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LGHL Jeremiah Smith gives the Buckeyes something they haven’t yet had under Ryan Day and Brian Hartline
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Jeremiah Smith gives the Buckeyes something they haven’t yet had under Ryan Day and Brian Hartline
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
joseph maiorana-usa today sports
A performance like that from a true freshman could further boost receiver recruiting if that’s even possible.
If you watched Saturday’s game, it’s likely you came away with the feeling that the hype surrounding true freshman Jeremiah Smith is more than warranted. An electric performance with six receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns, that’s just the beginning of what will be a stellar season for the youngster.
If anything, Saturday could have even been better for Smith, who dropped his first pass that realistically looked like it could have gone for another score, but that’s just further proof to his ability that he can start a little sluggish and still finish with the numbers he did.
While you could speak to Smith’s stats ad nauseam, it’s the outside factors with recruiting that make the Week 1 performance that much more exciting for the program.
Since Brian Hartline has been at Ohio State, he has dominated in both the on-field development and recruiting with the guys he’s been able to bring in. A two-way street and strategy, it’s easier to develop the best players in the country at the position, but his constant track record of getting guys to the NFL cements him as the best receivers coach in the country.
Still, this past weekend showed something different for Hartline and Ohio State, and that’s watching a true freshman compete with the first-team offense and at that high of a level. Sure, the Buckeyes have played true freshmen before in games where they have a substantial lead, but seeing Smith start is an aspect the Buckeyes are now rolling out there for the first time in the Day era.
Guys like Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Marvin Harrison Jr. are among the latest receivers to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, but not one of them started their first game as a true freshman — Wilson started toward the end of the year. The argument of “who they had in front of them” can be played here, but Smith also has a bevy of receivers in front of him who have been in Columbus long before he arrived.
All of this to say that Smith starting as a true freshman and performing the way he did should help continue to have the Buckeyes recruiting receivers at an elite rate, and potentially even boost the stock of Hartline’s room more, if that’s even possible, knowing how well they’ve done already.
Class of 2026 commit Chris Henry Jr. was on campus this weekend to watch his future team. The No. 1 player in the country and top receiver per the 247Sports Composite, any time you have Henry Jr. back on campus it’s a good thing. Giving him the chance to see what he could do once at Ohio State has to go a long way in his mind after seeing what a freshman is capable of.
A player that is already receiving similar bouts of hype as Smith, Henry Jr. playing at Mater Dei rather than Cincinnati Withrow has worried some people that Oregon or USC may swoop in with him leaving the Ohio state lines. It’s been thought clearly since his pledge that as long as Day and Hartline are in Columbus, he will end up there too.
Seeing Smith go off on Saturday doesn’t hurt the Buckeyes either, and if anything should give Henry the excitement that he too can have similar success early in his career if he continues on the path that he’s already on.
Simply put, Smith’s Week 1 was about as good as you could have hoped for in a freshman debut. While it was a help to the team in regard to winning the game, it’s also a win for the Buckeyes in recruiting, as this does nothing but add fuel to the fire that is the Ohio State wide receiver recruiting machine.
Continue reading...
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
joseph maiorana-usa today sports
A performance like that from a true freshman could further boost receiver recruiting if that’s even possible.
If you watched Saturday’s game, it’s likely you came away with the feeling that the hype surrounding true freshman Jeremiah Smith is more than warranted. An electric performance with six receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns, that’s just the beginning of what will be a stellar season for the youngster.
If anything, Saturday could have even been better for Smith, who dropped his first pass that realistically looked like it could have gone for another score, but that’s just further proof to his ability that he can start a little sluggish and still finish with the numbers he did.
While you could speak to Smith’s stats ad nauseam, it’s the outside factors with recruiting that make the Week 1 performance that much more exciting for the program.
Since Brian Hartline has been at Ohio State, he has dominated in both the on-field development and recruiting with the guys he’s been able to bring in. A two-way street and strategy, it’s easier to develop the best players in the country at the position, but his constant track record of getting guys to the NFL cements him as the best receivers coach in the country.
Still, this past weekend showed something different for Hartline and Ohio State, and that’s watching a true freshman compete with the first-team offense and at that high of a level. Sure, the Buckeyes have played true freshmen before in games where they have a substantial lead, but seeing Smith start is an aspect the Buckeyes are now rolling out there for the first time in the Day era.
Guys like Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Marvin Harrison Jr. are among the latest receivers to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, but not one of them started their first game as a true freshman — Wilson started toward the end of the year. The argument of “who they had in front of them” can be played here, but Smith also has a bevy of receivers in front of him who have been in Columbus long before he arrived.
All of this to say that Smith starting as a true freshman and performing the way he did should help continue to have the Buckeyes recruiting receivers at an elite rate, and potentially even boost the stock of Hartline’s room more, if that’s even possible, knowing how well they’ve done already.
Prospective players taking notice of early playing time
Class of 2026 commit Chris Henry Jr. was on campus this weekend to watch his future team. The No. 1 player in the country and top receiver per the 247Sports Composite, any time you have Henry Jr. back on campus it’s a good thing. Giving him the chance to see what he could do once at Ohio State has to go a long way in his mind after seeing what a freshman is capable of.
A player that is already receiving similar bouts of hype as Smith, Henry Jr. playing at Mater Dei rather than Cincinnati Withrow has worried some people that Oregon or USC may swoop in with him leaving the Ohio state lines. It’s been thought clearly since his pledge that as long as Day and Hartline are in Columbus, he will end up there too.
Seeing Smith go off on Saturday doesn’t hurt the Buckeyes either, and if anything should give Henry the excitement that he too can have similar success early in his career if he continues on the path that he’s already on.
Simply put, Smith’s Week 1 was about as good as you could have hoped for in a freshman debut. While it was a help to the team in regard to winning the game, it’s also a win for the Buckeyes in recruiting, as this does nothing but add fuel to the fire that is the Ohio State wide receiver recruiting machine.
Continue reading...
LGHL Can Jake Diebler land the No. 1 guard in the country, or will OSU’s shoe deal get in the way?
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Can Jake Diebler land the No. 1 guard in the country, or will OSU’s shoe deal get in the way?
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Twitter | @PetersonDarryn
Darryn Peterson might be a native Ohioan, but he is also officially part of Team adiddas.
We now pause your regularly scheduled Ohio State football coverage for a men’s basketball update. While there is still plenty to break down from the football Buckeyes’ 52-6 win over Akron, and even more to look forward to for Saturday’s primetime matchup with Western Michigan, the biggest news on the recruiting trail on Tuesday did not come from the gridiron but instead happened on the hardwood.
Yesterday, the No. 3 player in the 2025 recruiting class according to 247Sports Composite rankings Darryn Peterson cut his list of finalists down to four, and that list included Jake Diebler’s Buckeyes.
Peterson is the No. 1 combo guard in the class and the top player in the state of California, but here’s the thing, he’s only been in California for less than a month. He is originally from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and played at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy before going to Huntington Prep in West Virginia for his junior season. Now the five-star prospect is headed West as he will play his senior season at Prolific Prep in Napa.
This past weekend, Peterson was back in Ohio for an official visit in Columbus and then just days later announced that he was cutting his previous top-eight schools down to a final four. Joining the Buckeyes in the list are the presumed favorite Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas State Wildcats, and USC Trojans.
The Jayhawks are believed to be the leaders for a number of reasons. The first is that Bill Self is an incredibly good recruiter and Kansas is one of the bluest-blood programs in the country, so those two facts are tough to turn down for anyone.
However, the other factor is a little bit more specific to the era of college sports that we live in. Last November, Peterson signed a historic NIL deal with adidas; this made him the first high school basketball player to sign a shoe endorsement deal of this kind. Perhaps not coincidentally, three of Peterson’s final four schools are outfitted by Nike, and the fourth is repped by adidas... care to guess which one that is?
While the Buckeyes, Trojans, and Cats are all Nike teams, that doesn’t mean that there is no chance for Peterson to eventually choose to play for them.
Land-Grant Holy Land’s men’s basketball insider Connor Lemons agreed that KU was the presumptive favorite, but cautioned that it was far from a done deal.
“Because of the adidas deal and Bill Self being a recruiting mobster, Kansas is probably in the lead,” Lemons told me. “But it’s not a lock by any means. Diebler could still definitely get this done.”
Peterson is 6-foot-5 and weighs 195 pounds. ESPN analyst and former Ohio State assistant Paul Biancardi said of him, “Peterson is a prolific scoring guard with playmaking talent. He possesses positional size, power, footwork, and touch.”
Over the summer, 247Sports’ director of scouting Adam Finkelstein wrote that what makes Peterson so unique is his ability to score from anywhere on the flow, and to make it all look natural in the flow of the offense.
“Peterson is extremely versatile,” Finkelstein said.” He’s a true combo guard who is equally effective playing on or off the ball. He has natural poise as a handler ... He’s also a true multi-level scorer who can simultaneously see the floor, make reads, and pass well.”
The one area of Peterson’s game that apparently still needs some work is his shot from distance. He shot 31% from three-point land last season, which is good for a high school junior, but he is working on becoming more consistent before he heads to the next level, but that is picking nits for a guy who seems destined for NBA stardom.
“There’s just not another guard in the country right now who can match Peterson’s combination of size, length, strength, real functional versatility, and effortless ability to get to his spots that can make the game look easy at times,” Finkelstein concluded.
In addition to his high school and AAU careers, Peterson was named to the All-Tournament Team at last summer’s 2023 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship. He put up 13 points as Team USA destroyed Canada 118-36 in the championship game.
Anytime you are going up against Bill Self and Kansas on the recruiting trail, it will almost certainly be an uphill battle, but as an Ohio native, Diebler does have some sentimental strings to pull. I also think that it is hopefully telling that Peterson announced his finalists within days of ending his official visit in Columbus.
I’m not saying that he quietly committed to OSU while on the trip or anything like that, I do think that it has to bode well for OSU that he was confident in narrowing down his options after spending time with the team and coaching staff.
As it stands, it looks like the Buckeyes have a little over two months to convince Peterson to come home. The expectation is that he will commit in time to make it official during the early signing period which begins on Nov. 13. He will visit Manhattan, Kansas on Sept. 27, having already made official trips to USC and Kansas.
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Twitter | @PetersonDarryn
Darryn Peterson might be a native Ohioan, but he is also officially part of Team adiddas.
We now pause your regularly scheduled Ohio State football coverage for a men’s basketball update. While there is still plenty to break down from the football Buckeyes’ 52-6 win over Akron, and even more to look forward to for Saturday’s primetime matchup with Western Michigan, the biggest news on the recruiting trail on Tuesday did not come from the gridiron but instead happened on the hardwood.
Yesterday, the No. 3 player in the 2025 recruiting class according to 247Sports Composite rankings Darryn Peterson cut his list of finalists down to four, and that list included Jake Diebler’s Buckeyes.
Peterson is the No. 1 combo guard in the class and the top player in the state of California, but here’s the thing, he’s only been in California for less than a month. He is originally from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and played at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy before going to Huntington Prep in West Virginia for his junior season. Now the five-star prospect is headed West as he will play his senior season at Prolific Prep in Napa.
This past weekend, Peterson was back in Ohio for an official visit in Columbus and then just days later announced that he was cutting his previous top-eight schools down to a final four. Joining the Buckeyes in the list are the presumed favorite Kansas Jayhawks, Kansas State Wildcats, and USC Trojans.
NEWS: 2025 5️ Darryn Peterson has cut his list to four schools, a source tells @LeagueRDY:
Kansas
Kansas State
USC
Ohio State
Peterson is the top guard prospect in the 2025 class. #3 overall in the ESPN100. @rtpgfx pic.twitter.com/47JZhwCZVL
— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) September 3, 2024
The Jayhawks are believed to be the leaders for a number of reasons. The first is that Bill Self is an incredibly good recruiter and Kansas is one of the bluest-blood programs in the country, so those two facts are tough to turn down for anyone.
However, the other factor is a little bit more specific to the era of college sports that we live in. Last November, Peterson signed a historic NIL deal with adidas; this made him the first high school basketball player to sign a shoe endorsement deal of this kind. Perhaps not coincidentally, three of Peterson’s final four schools are outfitted by Nike, and the fourth is repped by adidas... care to guess which one that is?
While the Buckeyes, Trojans, and Cats are all Nike teams, that doesn’t mean that there is no chance for Peterson to eventually choose to play for them.
Land-Grant Holy Land’s men’s basketball insider Connor Lemons agreed that KU was the presumptive favorite, but cautioned that it was far from a done deal.
“Because of the adidas deal and Bill Self being a recruiting mobster, Kansas is probably in the lead,” Lemons told me. “But it’s not a lock by any means. Diebler could still definitely get this done.”
Peterson is 6-foot-5 and weighs 195 pounds. ESPN analyst and former Ohio State assistant Paul Biancardi said of him, “Peterson is a prolific scoring guard with playmaking talent. He possesses positional size, power, footwork, and touch.”
Over the summer, 247Sports’ director of scouting Adam Finkelstein wrote that what makes Peterson so unique is his ability to score from anywhere on the flow, and to make it all look natural in the flow of the offense.
“Peterson is extremely versatile,” Finkelstein said.” He’s a true combo guard who is equally effective playing on or off the ball. He has natural poise as a handler ... He’s also a true multi-level scorer who can simultaneously see the floor, make reads, and pass well.”
The one area of Peterson’s game that apparently still needs some work is his shot from distance. He shot 31% from three-point land last season, which is good for a high school junior, but he is working on becoming more consistent before he heads to the next level, but that is picking nits for a guy who seems destined for NBA stardom.
“There’s just not another guard in the country right now who can match Peterson’s combination of size, length, strength, real functional versatility, and effortless ability to get to his spots that can make the game look easy at times,” Finkelstein concluded.
In addition to his high school and AAU careers, Peterson was named to the All-Tournament Team at last summer’s 2023 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship. He put up 13 points as Team USA destroyed Canada 118-36 in the championship game.
Anytime you are going up against Bill Self and Kansas on the recruiting trail, it will almost certainly be an uphill battle, but as an Ohio native, Diebler does have some sentimental strings to pull. I also think that it is hopefully telling that Peterson announced his finalists within days of ending his official visit in Columbus.
I’m not saying that he quietly committed to OSU while on the trip or anything like that, I do think that it has to bode well for OSU that he was confident in narrowing down his options after spending time with the team and coaching staff.
As it stands, it looks like the Buckeyes have a little over two months to convince Peterson to come home. The expectation is that he will commit in time to make it official during the early signing period which begins on Nov. 13. He will visit Manhattan, Kansas on Sept. 27, having already made official trips to USC and Kansas.
Check out Darryn Peterson’s spring highlights:
Continue reading...
LGHL You’re Nuts: Which Buckeye changed the perception of them the most in Week 1?
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You’re Nuts: Which Buckeye changed the perception of them the most in Week 1?
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
Saturday’s performance was, in many respects, unspectacular for the Buckeyes, though it did give us our first look at many of the players who dominated off-season chatter, including quarterback Will Howard and true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
Both looked great on Saturday, but I don’t know if it’s fair to call that a change in perception—they were expected to be great going into the game. It didn’t change the way people would view them this season so much as it solidified those opinions.
Another wide receiver has flown a bit under the radar this off-season, though, as a second-year player on a team stacked with veterans, while guys like Smith and veteran WR TreVeyon Henderson dominated the conversation around his position group.
Inniss, who came in with high expectations surrounding him as a five-star recruit, played in 12 games last season, but with only one reception (though to his credit, it was a 58-yard touchdown reception), he hardly became a household name.
But if there’s one thing about Inniss, it’s that he’s going to do what it takes to get his team to victory. So Inniss, who did not start at wide receiver Saturday, found a way to make his mark while returning punts.
If you had to identify Ohio State’s Achilles heel in the 2023 season, the special teams performance would certainly have to be part of the conversation. On Saturday, in no small part due to Inniss’s work as the lone punt returner against Akron, the Buckeyes’ special teams woes seemed to be a distant memory.
Inniss returned four punts for a total of 60 yards, which, for those of us who have been on summer break and haven’t flexed our math muscles, is an average of 15 yards per return.
The team average in 2023 was only a measly 4.4 yards per punt return, 75 total on the season on 17 returns. Yikes! Inniss single-handedly put up 80 percent of last season’s punt return yardage on Saturday in just a fraction of the returns. He looked like a natural doing it, too, particularly on a few key plays where his athleticism allowed him to grab the football rather than let it roll.
In fact, if the ball was in Inniss’s general stratosphere, he was going for it, a particularly aggressive (and somewhat terrifying) approach to punt returning that I personally loved. It displayed a certain confidence of a player who had come into his own and was ready to lead on the field, even if it was not in the position he ultimately hopes to be in.
His fearlessness and risky maneuvers will surely come at a cost at some point, but on Saturday, it was all reward. These returns positioned the Buckeye offense well, with solid field position to start their drives (for the record, I think the reward outweighs the risk in almost all instances, and I’m happy to see the special teams unit take a more hands-on approach).
The anticipation of Inniss returning a punt for a touchdown outweighs my concerns about a costly play, at least for the moment.
Whether Inniss sees time on offense (and how much) remains to be seen. While competition is high in the wide receiver corps, Inniss is looking to play a bigger role on offense this season. If he proves himself on special teams (and infuses a little life into the unit), he could earn himself that chance.
Regardless, the takeaway from Saturday’s game is that no matter where he is on the field, there is no doubt Brandon Inniss is talented enough to be a playmaker, and he’s enough of a leader to rise to the occasion wherever he is needed.
Now, I’m not saying that Cody Simon is in danger of being Wally Pipped, but what I am saying is that he better not miss too much time or that could become a distinct possibility. With senior captain and Block O recipient Simon out for the season opener against Akron, Arvell Reese did not get the start alongside Sonny Styles, but when he did get onto the field as a linebacker, man, did he look good.
Coming into preseason camp, Reese didn’t seem like he would have a major impact for the Buckeyes this season, outside of mop-up duty. However, all of that changed throughout camp and after the Akron season opener. He has been one of Jim Knowles and James Laurinaitis’ favorite players to praise in recent weeks, and everyone saw on Saturday why. He is a 6-foot-4, 238-pound star-to-be from Cleveland Glenville High School who wreaked havoc on the Zips’ offense on Saturday. On his 31 defensive snaps (13 on special teams), Reese accounted for four tackles, including one for loss when he engulfed Akron quarterback Ben Finley on an option keeper.
According to Pro Football Focus, Reese was the highest-graded linebacker who played more than five snaps on Saturday and was the sixth-rated Buckeye in terms of rush defense grades and fifth in coverage.
As soon as Simon is able to return to the lineup, he will. The veteran is at the center of everything OSU does on defense, both literally as its middle linebacker, but also figuratively, as he is the player with the green dot on his helmet so that Jim Knowles and Ryan Day can communicate with him throughout the game.
But when Simon is back, Knowles and Baby Animal need to figure out how to keep Reese on the field. I don’t think that you are going to take Styles out of the game much more than you already planned, so, unfortunately, I think that C.J. Hicks is going to have to be the one to lose some snaps in favor of Reese.
We know that Hicks is a supremely athletic player, but his time at LB — both last year and against Akron — has been underwhelming. It feels like he has yet to fully adapt his game for the position. Instead, he has looked most at ease in a purely pass-rushing position. He’s obviously not big enough to be an edge rusher, but if Knowles and Larry Johnson could ever agree to use the Jack, he would be a perfect fit. Against Akron, PFF graded Hicks as the best pass rusher on the team, but the lowest-graded defensive starter overall.
So, based on the word of mouth coming out of camp, and his exciting, athletic performance in the season opener, I think that Arvell Reese is going to have to steal some of C.J.’s snaps this season.
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
Today’s Question: Which Buckeye changed the perception of them the most in Week 1?
Jami’s Take: Brandon Inniss
Saturday’s performance was, in many respects, unspectacular for the Buckeyes, though it did give us our first look at many of the players who dominated off-season chatter, including quarterback Will Howard and true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
Both looked great on Saturday, but I don’t know if it’s fair to call that a change in perception—they were expected to be great going into the game. It didn’t change the way people would view them this season so much as it solidified those opinions.
Another wide receiver has flown a bit under the radar this off-season, though, as a second-year player on a team stacked with veterans, while guys like Smith and veteran WR TreVeyon Henderson dominated the conversation around his position group.
Inniss, who came in with high expectations surrounding him as a five-star recruit, played in 12 games last season, but with only one reception (though to his credit, it was a 58-yard touchdown reception), he hardly became a household name.
But if there’s one thing about Inniss, it’s that he’s going to do what it takes to get his team to victory. So Inniss, who did not start at wide receiver Saturday, found a way to make his mark while returning punts.
If you had to identify Ohio State’s Achilles heel in the 2023 season, the special teams performance would certainly have to be part of the conversation. On Saturday, in no small part due to Inniss’s work as the lone punt returner against Akron, the Buckeyes’ special teams woes seemed to be a distant memory.
Inniss returned four punts for a total of 60 yards, which, for those of us who have been on summer break and haven’t flexed our math muscles, is an average of 15 yards per return.
The team average in 2023 was only a measly 4.4 yards per punt return, 75 total on the season on 17 returns. Yikes! Inniss single-handedly put up 80 percent of last season’s punt return yardage on Saturday in just a fraction of the returns. He looked like a natural doing it, too, particularly on a few key plays where his athleticism allowed him to grab the football rather than let it roll.
In fact, if the ball was in Inniss’s general stratosphere, he was going for it, a particularly aggressive (and somewhat terrifying) approach to punt returning that I personally loved. It displayed a certain confidence of a player who had come into his own and was ready to lead on the field, even if it was not in the position he ultimately hopes to be in.
His fearlessness and risky maneuvers will surely come at a cost at some point, but on Saturday, it was all reward. These returns positioned the Buckeye offense well, with solid field position to start their drives (for the record, I think the reward outweighs the risk in almost all instances, and I’m happy to see the special teams unit take a more hands-on approach).
The anticipation of Inniss returning a punt for a touchdown outweighs my concerns about a costly play, at least for the moment.
Whether Inniss sees time on offense (and how much) remains to be seen. While competition is high in the wide receiver corps, Inniss is looking to play a bigger role on offense this season. If he proves himself on special teams (and infuses a little life into the unit), he could earn himself that chance.
Regardless, the takeaway from Saturday’s game is that no matter where he is on the field, there is no doubt Brandon Inniss is talented enough to be a playmaker, and he’s enough of a leader to rise to the occasion wherever he is needed.
Matt’s Take: Arvell Reese
Now, I’m not saying that Cody Simon is in danger of being Wally Pipped, but what I am saying is that he better not miss too much time or that could become a distinct possibility. With senior captain and Block O recipient Simon out for the season opener against Akron, Arvell Reese did not get the start alongside Sonny Styles, but when he did get onto the field as a linebacker, man, did he look good.
Coming into preseason camp, Reese didn’t seem like he would have a major impact for the Buckeyes this season, outside of mop-up duty. However, all of that changed throughout camp and after the Akron season opener. He has been one of Jim Knowles and James Laurinaitis’ favorite players to praise in recent weeks, and everyone saw on Saturday why. He is a 6-foot-4, 238-pound star-to-be from Cleveland Glenville High School who wreaked havoc on the Zips’ offense on Saturday. On his 31 defensive snaps (13 on special teams), Reese accounted for four tackles, including one for loss when he engulfed Akron quarterback Ben Finley on an option keeper.
According to Pro Football Focus, Reese was the highest-graded linebacker who played more than five snaps on Saturday and was the sixth-rated Buckeye in terms of rush defense grades and fifth in coverage.
As soon as Simon is able to return to the lineup, he will. The veteran is at the center of everything OSU does on defense, both literally as its middle linebacker, but also figuratively, as he is the player with the green dot on his helmet so that Jim Knowles and Ryan Day can communicate with him throughout the game.
But when Simon is back, Knowles and Baby Animal need to figure out how to keep Reese on the field. I don’t think that you are going to take Styles out of the game much more than you already planned, so, unfortunately, I think that C.J. Hicks is going to have to be the one to lose some snaps in favor of Reese.
We know that Hicks is a supremely athletic player, but his time at LB — both last year and against Akron — has been underwhelming. It feels like he has yet to fully adapt his game for the position. Instead, he has looked most at ease in a purely pass-rushing position. He’s obviously not big enough to be an edge rusher, but if Knowles and Larry Johnson could ever agree to use the Jack, he would be a perfect fit. Against Akron, PFF graded Hicks as the best pass rusher on the team, but the lowest-graded defensive starter overall.
So, based on the word of mouth coming out of camp, and his exciting, athletic performance in the season opener, I think that Arvell Reese is going to have to steal some of C.J.’s snaps this season.
Let us know who you are agreeing with:
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