't get off to make a play and took a poor angle) . The run play was leverage play where the lbers all got blocked and didn't plug the hole or effect the runner changing direction in the hole. That is one of the biggest keys of being a lber. I played MLB in high school for four years and one of the biggest keys is influencing the line of scrimmage and disrupting blocks to affect the runner. What i mean by that is shedding blocks and if you cant make the play, influence it enough to to force the runner into another defender. Disruption is what defense is all about and we are just not doing right now. Christian Bryant taking on a pulling guard or a receiver on a crack back block on a screen will never work because he cannot gain proper leverage to get off the block and disrupt the play. Yah we miss tackles in space a lot to you are definitely right about that, but we are very piss poor right now at getting off blocks or at least taking on the block and disrupting the flow of the play from a lber standpoint. Plus he takes poor angles and that is key to being an lber as well.
I just find it hard to believe (after watcihing his film) that Jamal Marcus would do more harm than good seeing the field as a LB'er
Depressing....
Johnny11- good post. I think there is a little bit of truth in everything. Bryant would no be a good full time LB. Him getting mixed up with a guard pulling would be convenient for the Offense. If we could keep him out of those compromising positions we might not deal with the big plays as much- but as BuckeyeJason said, there is no way Fickell is going to do it.
what happens when a run play goes up the middle? The center/guard/tackle responsible for blocking the linebacker in their blocking scheme, runs as fast as he can towards the linebacker.... head-to head in a five yard (typically) box.
On an inside running play, the linebacker has to meet the blocker and either fight through the block or gain leverage with inside shoulder and push the blocker into the gap being fought over, essentially clogging up the hole/closing the gap.
If you think about it, this should end all thoughts of this move.
Still think it's feasible? What would he do on a fullback isolation? 2 players 10 yards apart running at each other at full speed. one is 240lbs and the other is 190. who wins?
The person who wins is the guy with the best leverage.
smithwessonBuckeye Stole my answer, the one who gets low usually wins.
Kevin
OH!!!!!
Proud parent of a Senior at The Ohio State University
I think there are too many people here who have played too much Madden and not enough organized full contact football.
wow-thank you for describing me completely. Between my physics classes and a combination of my exercise physiology classes and biomechanics I rely soley on a video game which I don't play to to make assesment on a game of which I am merely a fan of and not a student.
I think this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IO2njN3Rww helps prove my point. Boom Herron -190lbs vs. Taylor Mays 230+ lbs.
so you think the Baltimore Ravens should move Ed Reed to LB to fill in for Ray Lewis?
Not a bad idea. He can go ahead and take a horrible angle closer to the line of scrimmage. Why not miss the tackle early on as opposed to late in the play?