Tuesday, baby! We're throwing bosses out of bounds like a John O'Korn pass outside the hashes.
ICYMI:
- Tony Alford not worried about hurting feelings, will play his best players.
- Bill Davis feels he played his best combination despite linebackers struggles in two losses.
- With two healthy 1,000-yard backs, will we see more of the fabled two-back set?
- Film Study: Rashod Berry's steep learning curve at tight end.
- Five Buckeyes with something to prove in the spring game.
- Reserve your (or your business’) spot next to the life-size statue of Woody Hayes coming to Newcomerstown!
Word of the Day: Suborn.
A PAIR AND A SPARE. Ohio State will have two of the best running backs in the country next year. This much is known.
Tony Alford said yesterday Antonio Williams has made a big of leap this offseason as any other player. And I feel for him in that it may not be enough to regularly get him on the field.
Alford ain't in the charity business, and he already has two elite running backs that want a lion's share of the carries.
From Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch:
“I don’t know,” Alford said. “Again, it goes back to the question earlier about the Michigan State deal” last season when Dobbins started but Weber became the featured back as the game developed, delivering two big runs.
“I think it’s just how we feel the flow of the game and how it’s going.”
Dobbins and Weber said after practice Monday they like the battle and enjoy each other’s company, that they have improved from it. But each also has the desire to be the featured back.
Hopefully Williams stays focused. Running back is a violent position, as shown by Mike Weber's injury history. The landscape can change with a snap.
I also have no idea what to expect from the offense. I envision everything from Dwayne Haskins shredding secondaries to Joe Burrow, J.K. Dobbins, and Mike Weber running the triple option. It's unfortunate we won't get a definitive answer until at least September.
A BOOM AND A BANE. Entering Year 7 of the Urban Meyer regime, and folks, I think the local coach may have figured out how to recruit. He'll have former five stars at backup this year.
And since Meyer has put a player at every position into the pros, the standard of play has never been higher. It's a rewarding journey for most players. It's not a walk in the park for any.
From theozone.net:
This month, the Buckeyes will be sending former linemen Billy Price and Jamarco Jones to the 2018 NFL Draft. There is quite a legacy being built. It gives current players something to aspire to, but it is far from easy to live up to the established standard.
“It’s fun and frustrating at the same time,” said offensive lineman Demetrius Knox. “It’s frustrating because the standard is perfect. Billy — Rimington. Pat Elflein — Rimington. Everybody else, first-round draft pick. That’s the standard so if you come up short of that, it’s like ‘darn it.’ When you do live up to it, it makes it that much better.”
I'm excited to see what Demetrius Knox offers this season. Like Isaiah Prince, he got baptized in fire. Also like Prince, he got off the mat.
Knox may not beat out Branden Bowen at right guard. But he'll at least provide valuable depth. Nobody will be saying "Oh shit" if the Buckeyes lose Bowen or Michael Jordan.
FINISH THE DEGREE. A lot of schools boast about their commitment to their athletes' education. Obviously every Buckeye athlete isn't a molecular genetics major. But they provide the resources for even former athletes to finish what they started.
Scoonie Penn did it. Greg Oden is one year away. They're not alone.
From dispatch.com:
And that’s where Ohio State was waiting to meet him. By taking advantage of the university’s degree completion program for former student-athletes, which helps those who leave without graduating return and finish their courses, Oden is now roughly one year shy of a bachelor’s degree in education, sport industry after enrolling as a freshman in 2006.
“I had to get my degree,” said Oden, a student assistant coach for the Buckeyes. “I have to get a job post-basketball life, you know? I always had that mindset that to be better in life outside of sports, you definitely need your college degree.”
To date, 187 former athletes have earned their degrees through the program. Oden is the only men’s basketball player taking classes, although Trevor Thompson is expected to begin this summer. Thompson left with a year of eligibility remaining in 2017 and spent this season in the NBA’s developmental G-League, where he averaged 5.0 points and 4.1 rebounds and played in 38 of 50 games for the Santa Cruz Warriors.
That's why I always tell athletes to monetize their profession as soon as possible. You can always go back and finish the degree. You can't always get paid to play hoops.
JURGENS TAKES CRYING JORDAN. Billy Price presented the Buckeyes with 2017 Big Ten championship and Cotton Bowl rings yesterday.
Looks like a designer took it on the chin:
Ohio State kicker Sean Nuernberger says they misspelled the name on his Big Ten Championship ring as Neurenburger. Says hes used to having his name misspelled, though.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) April 9, 2018
Ouch. I've spelled it enough to have it memorized now. I will forever copy and paste James Laurinaitis. Much like the word "restaurant," I will never be able to spell that surname without googling just to be sure.
HERE WE GO, MISSISSIPPI. Michigan still hadn't heard from the NCAA on the immediate eligibility of Mississippi transfer quarterback Shea Patterson. As it turns out, it's because the Rebels Losers disagree with his assessment of their dissipation.
From cbssports.com:
Ole Miss is objecting to Shea Patterson's assessment of the conditions within the program that the quarterback claims caused him to transfer from the school amid an NCAA scandal, his attorney tells CBS Sports.
The objection recently sent to the NCAA could impact Patterson's ongoing transfer waiver appeal as he is looking to immediately become eligible to play for Michigan in 2018. The objection is part of a response delivered to the NCAA last month, according to attorney Thomas Mars.
Either Michigan or Missisipp gets screwed, eh? That's a textbook win/win.
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