Skull Session: Buckeyes Have the Nation's Best Pass Protectors, Ohio State Has Dominated Receiver Recruiting, and More Commitments Are Coming

By Kevin Harrish on June 8, 2021 at 4:59 am
We've got some painted kids in today's skull session.
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Let's start off the day with some random Cardale Jones appreciation, shall we?

If I could make my own contribution to the Dolo love fest...

Goodnight, Landon Collins

Word of the Day: Sloven.

 BOTH BEST. Withouth doubt my favorite thing about this Ohio State offense is that you can mention that the Buckeyes have the two best players in the country at a particular position and it's not immediately clear which position you're talking about.

Your mind probably jumps to Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave first, but...

The two best tackles and the two best receivers in the country heading into 2020 – that's one hell of a gift to a first-year starter at quarterback.

 TAKE A BOW, BRIAN HARTLINE. Here's what it looks like to lap everybody else when it comes to wide receiver recruiting.

The Buckeyes almost double the next highest total, and realistically, the only reason they don't have more is because they're hindered by those pesky scholarship limits.

 ACROSS THE SHIELD. Turns out, Ohio State won't just get you to The League, it'll make sure you're prepared to dominate The League, too.

CBS Sports just rolled out its annual list of the top-100 players in the NFL, and it has some distinct Buckeye flavor with seven Ohio State players cracking the list.

68. Corey Linsley: He was an important part of the Green Bay offense the past few seasons playing in front of Aaron Rodgers. Now he will fill the same role for Justin Herbert, which is an important thing for a young quarterback.

65. Cameron Heyward: His sack numbers fell from nine to four last season, but he still had 19 quarterback hits. He is also a good run player, which is key in their scheme.

57. Ezekiel Elliott: Elliott is coming off a disappointing 2020 season that saw him rush for career lows in yards (979) and average (4.0). The line was banged up in front of him, but this is a big prove-it year for Elliott coming up in 2021.

55. Michael Thomas: His 2020 season was a disappointment in a lot of ways. He was hurt for much of the year, suspended by the team for a game for a practice-field altercation, and had career lows in catches, touchdowns and yardage. He played just 10 regular-season games and was clearly not the same player he was the two prior seasons.

40. Chase Young: He had 7.5 sacks as a rookie, but really came on late in the season. Look for his sack numbers to go way up in 2021 and for him to be much higher on this list next year.

25. Joey Bosa: Injuries limited him to 10 starts last season, which is why his sack number dropped from 11.5 to 7.5. But he still remains a handful off the edge for any offensive tackle.

17. Nick Bosa: He missed 14 games last season after tearing his ACL in Week 2 against the Jets. He should be full-go this season, which means he will be back to wreaking havoc on quarterbacks.

Terry McLaurin and Marshon Lattimore got a little bit of love in the "Just Missed" category, but if we're being real, Cameron Johnston is actually the biggest Buckeye snub (I can't even tell if I'm being sarcastic or not).

 MORE COMING. You could probably safely assume that Ohio State's recruiting efforts were not quite finished given that they only have 13 commitments in the 2022 class, but don't worry, CJ Hicks and Tegre Tshabola are here to remove all doubt.

As for who it's going to be or when, well, it looks like you'll just have to camp out on Eleven Warriors dot com and wait for that red banner to appear.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Time Of The Season" by The Zombies.

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. A kayaker was rescued during a California-to-Hawaii solo attempt... How soon you become unfit when you stop exercising... A guy catches a ridiculously rare bass... A 'Among Us'-shaped McNugget sells for nearly $100,000... How to know how much money is "enough"... How long before AI can 'understand' animals?...

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