Skull Session: Ohio State Pro Day, Larry Johnson's Dreams Become Reality, and Why NFL Teams Love Buckeye Linemen

By D.J. Byrnes on March 22, 2018 at 4:59 am
Ohio State Pro Day for the March 22 2018 Skull Session.
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A drawback of being friends with dudes is we don't naturally share things because we all have deluded ourselves into thinking we're tough frontiersmen who must remain stoic even if our worlds turn to ash.

I shoutout cauliflower rice at 5 a.m. and two hours later friends I talk (read: KakaoTalk) with every day suddenly shift into a spigot of information about the history of cauliflower and the premiere ways to prepare it.

Brother, why didn't you disclose this revelation? Are we not trying to survive the same sentence on a condemned space pebble that runs on a mere six inches of topsoil?

I understand you regret befriending me, but I work like a vampire. Once you open that door, it's forever. No takebacks.

I logged on in 1993 via Netscape Navigator and dial-up, so my neurosis dictates I share everyday revelations with real and online friends. I would not be happy by living under any other code, and I will never log off.

Others—we'll call them "lurkers"— need to be cajoled out of their shadowy shells. On this day, they can't escape the spotlight. The whole unit must piss in a cup by sunrise. This order comes from the top. If you're absent, you better be in the morgue.

I want it all. What #brands, apps, recipes, products, or legendary life-hack hustles have you been dying to share with your friends? Even if I can't use it, I promise a fellow Buckeye fan will thank you for the knowledge. This is an international conglomerate, after all.

Please put everything in the comments after reading the Skull Session and reflecting for at least 20 minutes. Thank you.

ICYMI:

Word of the Day: Sutler.

 COME ONE, COME ALL. The Urban Meyer Era has been kind to seemingly every NFL franchise except those in Ohio. Today, however, the Browns and the Bengals will once again get a look at the pro pipeline that resides between them.

Festivities kickoff at 11:30 a.m. with individual workouts starting at 1 p.m. Follow 11W, Dan Hope, Andrew Lind, James Grega, and Kevin Harrish on Twitter for live updates from the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Your workout roster, courtesy of Young Adam Schefter:

One thing I always like about pro day is Meyer allows prospects from other Ohio colleges to share the platform. Here are your non-Buckeye participants on the day:

NFL teams should look hard at Saunders. I have never seen him play, but anyone that spends four years of their prime in Urbana has been molded into a man tough enough to succeed in the NFL.

As for Buckeyes, there may be no Buckeye with more on the line than J.T. Barrett.

From LeDan Hope of Eleven Warriors:

The headlining event of Thursday’s pro day, and perhaps the part of the day that will have the single biggest influence on whether or not a Buckeye is drafted, will be J.T. Barrett’s throwing session. While Barrett already threw at the combine, where his passing received mixed reviews, the pro day setting is generally where a quarterback’s ability to complete passes is expected to shine, as it gives him an opportunity to script his own throwing session while working with familiar receivers.

In Barrett’s case, the pro day throwing session will be particularly important because of the questions that continue to linger over his ability to pass the ball downfield with accuracy. Barrett will need to demonstrate that he can complete an array of intermediate and deep passes, and do so with precise ball placement, in order to convince scouts that he has the skill to be an NFL passer.

I'm expecting J.T. Barrett to look like the exact dude he has been since arriving in Columbus. His best attributes won't be measured in workouts. It's up to NFL teams to decide how much that means.

It'd also be cool to see Denzel Ward rip off something ridiculous like a 4.29 in the 40-yard-dash. It might not be laser-timed; that won't stop me from running an article about it.

 LARRY JOHNSON'S LUCID DREAMS. In Piqua, the jewel of Miami County, we have a motto: "Where dreams become reality."

That might sound corny to our enemies in Troy and Tipp City. But the dreams of Larry Johnson became a new drill for Ohio State's defensive line. (Working to confirm if Johnson spent a night in Piqua's La Quinta to make this possible.)

From Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch:

Johnson said an idea can come to him in a dream, from which he awakes and dictates the details into the recorder of his phone. Or it can come from observation, like the inspiration to take his players into a sand pit next to the practice fields during preseason camp last year.

He said the idea came to him on “one of those days on the beach. You’re watching your grandkids running down the beach, you see their heels clicking and they’re struggling to stay balanced,” Johnson said. “I go, ‘Wow! Wouldn’t that be a great drill?’ I came back off vacation, that’s the first thing, I put ’em in the sand pit.”

At first, Johnson said, the drill was an experiment. Then they discovered there were things to be learned.

“We videotaped the first one, went back and studied it, and said, ‘OK, here are the coaching points we’ve got to work on,’ ” Johnson said. “We go back ... and you can see the corrections. (We told them), ‘Try to pretend you’re running on grass. Forget you’re running on sand, and just go.’ ”

Power move by Johnson. Playing in sand reduces athleticism by at least 60 percent. I'm convinced LeBron James would look unathletic playing sand volleyball. 

I also love this story because it shows the venerable Johnson is always tinkering with his methods and willing to trust a random vision that Woody Hayes undoubtedly planted in his mind. I understand why Penn State passed on making him a head coach (not really), but I remain thankful they did.

 WHY THE NFL LOVES SLOBS. Urban Meyer descended from the ESPN bourgeois into Columbus and declared two things:

  1. His team would run the power-spread.
  2. The offensive line would drive his program.

Seven years in, he has done just that. Jack Mewhort, Corey Linsley, Andrew Norwell, Andrew Decker, and Pat Elflein are all thriving in the pros. As it turns out, despite running a "college offense," Ohio State still prepares linemen for the next level.

From former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz of sbnation.com:

Here’s the short version of it — a college offense is almost nothing like a pro offense and the techniques being taught don’t translate to the NFL game. There are only a handful of schools that routinely use pro techniques, even in a “spread” offense, and those schools do produce pro-ready offensive lineman — Ohio State, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, USC, Iowa, Alabama, and maybe a few more.

And look, I get it. The job of a college head coach is designing an offense that helps produce victories in college football. It’s not their job to get their players ready for the NFL. (Though it is a recruiting bonus if you can point to all the pro players who have come through your program.)

Also a big factor in the lack of development is the decreased practice time in the NFL. I love when two-a-days ended, but they were important to developing offensive lineman. We are a position that needs as many full-speed reps that closely resemble game action. Full pads is the way to make this happen. We also need reps, reps, and more reps.

With Billy Price and Jamarco Jones (whom I contend scouts undervalue), there won't be a drop off anytime soon. And given Ohio State is one of a handful of programs producing NFL-ready linemen, that will only attract more recruits with professional ambitions. 

All you can do is sit back and marvel at Meyer's process. The hands wash each other.

 WORTH A LOOK. Missed this, but a Yellow Springs man who starred in three sports at Wayne High School in Huber Heights has left the Iowa men's basketball program intent on switching to football:

Iowa listed Wagner at 6-7, 235... and yes, 11w's recruiting director knows what you're thinking.

From Andrew Lind of Eleven Warriors:

The 6-foot-7, 235-pound Wagner was a second-team all-state performer on the hardwood and committed to Iowa ahead of his senior year. He played his only year of high school football that fall caught 58 passes for 1,028 yards and 17 touchdowns and was named first-team all-state while helping the Warriors to the state title game. He had an 11-yard touchdown reception and returned a kickoff 90 yards for another score in a 31-21 loss to Lakewood St. Edward in Ohio Stadium.

Kentucky extended a scholarship offer to Wagner following the season, and Ohio State showed significant interest, as well — Meyer and executive director for football relations Tim Hinton visited his high school and told him there would be an offer on the table if he was focused on football. He stuck with basketball, however.

With that said, it remains to be seen if the Buckeyes will pursue him once again. I do think it would be a worthwhile investment to at least gauge his interest in playing for his home-state team.

It's true I have nothing but love in my heart for Yellow Springs. It's also true I'm biased in favor of 6-7 football players.

That said, MEYER NEEDS TO KICK THE TIRES. At worst, he may have precious intel on how Kirk Ferentz shaved Meyer like a drunk sheep. That would be worth the roster spot alone.

 OIL OR KANSAS FOOTBALL? NOT HARD. There are two exits for Meyer's assistants:

  1. A future head coaching job/promotion
  2. A diplomatic relieving of duties. 

At Kansas, apparently the oil industry is a threat to the success of one of America's most diabolical experiments, Jayhawk football.

From rivals.com:

When Todd Bradford joined David Beaty’s staff he felt it was the right time to get back into coaching. Bradford had stints at Oklahoma State, Southern Miss, and Maryland before he got in the oil business. He was taking care of his ill mother when Beaty called to see if he was interested to get back in coaching.

After sitting out Bradford decided the time was right to rekindle his coaching career.

Two years later Bradford is moving back into the oil business.

“A guy that I was involved with and had business dealings when I was in the oil world before I was helping with my mom reached out to me,” Bradford said. “He told me he had some companies that were doing really well and he needed someone to come in and help me run them. He asked if I was interested and I told him I was happy coaching.

Don't you hate when a guy you were involved with comes out of the woodwork with a lucrative offer to return to the oil industry?

Which reminds me... if any guys I've been involved with want to offer me a sinecure in the oil industry.... I'm listening.

 THOSE WMDs. The virus named after Norwalk, Ohio... When coaches become players: Ohio University's Fortnite craze... The Agony and the XTC.... What I learned from watching three days of baseball with Bill Murray... The world's most delicious mangoes never came.

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