Just the nature of the beast this time of year, but I just wanted to revisit the class that was signed last season with a little commentary. Most likely these are players that will actually see the field in 2013 as opposed to the new signees who are less likely to contribute much.
Warren Ball - buried on depth chart, look forward to seeing what he can do in the Spring
De'van Bogard - recovering from knee surgery I believe, probably won't be able to contribute much next season
Jacoby Boren - will push Linsley
Taylor Decker - starter
Kyle Dodson - missed season with shoulder injury/recovery, expect him to be a back-up
Bri'onte Dunn - will play some early in the season, can't expect to see much of him come conference play unless there are injuries
Pat Elflein - expect him to be a back-up
Frank Epitropoulos - could be the punter, special teamer otherwise
Cardale Jones - might find himself as the 4th string QB by season's end
Jamal Marcus - special teams contributor
Najee Murray - recovering from knee surgery, special teamer
Joey O'Connor - gone
David Perkins - special teamer, maybe on 2 deep at LB
Josh Perry - will push to start at LB
Se'von Pittman - special teamer, back up
Tyvis Powell - special teamer at most
Armani Reeves - special teamer, could see the field in 5 DB defenses
Luke Roberts - special teamer
Tommy Schutt - starter on DLine
Ricquan Southward - gone
Noah Spence - starter on DLine
Blake Thomas - special teamer
Michael Thomas - will push to start, on field in 4-5 receiver sets
Adolphus Washington - starter on DLine
Camren Williams - will push to start at LB, special teamer
So from that breakdown it looks like:
All in all, not a bad haul when you figure that 40% are starting or pushing to start, and many are likely to be key contributors on special teams.
Interesting. Thanks for throwing this together.
"Because the rules won't let you go for three." - Woody Hayes
THE Ohio State University
My pleasure.
vacuuming sucks
I wonder if Ball will stick around after next season? I realize that Hyde and Hall leave, but Smith will get looks as will Dunn and Eze. I hope Ball stays, but i just don't see that happening, especially seeing the list of 2014 and 2015 RB's who have OSU high on their list
^ This is a wonderful problem to have. I hope he stays too.
Keep Calm and Ignore the Trolls.
Alabama proves every year, you can't have too many good RB's.
Wasn't Ball the first to lose his black stripe last year? I hope he earns some play time this year
Wherever you are, there you be!
No it was Bogard if I'm not mistaken.
Outside of the 4-5 WR sets, Michael Thomas also gets a lot of love from Herman & Co. in short yardage & red zone sets featuring 1 WR. He must have separated himself as the strongest blocker among the current WR group.
Keep Calm and Ignore the Trolls.
I am excited to see what Cam Williams can do.
vacuuming sucks
I'm excited to see what Michael Thomas will do. Also, I remember seeing Reeves around the ball a lot on special teams play before his injury. Aside from the starters, these are the two that stood out for me this past season.
I would also like to make a note of the recruits who committed after Urban took the job on Nov 28, 2011.
Sevon Pittman: 12/12/11 (flip from MSU)
Tommy Schutt: 12/12/11 (flip from PSU)
Noah Spence: 12/18/11 (was a PSU lean)
Taylor Decker: 1/15/12 (flip from ND)
Joey O'Connor: 1/17/12 (flip from PSU)
David Perkins: 1/18/12
Cam Williams: 1/20/12 (flip from PSU)
Armani Reeves: 1/28/12 (flip from PSU)
Kyle Dodson: 2/1/12 (flip from Wisc)
Jamal Marcus: 2/1/12
That's 10 recruits, 8 of which were flips from other schools!
That really puts things in perspecitve.
vacuuming sucks
All respect, that PSU situation was once in a lifetime.
True, but the fact that so many of them opted to play for the good guys, rather than going to an SEC or PAC-12 school, says a lot about The Closer and what he meant to the reboot of the program here.
I remember everyone raving about Armani Reeves, but now some are saying Eli Apple might be better than him. Crazy.
Wasn't it Perkins who supposedly ran a 4.3/40? I know Perry played some last year, but it looks like perhaps he might be the only one of the FIVE LB's from last year to see significant time this season.
RB is crazy...Hyde, Dunn (5 star), EZE, etc. #BuckeyeNationProbz (as the staff likes to say...I know, it's not Twitter so you don't have to yell at me)
Everyone seems to have forgotten about Reeves, but that's more of a case of shiny toy syndrome than an indictment of Reeves's talent.
Also, apparently Perkins has beefed up to 233 lbs from offseason workouts. He's going to be a stud IMO.
I wouldn't cheer for Michigan if they were playing the Taliban.
Perhaps I missed it. Where did Joey O'Connor go? Is he sitting a year and playing somewhere or is he done with football?
"Because the rules won't let you go for three." - Woody Hayes
THE Ohio State University
Transferring to Colorado State
He got homesick and moved back to Colorado
Rehabbing knee that went through microfracture surgery during Summer camp (same surgery as Nathan Williams and Greg Odom had). Is transferring to Colorado State. BTW, microfracture surgery is a total sonofagun to rehab from- and there is no guarantee that the knee will come back 100%.
I've seen him quite a few times on campus already this semester, and he still appears to walk with a bit of a limp at times, much like Nathan Williams did on the field for much of the season. Williams had the advantage of getting into the system, playing, and learning the game at a college level before he went down with the injury, but O'Connor's injury basically guaranteed that he had little to no chance in an environment like this.
I don't know much about his proximity to the Colorado schools, or his ties to any given school, but I wonder why he didn't want to go to UC-Boulder. It's a program that he could play for because they're in a real rough place. He could help them rebuild, be a leader, and have the added bonus of going to a solid school in what is arguably one of the most beautiful towns in the country.
Tyvus Powell might be my favorite Buckeye of all time....when all was crumbling around us back in the spring of 2011, this young man not only held true to his commitment but embodied everything that we would want a football Buckeye to be. I think we sell him short, he might not have the star rating of the other, but I think he has the most desire of all of them.
I definitely think Jamal Marcus will see the field a decent amount this season. Towards the end of the year last year he found himself out there on defense every once in a while.
Favorite Buckeye: Obviously BJ Mullens
i wish we could start a massive uprising to push to see more jamal marcus, i still believe once he gets his mental game where it needs to be hed be a maniac
In particular, i'd like to see spence and washington have big years.
Didn't Adolphus Washington pack on like 50 lbs in less than a year?
I'd say it was more so an undersestimation of how big he was his senior year of high school. He put on some lbs. during his senior year and came into OSU a lot bigger than he was as a junior. I think this is what prompted OSU to play him at DT/SDE. He probably put on 50 lbs. in two years time (senior year of HS and freshman year at OSU).
that makes sense. I was just reading up on it a little and was talking about his genetics kicking in late and going from 245 to 289. He doesn't "look" like a DT. Especially comparing to Hankins haha.
Najee Murray was making some noise before he was hurt. Hope he recovers fully and picks up where he left off.
Is the thought not to redshirt qb JTB? I know he's rehabbing the knee but I guess I assumed he'd likely sit out next season.
But even if he doesn't, Cardale won't be so easy to overtake on the depth chart.
Adolphus reminds me of those athletic dline guys Urban had eating Troy alive in 2006. And that is a very good thing to have on our dline now.
Just a couple critiques of your projections:
1.) I'm not so sure Boren will be 'pushing' Linsey. Linsley is a returning starter coming off of a good year, I think boren is more his replacement in waiting
2.) The RB and LB positions are tough to predict given how many players there are. I don't know that we can confidently predict yet the Brionte won't play much or which linebackers will get on the field
otherwise, thanks for putting this out there. It's interesting to see that the late additions Urban made are most of the guys challenging for playing time
Actually Linsley struggled near the end of the year. Probably don't remember but there were a lot of high snaps to Braxton. Boren, before getting a small injury I can't remember, was pushing so much that he leaped over the other center "future starter" and actually was pushing Linsley. Boren supposedly is really good and could concievably replace Linsley. It isn't that hard to imagine.
With so many possibilities at RB and LB, I agree, hard to say who will do what.
Linsley had a nasty high ankle sprain that affected his snap- I think Ross (or I may have read it elsewhere, I know, blasphemy) said that he was rushing his snaps because he was having problems/concerned about setting up against defenders due to the unstable ankle, or something like that. Gah, basically injury related, not due to anything else. Urban said that Linsley was one of the most improved players on the team. Anyone who has had/had a kid with a high ankle sprain knows how difficult it can be to heal, as the remedy is to rest it completely. That sure as heck isn't going to happen during the season.
Great job, Maestro.
Your projections for the 2012 class seem to all error on the side of caution, though. Maybe that's why some analysts will use high side and low side projections. Most of yours seem spot on to me, because they seem most likely to happen, but some kids will defy expectations. Indeed, the Buckeyes will need several of the kids listed above to jump ahead of their curves if the season is going to be a success.
For example, if the Buckeyes only get 0.5 starting LBs from the 2012 LBs, which is basically what you're projecting (with Josh Perry pushing for a starting role and all the other 2012 LBs being backups and/or special teams players), the Buckeyes might have a hard time fielding three backers (when they're not in nickel).
Are you assuming that the "light will go on" for Curtis Grant? I sure hope so, but I'm not sure that I'd place his odds as much better than Cam Williams.
Good stuff, all the same.
if curtis grant isnt starting this year, can never talk about him again? itll just be a bad combination of sad and annoying
But all these 2013 guys are going to play right away! This years class is overall better than 2012 I'd say, but some of the positions we got studs in we are currently set at the position. Vonn Bell for example, is an absolute beast, but Bryant and Barnett have been playing for years and he may not see as many plays unless he's the nickel. Can say the same for Bosa, depending on if he's a DT or a DE I guess. JT will not be playing this year, and he's a stud, but hes at best 4th string right now. RBs we are so DEEP so who knows how much EZE touches the ball
Just things to think about
awesome forum with quality posts-too bad some of these recruits will get buried on depth charts.But what i like with Urb is the best will play.And what that means to all the players is you have an opportunity to play.alot of these guys have looked good on the K and P coverage units(marcus,perkins,reeves,powell,perkins,williams)and got to see the field on spot play that aside,you can see most of the spot filling was on D side as opposed to dunn seeing field on O side.D really needed help that year. what recruits tend to see when visiting or following on tv is that with urb there is opportunity.a loota time in off season for guys to improve,watch film,lift and run.i hate to do depth charts and try to figure out who ends up where as i'm not around to see day to day improvements,but i do trust the coaching staff to field the absolute best. this is a culture of competion which the best will suceed,and with competition everyone gets better,even the back-ups.
knucklehead
Note that most of the early contributors were late commits reeled in by Urbz.
I actually think one of Jamal Marcus, Josh Perry and Cam Williams will be starting at the beginning of this year. At the end, who knows, but I really see Jamal Marcus getting the nod. I think Perry and Williams are the stronger possibilities but everything that we saw on special teams with Marcus and all the talk that has been going around about Marcus tells me that he could be a breakout player this year.
David Perkins will be a valuable contributor but I don't see him as starting material, at least as of yet. Lightning fast and skilled but will already be equal to or behind Mike Mitchell, equally as fast and more polished, from the beginning. I don't see him as a transfer or anything like that but I do see him as a special teams guy. He will make his mark there for the next couple of years.
Washington is the guy I am most excited about. Spence is awesome but Washington is a man-child that IMO can become like Jadeveon Clowney but more from the inside. He is a matchup nightmare and will bullrush the opposing offense so hard that OSU's outside pass rushers are going to love him. I really see him helping guys like Spence, Marcus, Bosa and Sprinkle make plays. Much like Hankins did last year. Hankins just didn't get enough credit IMO either.
Reeves and Powell will not be buried in the depth chart. I think those 2 are underestimated. Reeves will battle Doran Grant and Eli Apple for that opposite CB spot, trust me. We will hear great things about that battle. Powell is so long and lanky with some great skill as a safety that I would find it hard for him not to see some PT. He was another guy who was coming on a bit but then had a slight injury and once conference play happened, didn't see much of the field.
I totally agree with this post, can't forget about these 2012 players. There is more to that class than just the defensive linemen. I can easily see a dozen of them contributing a lot this year. In fact, I think this team is going to be so dominating, many different players will get some PT and it will be harmony in the club house. There are some strong leaders, tons of talent, Urban speed now. I really have big ideas this year! Can't wait!
I think Perry and Marcus get significant time. If Marcus becomes more technically versed (because we already know he's a monster), I think this is the first year that we truly see the addition of the Viper position. Nathan Williams wasn't quite athletic enough to play the role of the LB that moves forward to put a hand on the ground, so he played the LEO, which is basically the opposite. They're similar positions, but i think the LB corps should be significantly supplemented by the addition of a guy (and another in the wings in Tyquan Lewis) would can play LB, but also cover enough ground to pressure at the line. It really takes some pressure off the OLBs on the Viper side.
I'd like to see Perry pick up the MLB position, and if he can't, we can hope that Cam Williams, who has been being groomed for the middle, can pick up the slack. I think Perry could be great on the inside or the outside, while I see Perkins strictly as an outside backer, and Williams on the inside. I believe Perkins will make strides this year. Looking at his HS tapes, he was a lot like Mike Mitchell and that he just blasted in the backfield a lot, so it would make sense that he need a year or so to pick up the vision and mental aspects of the game. In an ideal world, Curtin Grant would come out as a All-B1G MLB, and let Shazier and (presumably) Perry dominate the outsided with Marcus in the viper packages.
Love the post, great reminder of what happens when guys actually switch from playing against high school kids to playing against guys in their early twenties. I have to disagree about Cardale though. I think that he is Braxton's backup next season, and will see the field this season.
may be what coaches ahve been telling him as well, seeing as he hasnt transfered yet