As a proud member of corporate America for over 20 years, I've been through my fair share of talent review sessions driven through use of a "9-Box" in addition to countless meetings and conference calls. Through those experiences, I've also heard (and yes, uttered) endless awesome corporate buzzwords and phrases.
I'm assuming a good portion of you reading this have also walked a mile in those shoes and with mid-year reviews recently completed for many of us, I figured I'd take a stab at 9-boxing Ohio State's receiving corps.
For those of you unfamiliar, there are numerous iterations of a 9-box but the intended outcome is virtually the same which is to rank and evaluate a group of people with roughly similar job responsibilities on both their current contribution to the organization and their level of potential for the purposes of determining raises, succession planning and deciding who might need to be released back to the public.
To keep the evaluations of Ohio State's pass catchers as close to reality as possible, I leveraged as many corporate buzzwords and phrases as I could before dry heaves set in. (Ed note: If you can guess the exact amount of buzzwords included, you win a Casual Day and tote bag adorned with your company's logo).
GREEN BOXES
At the end of the day, Mike Thomas is OSU’s benchmark at the wide receiver position and therefore slots within the “Consistent Star” box as a High Performer with High Potential. Thomas does a great job leveraging his size and after a rough start to his college career, there’s no question about his buy-in. He’s a dynamic player who should have no trouble collaborating with any of Ohio State’s three quarterbacks to ensure a solid ROI for not just the Buckeyes but the NFL team that drafts him next spring.
Jalin Marshall proved to be a game changer last year and occupies the same 9-box slot as Thomas. He scored four straight touchdowns during Ohio State’s sleepwalk win over Indiana and down the stretch he ensured there would be no resource constraints at the H-back spot following Dontre Wilson’s injury. In particular with Cardale Jones at quarterback, Marshall came through on Tom Herman’s imperative of attacking the middle of the field. Marshall is a cross-functional player who can catch, rush, return punts or even throw though OSU already has too many QBs. His versatility also speaks well to his value as a team player.
Corey Smith showed big play flashes last year at wide receiver (while also delivering on his action item of being a value-add member of special teams coverage teams) but unfortunately he also struggled with a core-competency of any offensive skill player – hanging on to the football. As such, I’m bullish on him in the “Future Star” box as a Moderate Performer with High Potential though he may very well end up in the “Key Player” box come season’s end but for now, I’m drinking the Kool-Aid. Like Thomas, he may have struggled at one point with having the appropriate mindset but is now leveraging a best practice of showing the proper engagement. Oh, and when push comes to shove, his blocking skills are bleeding edge.
Many fans, and to be transparent, yours truly, have been sleeping on Dontre Wilson after a more-hype-than-substance start to his college career but when you peel back the onion, it makes sense to give him a bit of leeway due to being out of pocket thanks to injury and coming into school as a victim of over socialization by the media.
With Curtis Samuel showing up as a running back on OSU’s latest roster release after looping him in at H-back during spring drills, that could be an error or validation that the coaching staff completed a whiteboard session and determined streamlining the primary H role to Wilson and Marshall (also listed at H after robust snaps at WR in spring) was the best practice. His key action item is to quit being a tackle-seeking missile. I have Wilson in the “Future Star” box as a Moderate Performer / High Potential.
YELLOW BOXES
After a strong spring, Noah Brown is a low-hanging fruit for many fans looking to tout a breakout offensive player. His dynamic combo of size and speed has cultivated quite a few believers within the program as well meaning he should absolutely add value this fall. In a few years, we could very well circle back on Brown’s 2015 campaign as the start of a very special playing career. For now, I’m calling him a “Rough Diamond” but if he skate's where the puck is going to be, it will be mission critical for Ohio State's quarterbacks to get him the ball in the coming seasons.
Following the names above, it’s a crowded house of unproven commodities. Some could eventually be proven false idols created by blue sky thinking while others could truly be loaded with potential but earn limited face time. As such, it’s virtually impossible to place them on the 9-box though many hopefully fall into the “Rough Diamond” box citing Low Performer / High Potential.
Associates in this box might include Terry McLaurin, Johnnie Dixon, James Clark, Alex Stump, Parris Campbell and hell I might be missing someone else because Ohio State has so many receivers on the roster and I didn’t take a deep dive. For now, we’ll just have to wait until Urban puts on the record and see who dances. At least a couple should eventually push the envelope and one of them might be fast-tracked for stardom.
RED BOX
The dreaded Red Box. Most corporations place at least 10% of their staff there and it can lead to some crucial conversations about lack of engagement, limited bandwidth or frankly, lack of talent. In reality, a handful of the names just stated as potential “Rough Diamonds” could find themselves in the “Talent Risk” box before it’s all said and done.
For now, based on their veteran status (eligibility wise) compared to actual production, names targeted for this box include Jeff Greene (would love to see his 6’5” frame move up the depth chart though), Joe Ramstetter, Kato Mitchell and Devlin, McDaniel. Bottom line, this is a results-driven business and this group is currently out of the loop upon completion of a gap analysis.
Having said that, I’m not attempting to throw them under the bus. It’s not personal, just business.
(Ed note 2: Due to budget concerns, there will be no casual days or tote bags.)
