Wednesday Skull Session

By D.J. Byrnes on February 18, 2015 at 4:59 am
Johnnie Dixon
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Only 283 days until The Game.

OHIO STATE'S TOUGHEST CHALLENGE. Ohio State will be the consensus No. 1 and a heavy favorite ― if not the favorite — to win the title next year; this is not news. But, unfortunately, there are laws against just giving the dang trophy to Ohio State again.

As talented and as deep as the 2015 team will be, it won't be without its question marks. According to David Regimbal of BleacherReport.com, replacing Mike Bennett will be the biggest hurdle:

Meyer tried to beef up the interior with his 2015 recruiting class, but the Buckeyes missed on their top three defensive tackle targets—Terry Beckner Jr., Christian Wilkins and Neville Gallimore. Ohio State did land 3-star prospects Robert Landers and DaVon Hamilton, but it will be hard for them to crack the rotation as first-year players.

That puts a lot of pressure on Tommy Schutt.

The soon-to-be senior out of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, was a heralded 4-star recruit who was a part of Meyer's first recruiting class in 2012, but he has played primarily as a backup behind Bennett and fellow defensive tackle Adolphus Washington.

At 6'2" and 295 pounds, Schutt is more of the space-eating, run-stuffing tackle that's better slotted at the nose tackle. That will allow Washington to slide back into the three technique that he played at the beginning of the 2014 season, which he's better suited for.

Urban did say during a Signing Day appearance on 97.1 The Fan the backup defensive line was the biggest disappointment within the program at the moment. So, it's certainly showtime for Schutt and the rest of the gang. 

Because, as Regimbal noted, there are two prongs to replacing Bennett: the talent and the leadership. It has to be Adolphus or Bosa that answers the unit leadership bell, right? To me, that's going to be the harder of the two voids to fill.

I used to think complacency was going to be a problem, but judging by players' tweets and quotes, they seem to be aware of the turbulent waters that await.

Granted, talk is cheap and tweets are worthless, but it's not like the team has had a chance to do anything (publicly, at least) but talk or tweet since winning the school's first title since 2002.

DORAN GRANT PREPS FOR THE COMBINE. The human meat market known as the NFL Combine is already underway in Indianapolis. One of the humans that will have every inch of their body measured and pokedis former Ohio State nail-eater Doran Grant.

From Bill Rabinowitz of Dispatch.com:

“I don’t really know where I stand,” Grant said. “I did hear that with a good combine, I’ll shoot up the draft board.”

He didn’t have the flashiest senior season, but it was a crucial one. Grant intercepted five passes and broke up nine throws. Perhaps most important, he was the clear and respected leader of a young and much-improved secondary.

“Whenever guys needed to get extra work, he grabbed them and got it done,” co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash said. “Whenever guys needed to watch film, he grabbed them and got it done."

Now, this is a space that once advocated for the Browns to draft Johnny Manziel, who turned out to be the drunken black sheep of the Keebler family, but please don't hold that against my grade on Doran Grant. (Even the pros miss, after all.)

As I've said: Some team out there — definitely not the Browns — is going to get a steal in Doran Grant. The guy may never play in a Pro Bowl, but he's going to make millions of dollars in the NFL and earn multiple contracts. It's baffling to me why more people aren't talking about him, but maybe they will be when Grant shows out at the combine.

 RIVALS: URBAN MEYER IS A GOOD TALENT EVALUTOR. Let's move from one meat market to another... from the NFL combine to the high school recruiting circuit.

From the full 2016 Rivals250 rankings, here are the Ohio State commits:

RANK NAME POSITION LOCATION STARS
18 KAREEM WALKER RB WAYNE, NEW JERSEY ★★★★★
44 JAKE HAUSMANN TE CINCINNATI, OHIO ★★★★
154 GEORGE HILL RB HUBBARD, OHIO ★★★★
235 TYLER GERALD OL BRADENTON, FLORIDA ★★★★


Four out of six commits carrying blue-chip certification... I'll take that ratio going forward.

I was kinda surprised to see Jonathon Cooper not make the cut, but I assume if he keeps dropping the hammer like ol' John Henry at camps across the nation this summer, they'll eventually give him his due (or lose respect as a service).

For comparison, ten members of the 27 member #Elite15 made 2015's final Rivals250.

WAIT, HONDO WASN'T IN THE COLLEGE BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME? Here's a prime example of why I don't acknowledge Hall of Fames erected outside the desolated hellscape that is my mind:

Let's get it, Hondo

I know a drop in the ocean of basketball, and even I know any College Basketball Hall of Fame that didn't include John Havlicek in its inaugural induction already lost its right to be called a College Basketball Hall of Fame. (If I were Hondo, I'd decline enshrinement in a letter written in my own blood.)

This is from his Celtics days (I just dry heaved thinking about that hideous leprechaun), but not even the stench of the worst franchise in professional sports can ruin the swagger of John Havlicek:

He's one of those rare breeds that would've been a boss in any era.

VERNON GHOLSTON BACK? I remember seeing a picture of Vernon Gholston when I was in high school and thinking "Zoinks! That man could snap my neck with his thumb and his index finger."

He later went on to give us the proper ending to The Mountain vs. The Red Viper:


(Shout out to Cass Tech, by the way.)

But yeah, I was shocked when Gholston flamed out of the NFL. He hasn't been on a roster in any capacity since 2012, but it looks like he'll get at least one more shot at the big leagues. 

He tweeted yesterday he earned a tryout with Washington's football team

THOSE WMDs. High School Legend Tony Sanchez Takes Aim at Hapless UNLV — and Coaching History... Good Guy Luke Kuechly... Upper Arlington, stand up... A man took his tie-wearing cat to City Hall... That's country strength, Amari Cooper.

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