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2008 Extremely Early Pre-Season Rankings

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I agree with Milli on this one. I like our team a lot next year but we are losing some big, big, big time players.

Hawk ,Carp, Schlegal - Can not de-value what these 3 youung men have done. With that said, I really think our DL did a really good job of helping them out and keeping bodies off them, but face we may never see a complete unit like that for a long time.

Mangold and Simms - Losing Mangold is HUGE. The young man called the plays and pointed out blitzes that is going to be missed. Cordle is suppose to be a good one, but losing that much experince is big. Simms was along with Mangold have played since their Freshman year. I like our OL depth but these shoes will not be filled easily.

Whitner/Salley/Everett - I am not overly concerned here and I am not taking anything away from these guys because I think Donte will be a star in the league, but we have some really good depth at the saftey position and I can not wait to see Jam-O on the field more.

Holmes - We are deep at WR but Holmes was special. He really was and will not be replaced just like that, but again a little bit easier blow to take.

Huston - Will be missed but it is me or does OSU always have great kickers latley.. Must be luck (yes it is a joke)

Marcus Green - Underrated, but our D-Line will be ok.

I think we start out as a top ten team and have potential to be a top 5 team by the end of the year, but we will see.
 
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Here's what I think our starting lineup will be (I think Youboty will bail, now that Donte will announce to bail):

DE-Lawrence Wilson
DT-Pitcock
DT-Patterson
DE-Richardson
OLB-Freeman
MLB-D'Andrea
OLB-Laurinitus
CB-Amos
FS-Mitchell
SS-O'Neal
CB-Jenkins

Pitcock and Patterson are our only returning starters. But, Wilson, Richardson, Mitchell, and Jenkins have seen significant time on defense and O'Neal some time on defense and played special teams the whole year. Laurinaitis now has two full games of experience (notably, the two biggest games of the year aside from Texas to boot). The only ones who may be of some concern, initially, are Freeman and D'Andrea because they had to sit out all of last season and it may take them a while to get back up to speed. However, if both make it back to 100% they will be the best two players at their positions on defense (MDA had Schlegel beat for the MLB starting job in 2004, and Freeman was starting to sub in fairly often before he got hurt).

This defense has serious potential, and could be playing at a level very near this year's defense by the end of the season. My concern if having to face a Vince Young led juggernaut in Austin in only the second game for this defense. If theteam could somewho make it through the first half of he season with no more than one loss (that, of course, being at Texas), then I really, really like our chances of going back to the desert...
 
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Agreed Mili - though I still hold out hope that Ahston Youbouty stays. The equalizer would be if Vince Young also elects to go pro. Texas would then have to hand the reins over to one of red-shirt frosh QB's - a prospect that cannot give them total comfort.
 
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Somebody brought up the team playing with a target on their backs, but I don't think that's a big deal.

They're Ohio State. With only a few exceptions, they are the biggest game on everyone's schedule. The scarlet and gray is a target in itself.

I think if these losses were on offense, I'd be more worried. From what I've seen, Tressel rebuilds on offense, but reloads on defense. I think they'll be fine on that side of the ball next season.
 
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MililaniBuckeye said:
Here's what I think our starting lineup will be (I think Youboty will bail, now that Donte will announce to bail):

DE-Lawrence Wilson
DT-Pitcock
DT-Patterson
DE-Richardson
OLB-Freeman
MLB-D'Andrea
OLB-Laurinitus
CB-Amos
FS-Mitchell
SS-O'Neal
CB-Jenkins

The only ones who may be of some concern, initially, are Freeman and D'Andrea because they had to sit out all of last season and it may take them a while to get back up to speed.
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I don't have much concern about Freeman. Remember, he played like a beast for us as a true freshman in '04. I expect very big things out of him next year, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's first team All-American by the time he's a junior in '07. I also expect Kerr to get a lot of reps b/c he got a lot this year (although most of them did occur when D'Andrea was still hurt).
 
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As for our ranking, I wouldn't put us in the top 5 preseason with Whitner gone. And if Youbouty also leaves, I would put us around 9 or 10. We'll have a phenomenal offense, but our defense is losing way too many guys.
 
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The Buckeye defense next year = the USC offense next year...

Plenty of top notch talent, but lacking in experience. Since it seems clear that USC will still have a good offense next year, I'm not sure why everyone is worried our defense will play like UCLA for the first 6 games. Sure, we're not going to keep Texas to 75 yards rushing, but as long as we keep them under 30 points we should win.
 
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tibor75 said:
21. UCLA Bruins
Why: Maurice Drew could be a Heisman candidate, and Ben Olson should have the chops to fill Drew Olson's big shoes at QB.


Why not: Still waiting for definitive proof that the Bruins are serious about playing defense.
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Well Drew just declared for the draft, so I guess it's up to the Savior Ben Olson.
 
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BeatleBuckeye said:
The Buckeye defense next year = the USC offense next year...

Plenty of top notch talent, but lacking in experience. Since it seems clear that USC will still have a good offense next year, I'm not sure why everyone is worried our defense will play like UCLA for the first 6 games. Sure, we're not going to keep Texas to 75 yards rushing, but as long as we keep them under 30 points we should win.
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with all do respect that was a veteran trojans offense. they had a few young guys but not much. dont you agree thomps?
 
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