Very interesting story right here from the Dallas Morning News: http://highschoolsportsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/02/ohio-states-urban-mey...
I think the article shows a bunch of insight on this team. One, clearly Urban thinks he has found his "Percy Harvin" for this team. Two, most interestingly, he didn't show him any Ohio State film when talking about the type of plays he would run. That means this team is about to make another offensive evolution this year. I think it's safe to say the offense this year will look quite different, more explosive, from last year. I can't wait to find out.
Dontre Wilson is the next Dontre Wilson. He will play the same position as Harvin, but he's his own guy. I personally hope he makes us forget who Percy Harvin is.
I think when people refer to Percy Harvin, they are more referring to the role and the success he had, than the actual person.
I would prefer us saying the Ted Ginn role on offense....We ain't Florida and we have just as good speedy talent in our history as well. JS
Ugh, the only similarity between their two play styles in college was their speed...
Ginn had some spread plays in his highlights. Like that play against Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl I think. Then I remember Musburger saying "Option to Ginn" & he most likely took that all the way. Ginn is my favorite & I just wish he had a chance to play now with Urban, he'd win a Heisman, I really think he would. I've been watching his high school film trying to see what his speed was all about back in those days, he was still fast but he got much faster in college. That's the exciting part for me, how much faster will Jalin Marshall, James Clark, & Dontre Wilson get in college? Percy Harvin, Chris Rainey, & Jeff Demps were all 4.3 40 guys who ran track. Jeff Demps was my favorite college player for a year or 2, when I realized he was Urbans boy, I was excited to think that I'm probably gonna have allot of favorites in the next few years, & all of em will play for us.
It's 5 o'clock somewhere, & Michigan still sucks
Do you remember watching Harvin playing at UF? TG was awesome, but they played different positions in different offenses.
One of the most annoying comparisons people make IMO is Harvin to Demps, Rainey and any of the current bucks players. Demps and Rainey were really good, Harvin was a whole different level. Dontre Wilson may be great but he needs to play big in order to warrant comparisons to Harvin.
Harvin played just as fast or faster than the other two but he played much BIGGER. While he was only 15-20 pounds bigger than Demps and Rainey he played like a running back who could also line up at receiver. He could run up the middle but also go deep and most importantly he could break it on any play.
IMO Harvin was one of the top players of an era, Demps and Rainey were "just" really good. In the entire 2000-2010 era I'm not sure I could name a player I would rather have in my backfield. I'm sure there are some that are equal, but in college I would take Harvin. Bush, Peterson and McFarrland are the ones that come to mind as versatile guys who could break it on any play. I don't watch the NFL and I understand their pro careers turned out differently but in college Harvin was an absolute stud.
watching Harvin highlights on youtube can only make you smile with the potential of Wilson and Marshall doing that to defenses...develop these guys well Urban.
I HATE when people keep bringing up who will play the "Percy Harvin" role for us. I hate Percy Harvin and I hate the Florida gators and I never want to be compared to him. Dontre Wilson will play the Dontre Wilson role. I'm just sick of hearing about his role and Florida.
So you never want to be compared to a one of the best players of the 2000's who also happened to be a National Champion.
Being compared to him / them doesn't diminish tOSU. It's a pretty logical comparison because A- we played them and B - we have thier coach.
Good comments, as usual, CC.
The article didn't say that Urbz asked Wilson to be his next Percy Harvin, just that they zeroed in on Harvin highlights to discuss Wilson's possible offensive roles.
Obviously, I wasn't in the film room with Urbz and Wilson, but I'm guessing that the idea was to show Wilson - almost half-generically - the types of plays that can be made in an Urbz offense by a gifted playmaker who is superbly elusive in space.
Who else was Urbz gonna show to illustrate that point?
I completely agree. We don't talk about someone playing the Joe Haden role, or Maurkice Pouncey role. Both of which played on Florida NC teams.
Well that's because Urban Meyer essentially invented the "Percy Harvin" role. While spread offenses were around, nobody used the Slot WR/RB position better than Urban at Florida, and frankly nobody has ever succeeded at that position better than Percy. For Joe Haden its just CB, but the Harvin role doesn't really have a specific position, so people just call it the Percy Harvin role because he was the best player to play that position
Sorry Urban, Woody is still my favorite
One thing I found interesting from Drayton's PC yesterday was that Wilson will be primarily coached by Meyer. He'll go to both Daryton and Smith's meetings, and on the practice field Meyer will be his position coach. I think we can expect big things from Mr Wilson.
I missed that, but that's great info. Is there a link to that PC?
Also, do we know of other players that are primarily coached by Meyer?
I would try youtube for the presser from signing day.
Meyer works with special teams guys, kickers, punters, etc.
I was aware of the special teams part, but there is something exciting about him working directly with a player in this role.
http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/signingday/index2013.html
All the PC's are linked here.
Thank you, sir!
In all seriousness, and not necessarily wanting/intending to continue using the "cliche" comparison for Urban Meyer recruits, I think there are several guys in this class who could turn into a Percy Harvin type of player.
Urban Meyer is obviously looking for that versatile player who can split out to catch passes, line up in the backfield, take jet sweep handoffs, etc. while having the speed to beat people on the edge, but also the body type and capability to run in the trenches. Wilson could be that guy (though he is a bit slight), but Marshall and Elliott have similar skillsets with bodies better served to take the pounding, and similar speed.
The wonderful thing is he is picking up so many skilled guys that at the very least one of them is bound to be a stud player, let alone the possibility of all three.
This team and offense has much more diversity now with these players on the roster, along with the return of Jordan Hall.
"What we do in life echoes in eternity"
I thought Jordan Hall was the next Percy Harvin?
I thought Corey Brown was te next Percy Harvin?
I thought Jalin Marshall was the next Percy Harvin?
I thought Ezekiel Elliot was the next Percy Harvin?
Now Wilson is the next Percy Harvin? I'm confused.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
Percy Harvin will always be Percy Harvin.
We have Wilson, Marshall, and EZE. They could fill similar roles as Harvin, Demps, and Rainey for us though.
I never said anything about Brown, Hall, or Elliott the next Percy Harvin.
I did think that Hall would play the ROLE
I also thought Marshall was going to play the ROLE, but now I see him on the outside.
I now think that Wilson will play the ROLE, not actually be Harvin. Harvin was special and we will see if Wilson can live up to him.
The kid had 37 rushing TDs and 9 passing TDs as a senior in HS!! EzE had 40 rushing TDs in his senior season. Two players, 86 TDs combined in one season. Then you move on to the rest of the playmakers in the class and GOOD LORD!!
Now we only need to find a Tim Tebow!
Nah, remember, Urban said Tebow was Simonish. We need the next Simon. (Mitchell?)
You can kill a fly with your slipper or a cannon. Either way, the fly dies. -Ramzy
Joey Bosa, same work ethic in a way. Man among boys on the field physique wise, non stop motor, got up early to be the first to fax his NLOI, & he's just plain out mean on the field.
It's 5 o'clock somewhere, & Michigan still sucks
I agree and I hope you're right. I'm really excited about having him. I chuckle to myself when I see him listed as the 5-10 best player in this class. Scary.
It will be a long while before people quit using the Florida Gators and Percy Harvin comparisons. I think our current coach had a little success there or something.
I think we need to come up with a name for that position so that we don't need to use names. When Eli committed no one said he would fill the Shawn Springs or Antoine Winfield role, they said he would be another great cornerback at OSU. Let's find a name for that position because "Slot Receiver" doesn't seem to be sufficient. How about "Slot Back" which takes care of both the running and receiving roles?
In the future, he will be recruiting players to try and fill the "Braxton Miller" position. Good luck with that.
This offense is different than down in UF! The "Harvin" role is obsolete. The "Elliott" role will become the new story!
I assure you that the "Harvin" role is not obsolete. We didn't have it last year because we had no one who could run it effectively. That is why Urban recruited 3 guys who could potentially fill it (Wilson, Clark, Marshall).
We couldn't move the ball very effectively against Wisconsin this year because our ability to make explosive plays relied solely upon Braxton. When defenses have to fear both Braxton and a slot receiver taking it all the way on any given play, then our offense will be closer to what Urban wants.
Urban just happens to be a great coach who adapts what he has in order to use it as effectively as possible. That doesn't mean he's not going to recruit towards the offense he wants down the road.
The offense is different. Different OC, different players. The role that Harvin played is obsolete because unlike what UF had, this offense actually has good true running backs. Marshall, Wilson and/or Elliott will not be asked to run the ball like Harvin did because of Hyde, Smith and Dunn. It is quite different than down in Florida.
I'm not saying the slot back position is not going to be in this offense, I am saying what Harvin did down at UF will not be duplicated in this offense because there are different players at other positions that will dictate a different need. Braxton is not Tebow and Marshall, Wilson or Elliott will not be asked to do what Harvin did.
Couldn't move the ball against Wisconsin because Braxton was being hesitent after the Purdue game. Urban even talked about it. It had nothing to do with needing a slot receiver (which Corey Brown actually was BTW). If anything, during the Wisconsin game the offense could have used more speed which Wilson, Marshall and Elliott will provide, but not a specific role made famous by Harvin.
Harvin was a special player who played a various amount of different roles because of the actual limitations that Tebow had. He was asked and needed to do more than what a typical slot back or receiver would be asked to do. It won't be necessary at OSU, hence why it is obsolete! I am not saying any of these kids couldn't do it, I'm just saying it won't be required anymore.
We may have a different OC, but both Herman and Urban lamented our inability to stretch the field horizontally and vertically with speed this past season. Devin Smith started to show as a deep threat, then disappeared as apparently defenses realized that if they didn't let him beat them on the fade then he wasn't a huge threat. (Note that he looked better against Michigan, catching that deep post and getting a few first downs on shorter passes).
You are probably right that whoever plays in the slot for us won't get as many carries as Harvin did. (I'm pretty sure Urban calls this position the "H-back" (H for hybrid I think), but that's confusing because most people call the TE/FB Hybrid (ie. Hernandez) an "H-back"). But Urban's goal is to get his best playmakers the ball in any way he can. This year obviously Braxton was our best playmaker. His best play? The very same Counter play that Harvin scored a ridiculous number of TDs with, simply adapted for the QB to carry the ball.
Just because we don't "need" the H-back to have 12 carries a game doesn't mean that the position is "obsolete" though. Giving that position 1 or 2 jet sweeps, plus another 4 or 5 fake jet sweeps, plus bringing Wilson or whoever back in motion to take the carry horizontally on the Inverted Veer (Hyde did his best but horizontal running is not his strength), plus a couple of screens per game? Yes please.
It is good for us that we do not need to rely on one of these freshmen coming in and carrying our offense. I would be shocked if by mid season we aren't seeing one or more of them getting a couple of touches per game, or at the very least being used as decoys to open up holes in the running game for Braxton and Hyde. Teams were able to load the box and spy our running game late in the season and force us to try and beat them through the air. Having these freshmen develop and give us speed to stretch the defense horizontally as well as vertically will complement our offense beautifully, which I don't see as obsolete at all.
As much as I hate that reference as a position for OSU's new offense...it will be Brown and Hall this year with Jalin, EzE and Wilson seeing time here and there and for sure in the future (as in 2014). Everyone saying these 2013 recruits will automatically be playing against Buffalo is silly. Unless those 2013 guys come out like gang busters....Brown and Hall, barring any injuries, will be the starters at that H-Back/slot WR (please stop the Percy Harvin name for the position...I can't stand it anymore).
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
How about we just get fast WRs to play wideout and fast RBs to play running back? Percy Harvin was forced into that role because they didn't have any other RBs that were dynamic or ready enough to play it. (Rainey was a RS Frosh in '08 and their other RBs were pretty forgetable)
Not to mention Tebow was seriously limited with his throwing. Harvin was asked to do so much more because of the lack of running backs and a true passing game. It was really amazing how good that offense was with so many obvious flaws.
Elliot, Marshall, Wilson, Smith, and Clark are all going to chance to get serious playing time as RB/WR flex player. I'll bet one of them stands out fast.
True...true...but they won't be starters. That was my view on it...Urban will get these guys touches...that I have no doubt in what-so-ever;-)
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
Not arguing, but simply wondering your logic that Hall/Brown will fill this role as opposed to a frosh. Hall was talked up by Meyer last year as the only player that could do it, but now that may not be the case, as he's added his own recruits in Marshall, Clark, Wilson, Elliott, etc.
It also may just be me, but I feel that Philly is more of a possession guy than what we're looking for in this particular position.
I don't think the term starter is as important with this offense because a lot more players are going to be getting the ball. If one of these guys can bring it as a freshman, you have to let them get a few touches a game somehow.
Conroy - good point. By throwing four potential dyanamic playmakers at this hole in the offense (the "slot" position), the staff has greatly improved their odds that at least one of the them will explode on the scene.
Obviously the staff did not miss out on OL this cycle on purpose, but we could argue - after the fact - that this class sets up very well for 2013, although 2014 is perhaps another matter (with four OLmen leaving).
The idea is designing creative ways to get your best player (s) the football with space to operate\run. Ohio State's entire offense is predicated largely on that principle. So whether its getting Miller into the second level of defenses, hitting Philly in the flat with no one around him, running jet sweeps to Eze, using Hyde as a way to set up play action to Dontre, whatever the case is. Anyone who touches the ball for OSU is doing it with the design that he is going to be in space or get to space so he can turn something small into something big. Sorta lazy to coin one spot\person "The Harvin" role, no?
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
This^^^ thank you Brew. They will all be used in a capacity that will allow them to be in open space and make big plays. Couldn't have said it better myself;-) Especially this...
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
Every time I hear somebody say so and so will play "the Percy Harvin role", I feel like we're talking about actors in some cheesy high school musical.
The question is: Do recruits feel that way when UFM is in their kitchen talking about it?
The kids Urban is recruiting now are the kids that watched Percy Harvin shred defenses at UF... In 4-5 years Urban could be saying the "Jalin Marshall Role" or the "Dontre Wilson Role". He has to use whatever recruiting pitch helps him. I don't care what they call it. Urban got 3 guys who can fit that role this year. Maybe even James Clark if they don't want to put him out wide.
Wouldn't you know it? The "Bellisari" role is one of the toughest to cast in that musical. The person has to be both immensely talented and capable of executing feats of mind boggling stupidity in the same scene.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
I'm not sure what the coaches are thinking but if you look at all of our current commits, the only one I see who has the inside/outside ability, speed and freakish elusiveness is Jalin Marshall. They are almost exactly the same size and have similar moves. I just hope Jalin can catch like PH. EZE seems more like a straight running back.
The rest seem to be receivers. I just watched Clark's film for the first time, man he looks just like Ted Ginn when he breaks away. We haven't had a guy at OSU since Ted Ginn who you knew was gone as soon as he was in the open field. I can't want to get that back!
Have you watched Dontre Wilson' senior film? It's very impressive. He played RB in HS but caught a lot of passes out of the backfield and in the slot. He's already got the experience at being a RB/WR hybrid and man his film is impressive against the top talent in Texas HS football.
I hadn't until you said that. He reminds me a lot of LaMichael James. Big enough but can play anywhere on the field. Wilson seems to have gotten the ball in every way possible and it looked like he was playing against big time competition. I guess playing in Cowboy's stadium will do that...
when I here that they use Harvin I think it is more of how to relate to the recruit so they can invision how they would be used in Urbans Offense...not that they will be Harvin.
Guys, guys, GUYS...
Rest easy and tread lightly all is good in Buckeye Nation.
I sent in my LOI on Wednesday. Urban told me I'm his next Percy Harvin. We're set.
Champions Bleed Scarlet & Gray
Who wants the next
Brady Hoke already staked a claim on these ^
Champions Bleed Scarlet & Gray
I want someon better than percy harvin. I think that dontre has the potential to be better and make a big impact for the team
drew
I agree.
Meyer said in his Coach's Show on Signing Day that if Wilson is he kind of player they believe he is, that he will be very special. I have to think they means in Urban/Herman's offense, he will be a major weapon.
Jalin Marshall=Percy harvin
dontre Wilson= Jeff demps
ezekiel Elliott=Chris Rainey
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog
I hope you're right... That combo plus a stout D equals national titles.