'11 PA TE Ben Koyack (Notre Dame Signee)

[Meyer]

I don't have a motorcycle license. I'm not worrying about why I don't have a MV Agusta F4 1100 CC in the driveway.

Well I don't have a fake ID yet but I'm still trying to get in the bars :)

 

[jwinslow]

Wisconsin uses the TE more, Penn State does not. One year in 6 does not make a trend, let alone one worthy of negative recruiting, but that's never stopped PSU before from overselling negativity to battle OSU for recruits.

 

[muffler dragon]

Well, the staff sent him an offer on the first day they could, so they preferenced him and must be confident that they can utilize what he brings to the table. JMO.

My statement had NOTHING to do with what Ben is as an athlete. I'm simply saying there is a TE mold that tOSU offensive coaching staff utilize. Will that fit what Ben wants to do? Who knows.

 

[Meyer]

The NFL finds diamonds in the rough all of the time and they certainly wouldn't miss a sleeper while scouting every game of a premiere NFL factory like OSU.

I think the point is most pass catching TE's wanna catch the ball, not if they'll necessarily get noticed by scouts.

 

[Meyer]

My statement had NOTHING to do with what Ben is as an athlete. I'm simply saying there is a TE mold that tOSU offensive coaching staff utilize. Will that fit what Ben wants to do? Who knows.

Well I can tell you right now, if we don't throw it to the TE more this year the answer is no. Not saying we should or shouldn't throw it to the TE more, just saying that if we don't the answer to your question is going to be no.

 

[muffler dragon]

Well I can tell you right now, if we don't throw it to the TE more this year the answer is no. Not saying we should or shouldn't throw it to the TE more, just saying that if we don't the answer to your question is going to be no.

I believe that was self-explanatory.

 

[sepia5]

I think so, too.....but if we don't get a legit receiving threat at TE, why stress over it? We don't throw to the TE. It would be one thing if we did and schools were trying to tell him we don't. That's not the case.

My statement had NOTHING to do with what Ben is as an athlete. I'm simply saying there is a TE mold that tOSU offensive coaching staff utilize. Will that fit what Ben wants to do? Who knows.

I agree with you guys to the extent that you're arguing that losing Koyack wouldn't be a huge blow to our future offense because, in effect, we just keep doing what we're doing now, which in turn is leading to plenty of winning.

But I think a pretty clear indication is being sent by the staff when they offer a 5-star all-around tight end on the first day they're allowed to do so, and go after him pretty hard. If they were just looking to continue the status quo and use the TE as a sixth offensive lineman, for the life of me I don't know why they would put the time and engergy into recruiting Koyack, time and engergy that could be spent elsewhere on any number of other high profile recruits that project to positions that are traditionally featured in our offensive and definsive schemes. Instead, I imagine they'd go after a 3-star bruiser with a good frame and hands made of stone slabs; in other words, someone that fits the status quo and can be wooed to OSU without much recruiting manpower.

I just think we haven't had a kid since Hartsock that is very effective both at blocking and pass catching. Not sure Stoney has been the blocker they've looked for up to this point, and not sure some of the guys who came before him had the hands--or at least not hands + athleticism--that Hartsock had. From all reports, Koyack has both, and his recruitment suggests to me that they'd like to use him as they did Hartsock, and perhaps even send more balls his way.

 

[Meyer]

I believe that was self-explanatory.

Was it? I mean you asked the question and answered it with who knows...

Not to be a jerk or anything...

 

[jwinslow]

I think the point is most pass catching TE's wanna catch the ball, not if they'll necessarily get noticed by scouts.

Then he better not go to Penn State, if track records and statistics are what matter, not scenarios.

Or we could just keep saying that OSU only throws the ball to the TEs 5 times a year as though that's accurate or helpful.

 

[Meyer]

I agree with you guys to the extent that you're arguing that losing Koyack wouldn't be a huge blow to our future offense because, in effect, we just keep doing what we're doing now, which in turn is leading to plenty of winning.

But I think a pretty clear indication is being sent by the staff when they offer a 5-star all-around tight end on the first day they're allowed to do so, and go after him pretty hard. If they were just looking to continue the status quo and use the TE as a sixth offensive lineman, for the life of me I don't know why they would put the time and engergy into recruiting Koyack, time and engergy that could be spent elsewhere on any number of other high profile recruits that project to positions that are traditionally featured in our offensive and definsive schemes. Instead, I imagine they'd go after 3-star bruiser with a good frame and hands made of stone slabs; in other words, someone that fits the status quo and can be wooed to OSU without much recruiting manpower.

Well the problem with this is that we do that every single year but we have Stoney who can catch the ball and we don't throw it to him (yet?). We offer these 5-star TE's (Fiedorowicz, Rudolph, etc.), pursue them very hard and then end up taking those 3-star bruiser, blockers. So are we really waiting on the right guy in order to change our offense???

 

[Meyer]

Then he better not go to Penn State, if track records and statistics are what matter, not scenarios.

Or we could just keep saying that OSU only throws the ball to the TEs 5 times a year as though that's accurate or helpful.

Yea that's a good point. It's true that if he liked OSU the best in the first place, there isn't much to really separate a team like PSU from OSU in terms of throwing the ball to the TE.

 

[sepia5]

Well the problem with this is that we do that every single year but we have Stoney who can catch the ball and we don't throw it to him (yet?).

Read what I said about blocking. You've got to be a very effective blocker to play TE for us no matter what. I just don't know whether Stoney demonstrated the requiste blocking ability in the past, and besides, Ballard fit what they were doing at the time really well. I do agree that Stoney's maturation and implimentation into the offense this season will be something to watch, though.

We offer these 5-star TE's (Fiedorowicz, Rudolph, etc.), pursue them very hard and then end up taking those 3-star bruiser, blockers.

Doesn't this just support what I'm saying? Why would we offer guys like that early and then recruit them hard if we weren't going to use them? The guys you list chose to go elsewhere for various reasons, one of which may even have been their perception of how we use our TE, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't have adapted our offensive scheme somewhat to suit their skill set had we landed them. Certainly, Tressel has otherwise adapted his offensive scheme according to personnel.

 

[jwinslow]

We're already starting to see a shift in the offense with Hazell's influence, and I think most including myself didn't think Tressel would yield that much control in certain games. The toledo & oregon games had Hazell's fingerprints all over them. As TP continues to mature, JT will continue to feel more comfortable taking risks in the passing game.

Koyack would provide a different dimension to the TE position than even Stoneburner can provide. Jake is a great athlete but is still more of a flex TE (though he's improving). Tressel craves balance and Ben could give him the type of TE he hasn't had in 6 years.

Well the problem with this is that we do that every single year but we have Stoney who can catch the ball and we don't throw it to him (yet?). We offer these 5-star TE's (Fiedorowicz, Rudolph, etc.), pursue them very hard and then end up taking those 3-star bruiser, blockers. So are we really waiting on the right guy in order to change our offense???

We're never going to be wisconsin where we run bubble screens for the TE (which were a bit peculiar with Graham, he's no Beckum), but if they had Rudolph instead of Nicol, they would sneak him out into the passing game more often. With the TEs they had, they were more useful as 6th blockers most of the time.

We called a handful of plays with Stoney as a target in the Rose Bowl, Pryor just went with different reads.

 

[mendensa]

I just think we haven't had a kid since Hartsock that is very effective both at blocking and pass catching. Not sure Stoney has been the blocker they've looked for up to this point, and not sure some of the guys who came before him had the hands--or at least not hands + athleticism--that Hartsock had. From all reports, Koyack has both, and his recruitment suggests to me that they'd like to use him as they did Hartsock, and perhaps even send more balls his way.

We just had one in Ballard, who would catch anything you threw @ him. But unfortunately, when the kid only gets one or two opportuntities a game (14 rec last year) and used primarily as an H-back as an extra blocker, its tough to showcase the TE position @ OSU.

 

[Todd McShay]

We just had one in Ballard, who would catch anything you threw @ him.

It takes more than good hands to be a weapon as a tight end.

From the film I watched, Ballard struggled a lot as a blocker in 08 and struggled to separate from the defense on most plays. He could the highlight reel catch every so often, but he wasn't a guy the defense needed to worry about even on the plays where he was used.