With this years freshman class full of so many promising players, which ones do you expect to be a major part of the offensive or defensive game plans starting Aug. 30th? I'll go with Samuel and Dixon on offense, and "The Chef" and Smith on defense.
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samuel. Will get touches on offense and kicking game. Don't know about Dixon' production this year. I think in Game 1 he may get a few touches but there are just so many WRs and Mike Thomas continues to be the assumed replaced for Brown as Braxton's #1 target. Kwon should see plenty of time in the game and throughout the year as I don't have that much hope for C. Grant to finally take his game to the level he was hyped to be. And you think Smith, as in Erick Smith? Im not so sure he sees the field much during the game or during the year, except for Special teams.
Smith on Special Teams. Gunner role would be great for him to start off in. Fast and a huge hitter. I'm assuming he takes on the role since Tyvis looks like he'll be one of the starters at safety full time.
On offense? I think the obvious choice is Samuel. I'm calling for him to get a couple touches early and then have a big game against Kent State like EzE did against FAMU.
"I've had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven't run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can't outwork you, then smarts aren't going to do them much good." - Woody Hayes
C-Sam, Raekwon, Dixon, Jalyn Holmes
One word: Raekwon. There will be a couple of others too as this last recruiting haul was stellar. But I believe Raekwon is going to rewrite OSU freshmen LB records (with all due respect to Spielman).
tOSU class of 2009, College of Arts and Sciences
Let me fix that for you.... (with all due respect to Mr. Spielman).
I like McMillan as well, but I am not ready to put him in Chris's category just yet.
GO BUCKS!
Throwing (kicking?) Sean Neurnberger into the conversation, I think he wins the placekicking gig.
Off-seasoning in moderation
Yep, this pick is about the least speculative.
I think guys like Smith, Lattimore, and Webb will get special teams action early and often.
The postgame show is brought to you by... Christ, I can't find it. The hell with it...
Think E. Smith sees action early Maybe special teams to start, but will impact this team in a positive way.
I expect Sam Hubbard, Marshon Lattimore, Erick Smith and Dante Booker to be beasts on Special Teams. I think Damon Webb will get so PT in late blowouts. Urban said Jalyn Holmes is making that push for the Viper position, so I think he will get PT. And then there are the obvious candidates of Nuernberger, McMillan, Dixon (who has yet to get his black stripe removed), and Samuel.
From day one on offense or defense? Just Samuel and Nuernberger. A couple of games down the line? Maybe throw in Raekwon, Dixon, Holmes.
Urban said Saturday that Smith is 2nd team ahead of redshirt junior Ron Tanner.
mtrotb
Anyone know how Lattimore is working out so far?
He's had to fight through a minor injury so I would guess because of that it is too early to tell.
Thanks for the update - one to watch in the future
Defintely McMillan. Combating the triple option requires a quick LB corp so he'll be in a lot.
If a freshman is a "major part of the offense or defense" does that mean the freshmen are that good or OSU lacks depth at specific positions? Or both?
“Being average means you are as close to the bottom as you are to the top.” John Wooden
Depending on the position I would say it could be either. A freshman contributing serious playing time in the offensive backfield would mean they have serious talent. A freshman contributing serious time at O-Line might mean lack of depth. I may be wrong though. It's happened before.
"Hippies. They're everywhere. They wanna save the Earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad."
Offense
Curtis Samuel
Johnny Dixon
Defense
Raekwon McMillan
Jayln Holmes
Erick Smith (later on in the year...could see him at nickel)
Special Teams
Sean Nuerenberger
Erick Smith
Sam Hubbard
Malik Hooker
Damon Webb
DIRECTIONER
God blessed. We're the #5 freaking team in the country... And all people can do on this site is talk about FRESHMEN and "which ones are going to contribute". PEOPLE... We go thru this every season... Why must we push our freshmen?!?! Why can't we have a thread "which senior" or "which junior"?! Heck... Even "which sophomore" would be more likely to see significant minutes than which freshmen. Slow the roll. Let it marinate. We're a much better team if we're talking about which junior will break out than if we're talking about which freshmen. #5 teams in the country aren't "freshmen led".
All I'm asking is we slow the roll with the freshmen talk. Please. It's like every hype conversation on here is FRESHMEN.
What would Coach Urban Meyer say? You think he's worried about which freshmen is going to contribute Game 1?
It's probably because the freshmen are the only brand new people. Most people are more interested in the new considering for the most part we already know what everyone is bringing. And you even said we should be talking about older players who would break out which would presumably happen because they're bringing something new. It's all about the new. The battle tested veterans do get plenty of talking about when we actually start playing but right now we all just want to try out our shiny new toys per se and see what's good and what's not.
"I've had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven't run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can't outwork you, then smarts aren't going to do them much good." - Woody Hayes
He has made it well known that he wants the Freshman to contribute from game one. Remember he said they redshiirted to many Freshman last year. Its called DEPTH.
Case in point >> http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2014/08/38818/baldwin-...
Really? I guess guys like Clarett, Katzenmoyer, Bosa, etc...should not have played because they were only freshman. It's fun to discuss because the recruiting class is a great one on paper. And if your content with how some of our upperclassmen have played (Reeves, Grant, WRs as a whole), then you're clueless. The best players should play, PERIOD!
Our fascination with freshmen always makes me laugh too but it is human nature. It's much more fun to dream about the next Spielman, Bosa, or Pace that dominate as a freshman than trying to project who improved the most as we've already moved on from last year's freshmen.
This Buckeye team is as deep as any we've had since Tressel's first few years. Woody always used to say that players made their most improvement from their freshman to sophomore seasons and it wouldn't surprise me to see quite a few redshirt freshmen all over the depth chart but this year's freshmen will but lucky to see much of the field
The exception will be places where we've had recruiting misses like at linebacker which is why I think McMillan is the likely breakout freshman. We have so many WRs I just don't see how any of the freshmen there are going to get more than a few token reps.
Noah Brown. 244lb WR. If this is good weight, and he hasn't lost any speed, he could be special.
The name David Boston comes to mind when I hear Noah Brown being mentioned..not a bad thing, right!?
It is criminal how underrated Dante Booker is on this board. Think he will be a special teams force and part time contributor at OLB, like Trey Johnson last year but only better. Let's not forget Kwon isn't the only 5-Star freshman linebacker we have.
I echo your comments. I think since he is an ohio kid he gets forgotten about.
Nuernberger at Kicker. Erick Smith & Raekwon on defense. Samuel & Dixon on offense.
"The height of human desire is what wins, whether it's on Normandy Beach or in Ohio Stadium." - Woody Hayes
Neurenberger with the opening kickoff, then McMillan, Lattimore, Smith, and Webb with a gang tackle of the Navy returner at the 12 yard line. That specific enough?
Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
Vince Lombardi
I'll go with the obvious answers of Samuel, Erick Smith, and McMillan. A few others may get in on some special teams action, but I think those are the only 3 that actually see meaningful snaps. Maybe Dixon too.
Regardless of what Meyer says, I think a majority of this class redshirts (as usual). Just too much depth on this team right now.
Meaningful contribution from game one: none .Mop-up time and special teams only. It will take an injury before one starts.The way it should be at THE. GO BUCKS!
I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then.
I think ~30 offensive yards from Curtis Samuel is meaningful and could be expected.
Really think McMillan is going to be special..could see quite a few plays versus Navy and that triple option. Has the athleticism and the instincts plus a maturity beyond that of a freshman. Definitely see Samuel contributing but more so on a dontre level last year. Which still would be excellent and feel he also will do great things for our team. So great to be a buckeye just the list we have to choose from to contribute.
I am a Michigan booster bud....just spent $182 bucks at Wal-Mart this morning.
JT Barrett. Damn it. I know I know , he's a RS Freshman. Close enough.