Fargo Season 2 finale: Mind blown.
REPLACING WASHINGTON. As a card-carrying member of the Football Writers Association of America, let me be the 12,000th Ohio State fan to say the FWAA showed its ass yesterday by not naming Joey Bosa an All-American. Easily its worst decision since admitting me (read: running my debit card) into its ranks.
"Writers vote for the guys they watch," like I'm supposed to believe more people watched Carl Nassib on a 7-5 Penn State team than Joey Bosa on national contender Ohio State? Because ratings say otherwise.
What's the point in having awards if voters are blind to prodigies like Bosa? Dullards can look at box scores; if those contain all the knowledge worth knowing then why send reporters?
Actually, let me stop whining about a subjective internet list before I become one of those people going ballistic over a horse not winning a sporting award. (Riddle me this: If horses care about sports, why do they need miniature men to whip them to glory?)
There's a list of reasons why Bosa will be the No. 1 defensive lineman taken in the 2016 NFL Draft, but one of the biggest is his versatility. The Big Bear can go around or through OTs, but he can also move inside and dominate the porkier offensive linemen with his speed.
It's a recipe that's worked well for Ohio State thus far, and with Adolphus Washington exiled, it's a look Notre Dame could see a lot.
From espn.com:
Ohio State only allowed more yardage than that once this season, and despite being just No. 7 in the Big Ten in rushing defense, it held opponents to nearly 90 fewer yards than the Irish typically produced this year.
That, of course, was all done with Washington stuffing the middle with 49 tackles, including seven tackles for loss. But if there’s somebody who can match his versatility, athleticism and size, it's Bosa, who obviously has more than enough strength to get the job done at 6-foot-6 and 275 pounds.
Maybe it sounds crazy to move the likely top pick in the upcoming NFL draft. But it's probably the right thing with Tyquan Lewis and Hubbard having already proven themselves by combining for 12.5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss this season. And Bosa has made it clear on numerous occasions he’ll do whatever the Buckeyes need to get a win, even if it comes at the expense of his own numbers.
Pro Football Focus graded Bosa at +26 against the run, which was the highest at his position. Obviously stopping the interior run is a different ball game—hello again, porky linemen—but if anybody can handle single-game duties, it's Bosa.
Speaking of Washington—his arraignment, originally scheduled for Thursday, got pushed back to Jan. 13 according to dispatch.com.
Could Washington's counsel, Phillip Templeton, have something up his sleeve? Lawyers usually do (and always think they do), but it will be too little too late for Washington's Buckeye career. Remember, he was arrested with a legal firearm that was returned to him afterwards but was still in violation of the program's core principles.
'TIS THE SEASON. Brace yourself, because the NFL hatchetmen are coming, and much like YouTube commenters, they're not afraid to drop bombs from behind the cloak of anonymity.
From jsonline.com:
"Thomas is not a first-round type pick. Doesn't have dynamic speed."
It's hard for me not to read this as a slight, but that's not an insult for 98 percent of prospects. Still, one thing teams that pass on Michael Thomas will regret is focusing on what he can't do rather than what he can.
Thomas lacks elite speed, but so did his uncle. Sure, he may never blow by top NFL DBs, but there are other ways for a receiver to ply his craft, and Thomas is a technician.
He's going to fall to a team like Seattle and they're going to look like geniuses for drafting him.
"(Cardale Jones) has by far the best arm," said one scout. "Great size. Big hands. Just a natural thrower. He had great stretch last year when he was dominant.
"But he seems a little bit like a knucklehead. He's speaking out. His body language isn't good on the field. But some offensive coordinator will say, 'Oh, I can fix him.'"
Cardale Jones was the scapegoat for the first half of the season, and oddly enough he may have benefitted the most from the team's second-half struggles (sans Michigan).
I'd get #mad about the "knucklehead" thing—please point me to Cardale's problematic behavior that isn't a Tweet—but I'm trying to figure out if that's the first usage of "knucklehead" since 1959.
And there's no doubt somebody is going to gamble on him. Guys like Jimmy Clausen and Ryan Mallett are hanging around the NFL. They're definitely rolling the dice on a dude with tools like Cardale. (People are free to compare him to Jamarcus Russell, but Cardale will come for pennies on the dollar.)
"[Ezekiel Elliott is] probably the best player," one scout said. "With the comments he made, you have to check his background. Is he a selfish player? Is it all about him?"
"Declaring for the draft and making those statements right after a loss was very disappointing. He's going to have to answer a lot of questions."
Ah yes, the NFL will have its pound of flesh about off-the-cuff (and fair) remarks made by a 20-year-old. That's because the NFL is a fair and just league that vets its players for character flaws.
"[Joey Bosa] a better version of Justin Smith when he came out of Missouri (in 2001)," said one scout. "Little better athlete. Little more explosive. Strong, tough guy like that. Good motor.
At this point I'm surprised Bosa wasn't described as a "homeless man's Carl Nassib."
Other Ohio State notes:
Others with first-round chances are junior Tre'Davious White (5-11, 191) of LSU, redshirt sophomore Mackensie Alexander (5-10, 195) of Clemson and junior Eli Apple (6-0, 200) of Ohio State.
Ohio State's Adolphus Washington (6-4, 290), a possible late first-round pick, hurt his chances after being suspended for the bowl game. Last week, he was arrested for soliciting sex from an undercover police officer.
Showing up to the combine 15 pounds overweight would do more to hurt Adolphus Washington's draft stock than bartering for sex with an undercover cop at an extended stay motel.
TEXAS TOM GRILLS OUT. Tom Herman is a MENSA member, but even the smartest humans in the world are bound to their own globes of knowledge.
Consider that Herman, a certified genius, was apparently the only person in 2015 to not know about diamond grills. Being in Houston, it didn't take him long to get a crash course.
From foxsports.com:
“Hey, what's with the grill?” Herman asked.
[Houston WR Demarcus] Ayers said it’s a style thing, a Texas thing, something lots of guys down South like to wear, adding that Herman would look good in one and should think about it.
Herman laughed and said, “I’ll tell you what. If we win the league championship this year, I’ll get one.”
Houston held up its end of the bargain, and so is Mensa Tom:
Tom Herman will meet Houston rapper Paul Wall tomorrow to be fitted for a grill. Herman promised team he'd get one if UH won league. Oh my.
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) December 14, 2015
It's been 11 months since Ohio State won the national title, and Urban Meyer is without the championship tattoo he promised. When future generations look back on this team... perhaps they'll wonder, "What if Urban Meyer didn't welch on his championship bet?"
Because it's not like there aren't hordes of people out there with "classy and nice" Buckeye tattoos that Urban could draw upon as a muse:
— Terry Hoellrich (@BigBud379) January 8, 2014
You think the team lost it when Urban dabbed over the broken corpse of Jim Harbaugh? Pretty sure the underling fealty Urban would've garnered by getting his back tatted like @BigBud379 would've been unrivaled in this country since the days of George Washington.
ACL TEAR FOR SMITH. Devin Smith is done for the year, as first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter.
It brings a tough rookie year to a close for him, but there's hope yet:
Bowles: "[Smith] was grasping everything mentally and was playing faster...it's unfortunate that this happened because he came around."
— New York Jets (@nyjets) December 14, 2015
For $9,999.99, I will direct the Jets to a QB I know who is strong-armed and has a repertoire with Smith as well as the larger-than-life personality that fans in the Big Apple would love to know.
LET'S JUST MEET IN TOLEDO. Arizona, Battletoads, University of Pheonix Stadium.... blah blah blah blah blah.
Cancel the whole damn thing. Just play the game in Toledo:
INFOGRAPHIC: Ohio State, Notre Dame have longest trips to New Years Six bowl games https://t.co/EjXKbuhhlj pic.twitter.com/bdnJTLlX8y
— CBS Sports CFB (@CBSSportsCFB) December 14, 2015
Reminds me of one of the biggest demands that I have about playoff expansion: First-round games played on the higher seed's campus.
THOSE WMDs. Inside the Battle of Hoth: The Empire Strikes Out... To spot a liar look at their hands... The Best Rap Songs of 2015... Drug smugglers: Creative... Global supermarkets selling shrimp peeled by slaves... Correct posture for housework (1920s).
