I looked at last years WR depth chart, and OSU didn't have a WR taller than 6'2" (E. Spencer, M. Thomas). None of the incoming athletes are that tall either. The focus seems to be on blazing speed/agility and YAC.
Are any of the current TE's able to move outside to be the Calvin Johnson type of player that can be the red zone threat for a jump ball? Are there any good prospects left with height and speed that could fit the bill? I'm thinking of the type of player who fits the 6' 4", 200 lb., sub-4.50 mold. The NFL is abundant with these types of elite WR's (Megatron @ 6'-5", Marquis Colston @ 6'-4", Julio Jones @ 6'-3", A.J. Green @ 6'-4", Brandon Marshall @ 6'-4", etc.)
My thought is that Braxton would benefit from a go-to guy in short yardage and red-zone areas where he could put the ball up in a one-on-one situation against a smaller safety or DB and be successful.
Your thoughts?
I've wondered the same thing many times. Seems like we miss out on a lot of those types. (Green-Beckham, Julio Jones, etc.) The more I think about it though, I think in the end though we don't need bigger players, or we don't need faster players. We need those recruits that are both....big and fast. That's what Alabama has, and thats what Urban and the best staff in college football are trying to bring to Columbus.
It'd be nice, but what Ohio State needs is for the WRs they already have to start being more consistent.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
I'll take speed over height any day of the week.Speed kills and can't be taught.Spencer has some hops.Believe we will get some taller guys in 2014 class.But bottom line,if they can't catch on a consistent basis,doesn't really matter if they're 6'4,6'5 or a burner.We had a lot of dropped balls,that were drive killers this past season.
SCOTTC.
I've been saying that we could run our offense with all guys 6 feet and shorter as long as they are 4.4 guys. I don't think the size matters. We don't really need a guy who "can go up and get it" because we don't really throw the ball down the field that much. I'm pretty sure Urban knows what he is doing.
I agree that dropped balls were an issue this year. As spectacular as some of the grabs were that Devin had, there were those that could/should have been hauled in for TD's. And it wasn't limited to Devin.
I'm just thinking that there are a lot of fast DB's out there that run sub 4.40. Not many DB's are more than 6'-0". A receiver who is 6'-4" is the equivalent of a forward going up against a PG in the low post in basketball ...
Don't you think Urban could exploit this size difference as well in the blocking game for outside runs?
Do we NEED it? Not necessarily. A 4.3 speed WR with route/ball skills is the target. IF you can get one of those with 6'3" height then you just added an additionional physical attribute that makes hte WR that much better. That is why a Julio Jones, Calvin Johnson, etc. are SOOOO amazing. You want a guy that has it all, because that puts your talent on another level. You want to complete for NC's, you need to get those special talents. Can you win without it, yes.
Though Jerry Rice was 6'2", he "only" ran a 4.6 or 4.7. What made him so great was his best-ever fluidity, technique, hands and great conditioning.
If we had someone 5'11" with similar traits, he'd be All-American if we threw him the ball enough.
Like STEENSN said, all things equal, taller is better, so we do offer taller guys who are great athletes. But we can still win national championships without very tall receivers if they have enough of the other traits (speed, technique, hands, etc).