Scarlet_Buckeye
Finally got around to watching the Spring Game (had a very busy weekend & Monday).
Anyway, here's Scarlet Buckeye's thoughts on the Spring Game:
(1) If Braxton Miller goes down, we're in some *big* trouble. Neither Jones or Barrett are "ready". Jones is probably the more "poised" of the two, but I think Barrett might throw a better ball. Here's the thing that scares me about both: they both have no idea what a "touch" pass is. I can't tell you how many times I saw them throwing straight rockets at their receivers (& when it was clearly not needed); Barrett especially. When you throw a straight missile into the hands of your receiver that's standing 7-10 feet away, the percentages of catching the ball drop than if you were to throw a simple touch pass and lead the receiver. Until Jones and Barrett learn this concept, they're not ready to lead this team. Finally: I do think Jones is the better of the two at this point, but I do think Barrett has the higher upside (I think Barrett could end up being a serviceable QB, as long as he grows/matures - think pocket presence - and there's no indication - at this point - to believe he won't grow/mature.
(2) Kyle Dodson absolutely got destroyed. #94 Rashad Frazier (WHO?!) ate him alive *twice* pretty badly. Dodson came in as a fairly heralded recruit (consensus 4-star) and he did not look any good. Which leads me to my bigger point: I'm really concerned about the Offensive Line this year. Last year, Taylor Decker was considered the "weak link"; now - this season - he's considered the "anchor". Yikes. Aside from Decker, the only guy with any real experience is G Pat Elflein. In the little I saw of Elflein last season, I'm not too worried; but that leaves three other spots to fill. I thought Boren was a shoe-in to lock up the C position, but it sounds like Billy Price is giving Boren quite a push. As for the other two spots... Antonio Underwood and Darryl Baldwin better be ready. But I think we all have to be pretty honest with ourselves: neither of these guys has done anything yet in a game to prove that they are ready to carry the mantle.
(3) Losing Carlos Hyde is so huge, words cannot even begin to describe how devastating his loss could be. I'm ready to go out on a limb and say Hyde is the best RB OSU has seen since Maurice Clarett. Yeah we have a lot of crazy depth at RB (Elliott, Smith, Dunn, Ball) but let's be real... none of those guys are Carlos Hyde. Last year... I felt supremely confident in that when we we're faced with a 3rd & short or 4th & short, we could simply turn around and hand the ball off to Carlos Hyde and pick up the first down (ironically, this is the very same thing that cost us a chance at playing in the National Championship game, as Meyer & Herman decided late in the Big Ten Championship game to run off-tackle with Miller, instead of turning around and handing the ball off to Hyde). The simple fact is... no matter how good Elliott/Smith/Dunn/Ball end up being, the simple odds are they will likely not end up being as good as Hyde was. A talent like Hyde is simply so rare. Bottom line: this year, I'm concerned that when the chips are down and we need that short yardage to pick up a fresh set of downs, I'm not sure we have that go-to-guy on the team that can pick up 2-3 yards and move the chains for us. I did like what I saw tho, however, in the circle drill... as I believe it was Elliott (Scarlet #15) vs. McMillan (Gray #5), and it looked to me like Elliott got the best of McMillan. So maybe Elliott can be that guy that can gain those 4th & 3 yards, but to me he's just not Carlos Hyde.
(4) It was very hard to judge the receivers - mostly because the QB throws weren't that great. One of the things that alarms me is... Meyer stated he wanted to throw the ball a lot in the Spring Game (and they did), but really their weren't that many catches. I suppose the best of the bunch looked to be Michael Thomas, but quite frankly, I'm done getting excited about Thomas until Thomas actually does something on a Game field. Thomas (right now) is this team's Bam Childress. Dude looks AMAZING in Spring Games and practices (ala the insane one-handed catch he had on Saturday and the... what... 2-3 Instragram videos we've seen of him catching the ball out of mid-air with 1 hand. There's no question... the guy has all the talent in the world, but with how dismal the receiving core looked last year, and the fact that he was unable to make it onto the field and do anything productive... this all leads me severely wondering about his ability to contribute on Saturdays. It's time for Thomas to put up. As for the rest: I didn't really see/notice Evan Spencer, Devin Smith, James Clark, or Corey Smith. Not even sure if all four of those guys even played. I do recall seeing (I believe) Corey Smith in on a catch or two, but other than that, I thought those names were very silent - which is alarming to me, considering how "silent" that group was (aside from Corey Smith) the few games of the season last year.
(5) Defensive Line is literally the one unit that I have zero worries or concerns about. We are so ridiculously talented there (AND DEEP) that it's not even funny. And you know what they say... the game is won in between the trenches; especially on the defensive side. With DE Noah Spence (yes, I know, he's suspended 3 games - Navy, VaTech, Kent State), DT Michael Bennett, DE Joey Bosa locking down 3 for the 4 spots (I'd really like to see Adolphus Washington move inside and occupy the 2nd DT slot), I feel supremely confident in this group to get things done. And that's not even mentioned the added talent of key reserves like DE Jamal Marcus (looked fantastic vs. Clemson), DTs Tommy Schutt & Joel Hale... I think this unit will be more than fine.
(6) With the departure of Ryan Shazier to the NFL, our only "reliable LB" over the past 2-3 seasons is now gone. This unit is almost as worrisome as the Offensive Line unit. Fortunately, we do have some experience (Josh Perry, Curtis Grant, Cam Williams), but to be honest, I'm not sold on any of those guys. McMillan looks the part - kid looks like a BEAST out there; insanely huge - but I'm certainly worrisome about starting a true freshman at LB and relying on him to be our "savior". I know this horse has been beaten to death by now, but I'm really bummed about losing out on Mike Mitchell. I know, I know... the guy never even played a down last season, so how do we even know if he was capable or not - I get it. But, there's no denying the kid had supreme talent (see Nike's The Opening) and that we have some big question marks currently at LB. I suppose the good news is... there's been a lot of talk about Darron Lee looking pretty solid at LB.
(7) I'm supremely confident with Doran Grant locking down the 1 corner position. I know some will call me crazy, but I honestly thought Grant was better than Roby last season. So, that's one position; now what about the second? Well... here's where the big question mark is. The secondary was down right atrocious last year - perhaps the worst since I've really started watching & analyzing Ohio State (back in 2001). It was embarrassing with how "soft" our coverage was (really there's evidence of it all season, but certainly look no further than vs. MSU and vs. Clemson). I'm thrilled with the hire of Chris Ash, and I loved that the first thing he said was we had to get more aggressive on the defensive side; especially the secondary. So I think the change in strategy will be a much needed change (I expect OSU to blitz a lot more this year, and I certainly expect them to get away from that "soft" 7 yards-off coverage and play more 2-3 yards bump-and-run coverage. But back to the question at hand... who's going to man the corner opposite of Grant? Well, in all honestly, I think if it's Reeves, I think we could be in some trouble. I was quite high on Reeves coming out of H.S., but last season he did not look ready to be playing major D1 ball. He just looked too slow to me. So, I'm hoping Eli Apple or Gareon Conley can step up and man the 2nd corner. I would much prefer seeing Reeves as a 3rd DB. After those names... Damon Webb or Devan Bogard better be ready, because there's not much else in the barn after those horses.
(8) Safeties. I know we're losing Christian Bryant, and I know what he meant to the team (A LOT), but honestly... I feel pretty confident in my by Tyvis Powell. Tyvis seems to just get it, and I have all the faith in the world that he will be more than serviceable. I don't think he has the inherent talent to be all All-American or anything like that, but I do think he has the heart & drive to make a big play when a big play is needed (see vs. Michigan last season). As for the second safety spot, I think Vonn Bell has done enough to warrant having some faith in him. I really wish he was available for spring ball so he could get all the necessary reps he likely needs, but unfortunately the injury is keeping him sidelined from so. And while I feel less confident in these guys, I'm happy to have Cam Burrows, Ron Tanner (had some very nice hits in Saturday's Spring Game), and Chris Worley (could he be Christian Bryant 2.0?).
Perfect weather today! Pretty good turnout too.
61K in attendance.
Freshman kicker was trending on twitter. Looks like we got a good one for the next few years
Definitely excited for Brionte Dunn. Passing game was cringeworthy (and I doubt having Braxton in there today would improve things much)......slight nod to JT for the backup qb role but neither really impressed me
Sorry SB but OSU is going undefeated this year and will play for the National title. Urban is pissed and will have these boys ready for world domination.
I'm aiming to go to the PSU game in Happy Valley. We better fucking win.