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LGHL Wypler, Smith-Njigba show opposite ends of Draft spectrum
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- 0 Replies
Wypler, Smith-Njigba show opposite ends of Draft spectrum
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Barbara Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Players who declare early tend to get picked where expected, while others may have been better served to stay for another year of college ball.
The 2023 NFL Draft served as both affirmation and cautionary tale for prospective professional players looking to make an early leap to Sunday ball. While Jaxon Smith-Njigba was the first wide receiver off the board and a top-20 pick, college teammate Luke Wypler — and, to a lesser extent, fellow Buckeye Dawand Jones — perhaps would have been better served to spend another season in Columbus.
But that decision isn’t mine to make, and it isn’t yours.
I want to make it clear that the purpose of this column is not to criticize players for their decisions. There are many reasons for a young athlete to make the jump to the NFL with eligibility remaining. They have to weigh what they feel is best for them, and without knowing all of the personal variables they’re considering, it makes no sense for anyone outside their immediate circle to criticize them for making whatever decision they choose.
With the benefit of hindsight, it can seem easy to make a judgment about whether or not a player made a “mistake” by declaring for the NFL Draft early, but that doesn’t mean it’s the wrong decision for them. My aim here is merely to show how things can work out and how this year’s crop of NFL-bound Buckeyes shows both ends of that spectrum.
My staff “bold prediction” for the 2022 Ohio State season here at LGHL was that wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba would win the Heisman Trophy. That might not have been the boldest prediction of the bunch, given the talent and productivity he’d previously shown, but quarterbacks tend to dominate that particular award, so it was far from a lock.
Smith-Njigba would have been a first-round pick if he’d been in the previous draft, so despite an injury-plagued final season at Ohio State, he was still always likely to get snapped up with some team’s No. 1 selection. That is what came to pass, as Smith-Njigba went at No. 20 overall to the Seattle Seahawks. He was the first receiver off the board and started a run of four in a row to the Seahawks, Chargers, Ravens, and Vikings.
While it’s possible another full year of stellar productivity at the college level might have made his availability irresistable to some of the teams who picked higher, or to those teams picking high next year, it’s impossible to say. What is fair to say is that Smith-Njigba could have improved his stock by only so much if he had played another year with the Buckeyes. There were only 19 better possible outcomes for him.
Center Luke Wypler’s decision is on the other end of that scale. Although he may have a long, productive, and lucrative career in the NFL, it’s not hard to imagine that a season of building on his performance against Georgia in the Peach Bowl could have brought him significant financial gains. There’s a big difference between being a second or third-round pick and going No. 190 overall in Round 6. Wypler had 189 potentially better outcomes, although realistically fewer than that as a center.
That’s not to say Wypler made the “wrong” decision, because his reasons are his own. Regardless of those reasons, a major injury could have kept him from being drafted at all further down the road. Life has risks in all phases, after all. But had he been able to improve on technique and production over the course of another season of college football, a jump of three or even four rounds seems reasonable (or at least possible), and aside from the financial difference, that can also affect the trajectory of a professional football career.
It’s more common for teams to keep a second or third-round player on the roster than a sixth-rounder, even if that player had a mediocre camp and preseason. It’s also an easier decision to stash a sixth-round pick on a practice squad than a higher pick and that can have an impact on development and how that player is perceived.
Wypler’s performance in rookie camp and preseason leaves a much smaller margin for error based on where he was selected than if he’d improved his draft stock and gone in, say, Round 3. Being picked in Round 6 (or even not being drafted at all) is not a deal breaker. It just makes the hill to climb a bit steeper.
In the end, the NFL Draft can confirm whether a player made a well-timed decision, an informed decision, an uninformed decision, or a hopeful decision. It cannot confirm whether that player made the “correct” decision — at least for them. But what this year’s draft showed is that sometimes it works out the way a player thinks it will and sometimes... not so much.
Continue reading...
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Barbara Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Players who declare early tend to get picked where expected, while others may have been better served to stay for another year of college ball.
The 2023 NFL Draft served as both affirmation and cautionary tale for prospective professional players looking to make an early leap to Sunday ball. While Jaxon Smith-Njigba was the first wide receiver off the board and a top-20 pick, college teammate Luke Wypler — and, to a lesser extent, fellow Buckeye Dawand Jones — perhaps would have been better served to spend another season in Columbus.
But that decision isn’t mine to make, and it isn’t yours.
I want to make it clear that the purpose of this column is not to criticize players for their decisions. There are many reasons for a young athlete to make the jump to the NFL with eligibility remaining. They have to weigh what they feel is best for them, and without knowing all of the personal variables they’re considering, it makes no sense for anyone outside their immediate circle to criticize them for making whatever decision they choose.
With the benefit of hindsight, it can seem easy to make a judgment about whether or not a player made a “mistake” by declaring for the NFL Draft early, but that doesn’t mean it’s the wrong decision for them. My aim here is merely to show how things can work out and how this year’s crop of NFL-bound Buckeyes shows both ends of that spectrum.
My staff “bold prediction” for the 2022 Ohio State season here at LGHL was that wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba would win the Heisman Trophy. That might not have been the boldest prediction of the bunch, given the talent and productivity he’d previously shown, but quarterbacks tend to dominate that particular award, so it was far from a lock.
Smith-Njigba would have been a first-round pick if he’d been in the previous draft, so despite an injury-plagued final season at Ohio State, he was still always likely to get snapped up with some team’s No. 1 selection. That is what came to pass, as Smith-Njigba went at No. 20 overall to the Seattle Seahawks. He was the first receiver off the board and started a run of four in a row to the Seahawks, Chargers, Ravens, and Vikings.
While it’s possible another full year of stellar productivity at the college level might have made his availability irresistable to some of the teams who picked higher, or to those teams picking high next year, it’s impossible to say. What is fair to say is that Smith-Njigba could have improved his stock by only so much if he had played another year with the Buckeyes. There were only 19 better possible outcomes for him.
Center Luke Wypler’s decision is on the other end of that scale. Although he may have a long, productive, and lucrative career in the NFL, it’s not hard to imagine that a season of building on his performance against Georgia in the Peach Bowl could have brought him significant financial gains. There’s a big difference between being a second or third-round pick and going No. 190 overall in Round 6. Wypler had 189 potentially better outcomes, although realistically fewer than that as a center.
That’s not to say Wypler made the “wrong” decision, because his reasons are his own. Regardless of those reasons, a major injury could have kept him from being drafted at all further down the road. Life has risks in all phases, after all. But had he been able to improve on technique and production over the course of another season of college football, a jump of three or even four rounds seems reasonable (or at least possible), and aside from the financial difference, that can also affect the trajectory of a professional football career.
It’s more common for teams to keep a second or third-round player on the roster than a sixth-rounder, even if that player had a mediocre camp and preseason. It’s also an easier decision to stash a sixth-round pick on a practice squad than a higher pick and that can have an impact on development and how that player is perceived.
Wypler’s performance in rookie camp and preseason leaves a much smaller margin for error based on where he was selected than if he’d improved his draft stock and gone in, say, Round 3. Being picked in Round 6 (or even not being drafted at all) is not a deal breaker. It just makes the hill to climb a bit steeper.
In the end, the NFL Draft can confirm whether a player made a well-timed decision, an informed decision, an uninformed decision, or a hopeful decision. It cannot confirm whether that player made the “correct” decision — at least for them. But what this year’s draft showed is that sometimes it works out the way a player thinks it will and sometimes... not so much.
Continue reading...
OT Josh Simmons (National Champion, Kansas City Chiefs)
- By brodybuck21
- Buckeye Alumni
- 121 Replies
DottingTheEyes - Analyzing the impact as Ohio State lands transfer OL Josh Simmons
Simmons brings a full season of starting experience at San Diego State and has three years of eligibility remaining.
t.co
LGHL Biggest Concerns Week: From offensive line to quarterback, LGHL to tackle football team issues
- News
- 0 Replies
Biggest Concerns Week: From offensive line to quarterback, LGHL to tackle football team issues
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
What are your biggest concerns for the football team as we embark on the next three months of the offseason?
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about our Biggest Concerns. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our Biggest Concerns here.
As you might have been able to tell by the glut of Justin Timberlake memes (or if you travel in the same social media circles that I do, Elphaba memes), the calendar has officially flipped to May, so that means here at Land-Grant Holy Land, we are continuing — and expanding — a “summer” tradition: Theme Weeks.
Starting today and running through July, we will have a different theme for every week of the offseason to give us a little bit of structure as we work our way to the start of preseason camp in August. Not every article that we write here at LGHL will be on the theme, but throughout the course of the week, different writers will give their perspectives and unique takes on that week’s focus.
Since it is a long offseason, and we are generally a pretty homerific group, we decided to start this off with some of the things that have us worried about the season in order to get those out of the way so that we can focus on the positives the rest of the way. So, this week’s theme is “Biggest Concerns.”
On Sunday, the Ohio State football team addressed (but obviously did not solve) one of its biggest concerns when it added former San Diego State starting offensive tackle Josh Simmons. While that will almost certainly not fix all of the issues on the offensive line that the Buckeyes find themselves having to deal with, having another body in the mix — and one that has started double-digit games — is a net positive.
But there is no doubt that OSU has to find some solutions on the offensive line over the next four months if they want to reach the goals that the team has undoubtedly set for itself.
Another significant concern on the offensive side of the ball that needs to be figured out in the coming months is what is going to happen at the quarterback position. I think that most people who have paid attention agree that former five-star prospect Kyle McCord is likely to be the starting QB when the Buckeyes take to the field in the season-opener against Indiana, but my question is less about who is behind center, and is he good enough to keep the offense humming at, or at least near, where it has been operating since Ryan Day came to Columbus.
I know that C.J. Stroud and Justin Fields didn’t exactly light the world on fire at their first spring games, so McCord’s middling performance last month does not necessarily mean that he is incapable of running the offense, but it does make one wonder if he is going to be able to take full advantage of the insane amount of talent at his disposal this season. Fortunately, I feel fairly confident that McCord will be able to figure it out come fall, especially if Justin Frye is able to cobble together some sort of solution on the offensive line.
There are obviously plenty of other concerns to have heading into the season, like how difficult the schedule is shaping up to be, whether or not the secondary will be able to keep up with the best offenses that OSU will face this season, whether or not the defensive line will finally return to the game-wrecking form that its collective talent has been teasing for years, and much more.
We will be writing about many of those issues this week here at LGHL, so if you have a concern that you want to see us dive into, let us know in the comments below.
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
What are your biggest concerns for the football team as we embark on the next three months of the offseason?
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about our Biggest Concerns. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our Biggest Concerns here.
As you might have been able to tell by the glut of Justin Timberlake memes (or if you travel in the same social media circles that I do, Elphaba memes), the calendar has officially flipped to May, so that means here at Land-Grant Holy Land, we are continuing — and expanding — a “summer” tradition: Theme Weeks.
Starting today and running through July, we will have a different theme for every week of the offseason to give us a little bit of structure as we work our way to the start of preseason camp in August. Not every article that we write here at LGHL will be on the theme, but throughout the course of the week, different writers will give their perspectives and unique takes on that week’s focus.
Since it is a long offseason, and we are generally a pretty homerific group, we decided to start this off with some of the things that have us worried about the season in order to get those out of the way so that we can focus on the positives the rest of the way. So, this week’s theme is “Biggest Concerns.”
On Sunday, the Ohio State football team addressed (but obviously did not solve) one of its biggest concerns when it added former San Diego State starting offensive tackle Josh Simmons. While that will almost certainly not fix all of the issues on the offensive line that the Buckeyes find themselves having to deal with, having another body in the mix — and one that has started double-digit games — is a net positive.
But there is no doubt that OSU has to find some solutions on the offensive line over the next four months if they want to reach the goals that the team has undoubtedly set for itself.
Another significant concern on the offensive side of the ball that needs to be figured out in the coming months is what is going to happen at the quarterback position. I think that most people who have paid attention agree that former five-star prospect Kyle McCord is likely to be the starting QB when the Buckeyes take to the field in the season-opener against Indiana, but my question is less about who is behind center, and is he good enough to keep the offense humming at, or at least near, where it has been operating since Ryan Day came to Columbus.
I know that C.J. Stroud and Justin Fields didn’t exactly light the world on fire at their first spring games, so McCord’s middling performance last month does not necessarily mean that he is incapable of running the offense, but it does make one wonder if he is going to be able to take full advantage of the insane amount of talent at his disposal this season. Fortunately, I feel fairly confident that McCord will be able to figure it out come fall, especially if Justin Frye is able to cobble together some sort of solution on the offensive line.
There are obviously plenty of other concerns to have heading into the season, like how difficult the schedule is shaping up to be, whether or not the secondary will be able to keep up with the best offenses that OSU will face this season, whether or not the defensive line will finally return to the game-wrecking form that its collective talent has been teasing for years, and much more.
We will be writing about many of those issues this week here at LGHL, so if you have a concern that you want to see us dive into, let us know in the comments below.
Continue reading...
LGHL Ohio State lands 2024 RB commit, transfer OT over the weekend
- News
- 0 Replies
Ohio State lands 2024 RB commit, transfer OT over the weekend
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
2024 RB Jordan Lyle | Andrew Ivins, 247Sports
A busy weekend for the Buckeyes results in three new additions.
We were already expecting a busy weekend for the Ohio State football program, as the NFL Draft was yet another showcase of the Buckeyes’ ability to produce top-tier talent. Ohio State became the first program in the country to produce 90 first-round NFL Draft picks after seeing C.J. Stroud, Paris Johnson Jr. and Jaxon Smith-Njigba all selected in the top-20 of this year’s event.
As if the Buckeyes needed another feather in their cap when it comes to a recruiting pitch, prospects across the country are surely taking notice of what kind of future success they could be set up for in Columbus. Whether related or not, a largely positive weekend got even better when Ohio State learned of two new players who play on furthering their playing careers in scarlet and gray.
In a bit of surprising news, four-star running back Jordan Lyle announced his commitment to Ohio State on Saturday. The St. Thomas Aquinas product currently ranks as the No. 27 RB in the country and the No. 320 player overall on the 247Sports Composite. With around 30 offers to his name, Lyle chose the Buckeyes over programs among the likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Penn State and others.
With the commitment of Lyle, Ohio State has wrapped up its running back recruiting for the cycle. Tony Alford needed to bring in two guys to a room that could lose both TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams to the NFL Draft at the end of this upcoming season, and has managed to bring in three talented backs as Lyle joins fellow OSU commits James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon.
The 6-foot, 180-pound RB makes it six commitments for the Buckeyes in the month of April, with eight guys total joining the class since the last week in March. Lyle’s commitment bumps Ohio State up to the No. 2 class in the country at 238.43 points, just behind Michigan at 240.65. The Buckeyes’ 93.07 player average remains higher than the Wolverines’ 91.67, with OSU at 13 total commits and TTUN at 15.
A more immediate addition to the roster, Ohio State also earned a transfer over the weekend from former Notre Dame receiver-turned-corner Lorenzo Styles. Styles, of course, is the brother of current Buckeye safety Sonny Styles. The former Pickerington, Ohio native was originally recruited by Ohio State to play corner, but chose to play wide receiver for the Irish. Things have now come full-circle.
Styles was the No. 5 prospect in the state of Ohio in the 2021 class, and parlayed that into 54 receptions for 648 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver at Notre Dame. Ironically enough, his career-long catch came against Ohio State in last year’s season opener on a 54-yard catch-and-run. He had already begun the transition to the defensive backfield this spring in South Bend after playing the position in high school.
Styles probably won’t make an immediate impact on the roster, as the Buckeyes do have some top-end talent in their cornerback room led by Denzel Burke and Davison Igbinosun with Jordan Hancock and Jyaire Brown waiting in the wings. However, as we saw last season, you can never have too much depth at defensive back, and with two years of eligibility and a potential redshirt year remaining, we could see both Styles’ roaming the backfield in the future.
Ohio State kept the good news going on Saturday as they made the cut for four-star linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. A product of St. John Bosco in California, the same prep program that gave the Buckeyes Wyatt Davis and others, Viliamu-Asa is the No. 6 linebacker and No. 69 player overall in the 2024 class according to 247Sports. With both Jim Knowles and James Laurinaitis on his recruitment, the duo will have to outlast his other top schools Notre Dame and USC to land his commitment.
Viliamu-Asa had the following to say about Ohio State:
“I’ve been to Ohio State four times and have a really good comfort level there. They offered me as a freshman and have been recruiting me hard ever since. On my last visit I was able to talk with James Laurinaitis, the new LB coach and he was actually recruiting me when he was at Notre Dame. He’s a legend at Ohio State and someone I think would be not just a great coach but a mentor. I like coach Day a lot too and respect the program he has built there.”
Frye had previously recruited Simmons when he was the offensive line coach at UCLA, and the two will now get to rekindle their relationship in Columbus.
“Me and Coach Frye had some sessions of going over me and my film and he was picking out every little detail as to what happened in that rep, and it was mind-blowing,” Simmons told Dotting the Eyes. “It was crazy, almost like we didn’t skip a beat. He was back to tweaking my game and giving great coaching points.”
Continue reading...
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
2024 RB Jordan Lyle | Andrew Ivins, 247Sports
A busy weekend for the Buckeyes results in three new additions.
We were already expecting a busy weekend for the Ohio State football program, as the NFL Draft was yet another showcase of the Buckeyes’ ability to produce top-tier talent. Ohio State became the first program in the country to produce 90 first-round NFL Draft picks after seeing C.J. Stroud, Paris Johnson Jr. and Jaxon Smith-Njigba all selected in the top-20 of this year’s event.
As if the Buckeyes needed another feather in their cap when it comes to a recruiting pitch, prospects across the country are surely taking notice of what kind of future success they could be set up for in Columbus. Whether related or not, a largely positive weekend got even better when Ohio State learned of two new players who play on furthering their playing careers in scarlet and gray.
Four-star RB Jordan Lyle commits to Ohio State
In a bit of surprising news, four-star running back Jordan Lyle announced his commitment to Ohio State on Saturday. The St. Thomas Aquinas product currently ranks as the No. 27 RB in the country and the No. 320 player overall on the 247Sports Composite. With around 30 offers to his name, Lyle chose the Buckeyes over programs among the likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Penn State and others.
With the commitment of Lyle, Ohio State has wrapped up its running back recruiting for the cycle. Tony Alford needed to bring in two guys to a room that could lose both TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams to the NFL Draft at the end of this upcoming season, and has managed to bring in three talented backs as Lyle joins fellow OSU commits James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon.
The 6-foot, 180-pound RB makes it six commitments for the Buckeyes in the month of April, with eight guys total joining the class since the last week in March. Lyle’s commitment bumps Ohio State up to the No. 2 class in the country at 238.43 points, just behind Michigan at 240.65. The Buckeyes’ 93.07 player average remains higher than the Wolverines’ 91.67, with OSU at 13 total commits and TTUN at 15.
The Styles brothers reunite in Columbus
A more immediate addition to the roster, Ohio State also earned a transfer over the weekend from former Notre Dame receiver-turned-corner Lorenzo Styles. Styles, of course, is the brother of current Buckeye safety Sonny Styles. The former Pickerington, Ohio native was originally recruited by Ohio State to play corner, but chose to play wide receiver for the Irish. Things have now come full-circle.
Styles was the No. 5 prospect in the state of Ohio in the 2021 class, and parlayed that into 54 receptions for 648 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver at Notre Dame. Ironically enough, his career-long catch came against Ohio State in last year’s season opener on a 54-yard catch-and-run. He had already begun the transition to the defensive backfield this spring in South Bend after playing the position in high school.
Styles probably won’t make an immediate impact on the roster, as the Buckeyes do have some top-end talent in their cornerback room led by Denzel Burke and Davison Igbinosun with Jordan Hancock and Jyaire Brown waiting in the wings. However, as we saw last season, you can never have too much depth at defensive back, and with two years of eligibility and a potential redshirt year remaining, we could see both Styles’ roaming the backfield in the future.
Ohio State makes the cut for elite 2024 LB
Ohio State kept the good news going on Saturday as they made the cut for four-star linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa. A product of St. John Bosco in California, the same prep program that gave the Buckeyes Wyatt Davis and others, Viliamu-Asa is the No. 6 linebacker and No. 69 player overall in the 2024 class according to 247Sports. With both Jim Knowles and James Laurinaitis on his recruitment, the duo will have to outlast his other top schools Notre Dame and USC to land his commitment.
Viliamu-Asa had the following to say about Ohio State:
“I’ve been to Ohio State four times and have a really good comfort level there. They offered me as a freshman and have been recruiting me hard ever since. On my last visit I was able to talk with James Laurinaitis, the new LB coach and he was actually recruiting me when he was at Notre Dame. He’s a legend at Ohio State and someone I think would be not just a great coach but a mentor. I like coach Day a lot too and respect the program he has built there.”
Quick Hits
- Ohio State picked up a huge addition in the transfer portal on Sunday afternoon with the commitment of offensive tackle Josh Simmons. A four-star prospect in the 2021 class, the 6-foot-6 Simmons started 13 games at right tackle for San Diego State last season, and will likely slide into the same position for the Buckeyes as they were desperately looking for help at the spot.
Frye had previously recruited Simmons when he was the offensive line coach at UCLA, and the two will now get to rekindle their relationship in Columbus.
“Me and Coach Frye had some sessions of going over me and my film and he was picking out every little detail as to what happened in that rep, and it was mind-blowing,” Simmons told Dotting the Eyes. “It was crazy, almost like we didn’t skip a beat. He was back to tweaking my game and giving great coaching points.”
Continue reading...
2025 TX RB Deondrae Riden (Texas A&M Signee)
- By pnuts34
- Football Recruiting
- 1 Replies
247
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HudL
Class: 2025
Position: RB
School: Desoto (TX) Desoto
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 190 lbs
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Class: 2025
Position: RB
School: Desoto (TX) Desoto
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 190 lbs
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2025 SC CB Onis Konanbanny (Florida Verbal)
- By pnuts34
- Football Recruiting
- 4 Replies
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Class: 2025
Position: CB
School: Columbia (SC) Heathwood Hall Episcopal
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 170lbs
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Class: 2025
Position: CB
School: Columbia (SC) Heathwood Hall Episcopal
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 170lbs
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2025 TX CB Deyjhon Pettaway (Texas A&M Signee)
- By pnuts34
- Football Recruiting
- 0 Replies
247
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Class: 2025
Position: CB
School: Katy(TX) Paetow
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 175lbs
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Class: 2025
Position: CB
School: Katy(TX) Paetow
Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 175lbs
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