With a Clemson rematch in the Fiesta, thought it'd be fun to play a little game with the outcome of the first edition. Haven't seen that game since it happened, but taking a quick glance at the box score and using my own memories from the game, the Buckeyes could have used some help in that matchup.
Ohio State lost a load of talent to the 2016 NFL Draft, and a lot of it came from underclassmen:
1st Rd - Joey Bosa, Zeke Elliot, Eli Apple, Darron Lee
2nd Rd - Mike Thomas, Vonn Bell
4th Rd - Cardale Jones
Also Tyvis Powell and Jalin Marshall as UDFAs.
Having some of these players definitely might have help turn the Clemson game, as a few of them were all-world in college.
So, if you could have 2 of them back in 2016 to help feast in the Fiesta, who would you take?
My picks: Elliott and Thomas. Maybe the gameplan wasn't right that day, but I think it's fair to say Ohio State just didn't have the horses we thought they did on offense that year. Elliott pounding into Clemson's line could've gone much better than Weber, Samuel, and Barrett mustered - 89 yards, 24 carries, 4.0ypc combined. And Thomas working some slants and double-moves might've made more room than Noah Brown and Corey Smith did - the two leading receivers cruised to a cool 4 combined catches for 44 yards.
--- I'm avoiding the hypotheticals of how the rest of 2016 would have changed with any of these players back. Penn State is for another day.
Also avoiding looking at potential 6th-years and upperclassmen red-shirts, if only to stay away from a potential Braxton/J.T. debate (for my sake?/?) ;)
SO: