Skull Session: Mike Thomas Makes His Move, Brutus Reverses Course, and Ryan Shazier Hits His Peak

By D.J. Byrnes on June 17, 2016 at 4:59 am
Cameron Johnston
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***From the top of a mountain*** CLEEEEEEEEVEEEEEELAAAAANNNNNDDDDD!!!!! This Warriors collapse will be appointment television, folks.

This week's NSFW ANTI-WORK #BANGERS:

 WHO COULD'VE SEEN THIS COMING? Like Eli Apple turning heads at Giants minicamp, we have another report of a young Buckeye doing the damn thing in the NFL, which is a league that will be first to tell you is a GROWN MAN'S LAND.

Mike Thomas landed in New Orleans, with its turf field and a quarterback with pinpoint accuracy, which made it seem like a blissful match even before Thomas took the field. It didn't take him long to earn Drew Brees' trust, and he's looking like a Day 1 starter.

From bigeasybeliever.com:

Saints rookie WR Michael Thomas continued to dazzle and amaze onlookers, but this time doing it in front of several thousand fans in attendance instead of a only a handful of media members.

After wowing his own veteran QB Drew Brees with his abilities in OTA’s last week, Thomas displayed his athleticism in red-zone drills, as he and Brees hooked up for a TD in a fashion very reminiscent of the way that Brees and former WR Marques Colston used to for the previous decade.

At this point, it would appear that even as a rookie, Thomas will be a starter at one of the Saints starting WR spots for the season opener against the Oakland Raiders on September 11th.

It's going to be a big year for Buckeyes in the NFL, which is only going to help recruiting as if Meyer and company need it at this point. The only five-stars that won't be interested in Ohio State will be those unwilling to travel from their geographic footprint for whatever reason (no shame in that).

 BRUTUS TO MARCH AFTER ALL. Brutus Buckeye was going to skip Columbus' Pride Week march due to safety concerns, but Ohio State's mascot reversed course Thursday afternoon.

From dispatch.com:

Around 2:30 p.m., Ohio University announced that Rufus would be joining Saturday's Downtown parade.

Just before 3 p.m., Ohio State University said Brutus, who had dropped out of the parade Wednesday over security concerns after Sunday's shootings in Orlando, will participate in Pride.

"Brutus will join a campus-wide group of faculty, staff and senior officials led by President Michael Drake and Athletics Director Gene Smith," the university announced. Ohio State said the change of course was set "after additional consideration and reviews."

People think Rufus beat up Brutus, but that's not entirely the case. Sure, Rufus got the drop on Brutus, but it was only in a coward's retaliation from an earlier sucker-punching that ended with Brutus lording over a decapitated Rufus. If you know anything about mascot fights, you know the war ended there.

 MAY W.G.H. SAVE THE AFC NORTH EXCEPT THE RAVENS. Before drafting Ohio State Buckeyes came back in vogue, Ryan Shazier was part of the first wave of Urban Meyer-coached Ohio State players to make the NFL.

Unfortunately, his body hasn't cooperated. Injuries will forever be a part of football, but Shazier feels he's in peak physical shape entering the 2016 season.

From espn.com:

"I just know a lot of people respect my speed now," said Shazier, who added that Darrius Heyward-Bey is the undisputed speedster on the team. "Some might be scared to race [me now]."

[...]

Now, he is cleaning [injuries] up, and he has earned the trust of defensive coordinator Keith Butler, who tasked Shazier with calling the defense in the huddle late in the previous season. Shazier feels like "kind of the voice of the defense" from play to play, he said.

[...]

"I definitely feel I was starting to peak at the end of last year," Shazier said. "I was starting to understand things a lot better. I just feel more at home in my decision-making."

Shazier's goal is an All-Pro season, which is definitely attainable.

And just for fun, I looked up who the Browns drafted in that 2014 draft before the Steelers took Shazier. I shouldn't have. It was Justin Gilbert.

 ZEKE ALREADY DEPENDABLE. I'm telling you: It's going to rain Buckeyes on Sunday this fall.

From mmqb.si.com:

It’s one reason why we invested in Ezekiel,” [Dallas Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen] Jones concedes about the No. 4 overall pick out of Ohio State. “You look at it, and if you can help with your run game, you can do some things offensively that take pressure off the quarterback. That can help. We won without Tony before. (Jon) Kitna and (Kyle) Orton won games. It’s not like it’s something we haven’t done. Can you win them all? No. Can you win a championship without Tony? Probably not.

“But Zeke gives us a much better chance.”

As a Cowboys hater, I hope Tony Romo never misses a minute of their game, especially the last two minutes with a game on the line.

Here's Zeke yesterday scoring at Cowboys minicamp. Yes, he's without pads but you can see why the coaches like him:

And here he is celebrating with Dez Bryant:

 CAMPUS REAL ESTATE NEWS. The flailing real estate development formally known as the South Campus Gateway is sprucing itself up with a mural featuring Wonder Bread #branding and the iconic Columbus Dispatch neon sign the Wolfe family pawned off when it exited the newspapering business.

From bizjournals.com:

The Ohio State University-sponsored development on North High Street – until recently known as South Campus Gateway– next month will install a 67.5-by-22 foot vinyl mural on a wall over Jimmy John's, the site of the former Pizza Rustica.

via Columbus Business Journals

City sites featured on the colorful vinyl mural include Ohio Stadium, the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the LeVeque Tower, the Columbus Dispatch neon sign and the Statehouse.

The mural is meant to show the intersection of campus and the city, "that the Gateway, as a property that that brings together demographics from both areas, is the pulse-point," Gateway spokeswoman Sara Lowenstein said in an email.

R.I.P. to Pizza Rustica. It was good pizza but its price points were all messed up for a business that relied on broke-ass college students. The mural won't get me to dine at Jimmy John's either, despite them bilking me for thousands when I was a broke-ass college student.

And speaking of murals, my vision is for something similar to be installed at the Lane Avenue and 315 exit. That exchange is so barren it could be mistaken for something in Detroit. It should reflect the lordly nature of the lands people are about to enter (or foolish enough to leave).

 THOSE WMDs. The fan chaos at Euro 2016... In South Sudan, it's hard to tell soldiers from criminals... Beer can and bear saves mushroom picker from hungry wolf... A caucasian's guide to Spades... Stop reusing the same internet password... Behind the scenes at OSU and UM's Garden State satellite camps... How smart do you want your blender to be?

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