Skull Session: Dre'Mont Jones and Nick Bosa Grade Out Nation's Best, Jeremy Ruckert Impresses and Gareon Conley's Comeback

By Kevin Harrish on August 13, 2018 at 4:59 am
Dre'Mont Jones and Nick Bosa shed blocks into the Monday Skull Session.
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Ohio State's head coach may be on administrative leave, but the social media team is very much active, and in midseason form.

ICYMI:

Word of the Day: Puerile

 GOOD LUCK BLOCKING THIS. It's not even the start of the season yet and I'm already in awe of Ohio State's defensive line talent a season after the Buckeyes sent four players to The League.

Every stat I read, it seems more and more ridiculous. Like this one:

The Buckeyes lost three starters on defensive line the the NFL – Sam Hubbard, Tyquan Lewis and Tracy Sprinkle – yet return the best interior and edge pass rushers in the nation. That shouldn't be possible.

I'm well aware that Clemson's got four beasts from Norse mythology playing on its defensive line for third-straight season, but Ohio State's got the two best pass rusher at their position, the quickest, most disruptive interior lineman in the country, and Predator from the movie Predator. It's tough to complain about that.

 JEREMY RUCKERT REALLY MIGHT PLAY. I'm usually one of the last aboard freshman hype trains at schools like Ohio State – with the exception of J.K. Dobbins, as I predicted well before the 2017 season started that he would outrush Mike Weber.

So don't take this lightly when I tell you I'm starting to buy into Jeremy Ruckert, especially after I read what his teammates and coaches are saying about him already.

From Tony Gerdeman of TheOzone.net:

“I’m looking at one of the — I do this quite often — it’s not fair to the young people, but I think Jeremy Ruckert might be the best tight end prospect that I’ve ever seen and recruited,” he said. “His skill set is ridiculous. Now it’s a question of getting him ready to play.”

In seeing him during summer workouts, senior H-back Parris Campbell understood Meyer’s excitement for what Ruckert could bring to the Ohio State offense.

“I’ve seen him running routes and catching and stuff like that,” Campbell said. “Obviously he has to do more than that as a tight end in our offense. He’s definitely one of those elusive tight ends. The kid has massive hands. He has great hands.

“One day he was actually out there catching one-hand passes like it was nothing. He was having people stand behind him and putting his hand in front of their face and just catching one handed. It was crazy. I think he’s a guy that can contribute for sure.”

My only reservation is that I'm not sold he can block, especially Division I linebackers, and it's hard to put a tight end on the field who can't block.

But really, it's third down in an obvious passing distance, who are you putting on the field, Ruckert, or any other tight end on the roster? I'm riding with Ruckert.

 CONLEY COMEBACK. People forget that Gareon Conley was a lock-down corner a year before Denzel Ward and Marshon Lattimore really even saw the field in a meaningful capacity.

Conley's had a tough time in the league with nagging injuries which cost him most of his rookie season, but he's feeling good and ready to roll as the Raiders head into the second week of the preseason.

From Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review Journal:

“I’m feeling good,” Conley said Friday after the Raiders’ 16-10 win over the Detroit Lions. “I’m ready to be back. It’s been a long time since I’ve played. I’m anxious to do it.”

The 2017 first-round pick participated in position drills before the exhibition opener. Afterward, he monitored the action from the sideline, doing his best to communicate with teammates who played and also take mental reps, envisioning how he would react to certain scenarios.

“Mentally, I’m still going over the calls and fine-tuning everything, helping people out with what I see, acting like I was out there,” Conley said. “I put myself in their shoes. … It’s hard, from never being hurt in college and then to get hurt last year and feeling real good the first day and getting hurt.

“It really helped me (having) a lot of coaches and teammates who were telling me to stay positive. They haven’t been pressuring me or anything, making sure that I’m healthy.”

I've always maintained that Conley, while not quite the athletic freak like Lattimore, would have a lengthy NFL career with his consistency and versatility. I'm stoked for him to finally be healthy and prove me right.

 JJ WOLF UPSETS WORLD #85, MEETS FEDERER. Ohio State sophomore tennis player JJ Wolf had a pretty stellar weekend at the Western & Southern Open, held in his hometown of Cincinnati.

Wolf earned received a wild card into the event and promptly dropped the world's No. 85 player, Josev Kovalik, in straight sets.

Wolf also made sure to make time for his fans.

 THE PRIDE OF ILLINOIS. Illinois doesn't have much. They finished in a three way tie for second-to last in the Big Ten in men's basketball and somehow was worse in football, going 0-9 in conference.

But no matter how low things get, they'll always have Bill Murray, and by extension, so will the Big Ten.

 

We cant believe it either! Bill Murray is going to be at the BTN Big10k tomorrow!

A post shared by Big Ten Network (@bigtennetwork) on

Bless you, Illini. As long as you share Bill Murray, you may go 2-10 in peace.

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