Buckeye Blogger NetworkBeen welcoming QB’s with open arms since 2010
.. not so much, but I’ve a few thoughts on this year’s NFL Draft and, to me, the relative paucity of Buckeyes chosen. The pre-draft chatter regarding Buckeyes indicated that there likely were not many going to be drafted and those who were, not going very high. Let’s start with the draftees.
Who Got Drafted?
This section won’t take too long to cover, since there were only three Bucks drafted.
Jonathan Hankins New York Giants 2nd round
A good pick for the Giants. They need help in defending the run, and Big Hank should provide it. You can be sure that Coach Tom Coughlin will demand high effort from Hank. A year under Urban may help with this transition.
John Simon Baltimore Ravens 4th round
The Ravens need help at LB, so Simon should get a legitimate opportunity to make the team and see playing time. I see this as a good match between a hard-nosed player and a hard-nosed organization.
Reid Fragel Cincinnati Bengals 7th round
I was hoping to see Fragel go higher, but glad that the Bengals took a flyer on Reid’s potential. I’m going to be interested to see his development. [Note to opposing coaches: when Bengals are in goal-line situation and Fragel checks in as eligible receiver, you need to pay attention to him.
The Leaders and the Legends will sing their swan song in 2013. The NFL draft has come and gone: Where did the Buckeyes end up? How stupid or smart were the Cleveland Browns? It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
Don’t go away mad, just go away…
“It’s good for the fans, it’s good for the players. It strengthens our schedule from the perspective of the postseason and binds the conference together in a powerful way.”
And with those Jim Delaney comments, the Big Ten has realigned for the 2014 season. The first year to include Maryland and Rutgers will also include the newly realigned Big Ten East and Big Ten West.
Those eyebrows look like a bunch of spiders in a wrestling match!
Let me say it, Hallelujah!
Last week I mentioned in Quick Hitters that the BCS had tapped the strongest of their think tanks to come up with the name of the college football playoff and appropriately named it The College Football Playoff. Kudos to Delaney, Gene Smith and the guy who ruined Domino’s Pizza (can you really ruin something already terrible?) and is now AD at TTUN for bringing in some world class nerds to do major research and realize that the fans of the Big Ten were almost unanimously in favor of one thing: Michigan sucks. What I meant to say is they were in favor of the divisions being called anything other than Leader and Legends and preferred a more simple approach like North/South or East/West. Thanks to Jim Delaney and those crazy eyebrows for finally giving the people what they want.
Side note: I remember being in favor of Lakes and Plains over what they chose.
The Buckeyes are in the East division with Penn State, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Rutgers and TTUN.
Meanwhile the West will be home to Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern, Iowa and Minnesota. Read More
Tomorrow is the NFL Draft and the Browns are set to be on the clock. Their owner, however, may be in some serious hot water. When will this year’s crop of Buckeyes come off the board? It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
Nightmare on Lou Groza Blvd.
Compliments of an outstanding 2012, the Browns find themselves once again not only picking in the top half of the draft but in the top 10 at number 6. Obviously the team has plenty of needs to fill and they did a solid job this offseason in the free agent market to help sure up some of the more glaring weaknesses.
New Brown Paul Kruger sacking QB Brandon Weeden in 2012
According to experts, the addition of former Baltimore Raven Paul Kruger was one the off-season’s biggest moves not just in Cleveland but the NFL in general. Putting him at rush end in the 3-4 (as he played with the Ravens) opposite Jabaal Sheard is supposed to give the Browns (Along with Phil Taylor inside) a formidable front 3. I’m not sold.
I love Phil Taylor and the possibilities of him sliding out into the gaps off the nose and being paired with Aytahba Rubin at the same time. I like the thought of Sheard as a hybrid DE/OLB with his wheels giving him an ability to play standing up or in a 3-point stance. Now, from what I am led to believe, Paul Kruger is the “missing link” to bring the defensive line from good to great. I just can’t help thinking: This is a guy who in his entire career has been strictly a third down pass rusher, literally, almost exclusively. Don’t believe me? I’ll bet you didn’t know that in 2011 he played 373 total plays. That number nearly tripled in 2012 when with Terrell Suggs nursing an Achilles tear. Read More
The greatest day in brainstorming.
Friend of the BBC and draft aficionado Jeff joins us again to talk the NFL Draft. Jeff is a contributor on Indian’s Baseball Insider, has contributed NFL draft coverage on Sports Time Ohio, and can be found on twitter @jeffMLBdraft.
With about two weeks to go until the NFL draft, things are falling into place. The All Star games are done, the combine is long over, and pro days are all but done as well. Ohio State wrapped up their own Pro Day, so at this point things are pretty set in stone for the players.
The Pro Day was the last chance for a lot of these guys to show off what they could do, and prove to teams not only are they worth drafting but drafting high. The downside to this is that the top showing at the Pro day and the only guy who seemed to turn heads was Troy Smith, who used the Pro Day as a chance to try and get back into the NFL. It’s been frankly a rough few months for the guys in grey, so let’s see where their stock is and where I think they end up going.
Johnathan Hankins
Jonathan Hankins is the star of this class. When he declared some people had him listed as a top ten pick and the second defensive tackle on the board behind Star Lotulelei. Since then others have rocketed up, and while Hankins hasn’t hurt himself he has still fallen. This is often a problem for underclassmen, they don’t get to participate in the all star games and this in turn can make them forgotten. The other issue is that while the talent is without a doubt there for Hankins to be a first rounder, the question following him is why he failed to produce and why he seemed to be a low effort player. When no one can see you play, the low effort and little production will hurt you.
Read More
The NFL Combine is over. Basketball season is getting good and maybe, just maybe the Buckeyes are catching their second wind. It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
Tommy Terrific at the 2000 Combine
NFL player factory
Seven Buckeyes were selected to participate in this year’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. John Simon, Jonathan Hankins, Jake Stoneburner, Zack Boren, Reid Fragel, Nathan Williams and Etienne Sabino were poked, prodded and dissected by doctors and NFL executives. They then went onto the field at Lucas Oil Stadium for tests of agility, speed and overall skill. Read More
This week’s soundtrack takes you back to 1978, well before vampires were sparkly and werewolves were dreamy. Happy All Hallows Eve, folks…
Useful, that.
Buckeye 411
Prepared?
Time for Wednesday’s wander through the wonderment of college sports, brought to you by music appropriate for this week
Buckeye 411
@SammySilv, Excellent As Always
O’Brien The Lion- In today’s B1G conference call, coach O’Brien commented that they are preparing for Braxton to be healthy and leading the Ohio State offense. He spoke highly of his senior quarterback, Matt McGloin, calling him smart and tough and the reason that they’ve been so successful this season. Penn State’s “NASCAR” offense, which has been averaging 90 plays a game in conference play, is reliant on execution and communication, and O’Brien believes that his senior leadership has bought in totally- no “doom and gloom” in what could be a very dour locker-room, considering the off season events and team transfers.
Scheduling News
“Oregon has developed into one of the premier football programs in the FBS.We are excited to add them to our future slate of games.”
Unspoken, but inferred- “Plus, we’ve sold our soul to Nike anyway with our ‘one time tribute’ jerseys and such that this move only makes sense.” Read More
Major Award
At times it hasn’t been pretty, but the bottom line is that Ohio State is still unbeaten on the 2012 season–Urban Meyer’s first as head coach.
Through just six games, the Buckeyes have had less than impressive victories over Cal and UAB. But they also had a hard-earned victory on the road against Michigan State and had an offensive outburst in a win over Nebraska.
There’s no denying Meyer’s impact on the Ohio State offense. The Buckeyes rank second in the Big Tne behind the Cornhuskers in total offense (431.5 ypg) and scoring offense (38.5 ppg).
The defense, though? Not so good. OSU ranks sixth in scoring defense at 20.5 points per game and tenth in total defense, giving up 386.5 yards per game. Both numbers will need to improve as the season goes on.
But one thing most Buckeye fans will say is that it is exciting to watch Ohio State football again.
Through six games, though, there have been ups and downs, surprises and disappointments. With that, I present to you my 2012 midseason awards on both offense and defense.
Offensive MVP: Braxton Miller (QB)
Probably the easiest choice of the group. Ohio State would not be undefeated if it didn’t have Miller. The OSU quarterback has thrown for 1,060 yards, run for 763 and accumulated 17 total touchdowns. Simply put, Miller is everything to the OSU offense.
Most Improved Player: Corey “Philly” Brown (WR)
I must admit, I didn’t see much out of Philly Brown in his first two seasons at OSU. But this year, under Meyer, Brown has improved greatly as a legitimate threat at wide receiver for the Buckeyes. Brown has 35 catches so far this season (he had just 14 last year) for 352 yards and one touchdown. Going forward, Brown will be a big part of the offense’s success.
Biggest Surprise: Offensive Line
There are no stats to back me up here as I’m just going with what my eyes see. But this year’s offensive line is the playing at the highest level we’ve seen in quite some time. With most of the same guys back from last year, and Reid Fragel moving into the starting right tackle spot, the offensive line has been extremely consistent.
Biggest Disappointment: Jordan Hall (RB) Read More
