I was watching a draft special recently in which the analysts were talking some of the players up because of their versatility and how that will improve their value to prospective teams. That prompted me to think of how many of our beloved Buckeyes are extremely versatile.
Urbz has often mentioned how much he appreciates versatility - and I think he has recruited and coached players with that quality in mind long enough now, that his team may have reached a new level in that regard.
In the age of no-huddle, hurry up offenses, having players on the field who can readily shift from one role to another has become more important than ever. It begins with the all-too-obviously named 'dual-threat' quarterbacks we require to run our offense. But it goes way beyond that.
Moving Curtis Samuel to H-back in the spring game, to me, really illustrated the point. It could potentially give our opponents' defensive coordinators even more nightmares than they must be having already. If that move works out, we'll have an experienced H-back (Jalin Marshall) at wide receiver, an elite-level running back (Samuel) at H-back and a running back (Zeke) who is a more than capable receiver in his own right. They would all be in our standard offensive set - but we'd be able to run an incredibly wide variety of plays from it.
This kind of thing only works if Curtis is a legitimate threat as a receiver and Jalin is a legitimate threat (which we already know he is) as a runner. And of course, everybody has to be an effective blocker. Lot's of players can do a variety of things, 'ok'. It's rare to have so many players in the same line-up who are capable of doing so many different things extremely well.
Look at it this way: if Curtis becomes enough of a threat as a receiver that teams are forced to respond defensively by going to a nickel - we'll have four excellent runners on the field, poised to tear a nickel defense to shreds with our rushing attack.
Let's not forget - Jalin was our emergency quarterback in the post-season, too. And our starting right guard, Pat Elflein, is also our back-up center.
One of the things that defines Chris Ash's defense is the 'Walk-out' linebacker. Take a look at Darron Lee or Chris Worley. They're both built like either bulked-up safeties - or speed-built linebackers - take your pick. There's a reason for that. Versatility is the key to that critical position. I've seen Darron down field in coverage and lining up like a defensive end in the same series.
Adolphus Washington played so well at '1 technique' tackle last year, it's easy to forget he should be even better as he slides over to his more natural position at the '3' this season.
And safeties? Forget it. By necessity, they're typically some of the most versatile players on the field - and ours are no exception to that rule. Even our punter, as a former Australian Rules Footballer, can undoubtedly tackle better than most punters. He'd probably be a decent runner on a fake, too.
Just a little something to ponder during the oh so long off-season.
It's a great time to be a Buckeye -