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LB Curtis Grant (National Champion)

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OSUK;2104924; said:
We were spoiled here going back to the Big Kat. Seemed like we always had great play makers at LB. Last year, no one never really materialized except for maybe Shazier, but he was playing on one leg at the end and didn't get into the lineup until late.

I think the biggest upgrade in LB play will come from Meyer's insistance that everyone think, compete, and not lose. He seems to have set it up that you will pay the price and make plays, or you won't be out there or even on the team. He will force the cream to rise to the top. There was a malaise over the 2011 Buckeyes, and I understand the challenges that coaching staff faced, but they can't have a repeat of that kind of play.
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Many of us were spoiled long before that. :wink2:
 
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Looking forward to seeing pics, as well as news on Grant from this spring. Scout listed him as one who had "gained" weight going into this year. Now at 235. I recall speculation that he was close to outgrowing the position last year, maybe 250#. I am certain that the staff will have Curtis in the right shape to begin making an impact.
 
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Ohio State football notebook: 'No choice,' this must be the year Grant?s a 'player'
Bill Rabinowitz
The Columbus Dispatch Thursday March 29, 2012

Curtis Grant entered Ohio State a year ago as the top-ranked recruit in the Buckeyes? 2011 class.

But while fellow freshman Braxton Miller started most of the season at quarterback and fellow linebacker Ryan Shazier established himself as a budding star, Grant hardly saw the field except on special teams.

He acknowledged during the preseason that he was slow to adapt to the speed of the college game, and he never seemed to catch up.

?He overanalyzed everything a year ago,? coach Urban Meyer said yesterday after the first day of spring practice. ?He didn?t play very fast. He was ? I don?t want to say depressed ? but he wasn?t enjoying football.?

Meyer?s arrival represents a fresh start for Grant, who took reps with the first team at middle linebacker, a thin position for the Buckeyes.

?He had an excellent offseason,? Meyer said. ?He?s a guy that has to develop. Obviously it was his first day. He did fine. In a week ? we have no choice ? he has to be a player for us. If not, we?ve got problems.?
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http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/...ce-this-must-be-the-year-grants-a-player.html
 
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No Longer Middling, the Time is Now for Curtis Grant
By Tony Gerdeman

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? When linebacker Curtis Grant signed with Ohio State prior to last season, he brought with him high school accolades that few others have ever attained.

curtisgrant.jpg

Photo by Dan Harker

For instance, as Rivals' number two player overall in the 2011 class, he was the second-highest ranked linebacker in the recruiting service's history, only behind Ernie Sims in 2003.

In other words, Grant brought with him more expectations than he seemingly ever could have met.

Making an impact as a freshman linebacker at a major university is not an easy thing to do, but that didn't stop fans from thinking that the Buckeyes had landed another Andy Katzenmoyer. Many expected a guy who just gets plugged into the lineup and explodes upon the scene like he was following some sort of script.

That never happened for Grant last season, and there were plenty of people asking why.

cont...
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http://www.the-ozone.net/football/2012/springball/Grant_MLB.html
 
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Sophomore linebacker Curtis Grant, still locked in as the first-team middle linebacker, made several nice tackles and continues to grow into his role, and Meyer called him "much improved."
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http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2012/04/offense_keeps_learning_defense.html

I am not sure this article is correct about being "locked in as first-team middle linebacker, but it is nice to see progress. I am almost allowing myself to get excited about having a run stopper in the middle.
 
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I'd love to see a LB combination of Shazier, Grant and Marcus. Marcus may have no clue where he's going but he'll get there fast. When Shazier started playing last year (esp. PSU), it made it painfully obvious how much speed we lacked at the LB postion. The combo of Shazier, Grant and Marcus would be the fastest LB unit that OSU has probably ever had. Can't wait to see how Grant progresses and to see how much speed Bino gains back with the weight he's lost.
 
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buckeye4ever21;2136954; said:
I'd love to see a LB combination of Shazier, Grant and Marcus. Marcus may have no clue where he's going but he'll get there fast. When Shazier started playing last year (esp. PSU), it made it painfully obvious how much speed we lacked at the LB postion. The combo of Shazier, Grant and Marcus would be the fastest LB unit that OSU has probably ever had. Can't wait to see how Grant progresses and to see how much speed Bino gains back with the weight he's lost.
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I personally had David perkins instead of Marcus. And perkins is every bit as fast as Marcus, maybe faster. Imo, perkins or perry to go with grant and shazier in the future and were set, on top of having a lot of quality depth.
 
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Ohio State football: Grant eager for shot at fresh start
Highly recruited linebacker no longer feels lost
By Bill Rabinowitz
The Columbus Dispatch Sunday May 27, 2012

osufb-5-27-art-gd7hf540-1osu11wis-online-mm-57.jpg

Linebacker Curtis Grant was reduced to a special-teams role in his first season at Ohio State.

Quarterback Braxton Miller wasn?t the highest-ranked football recruit for Ohio State in 2011. Neither was linebacker Ryan Shazier.

But while those two freshmen established themselves as budding stars last year, Curtis Grant languished.

Grant, rated the No. 2 prospect nationally in last year?s recruiting class, was reduced to a special-teams role last year. It wasn?t what he or the Buckeyes envisioned, and the linebacker became discouraged.

?I got to a low point where it was like I didn?t want to play anymore,? Grant said on Thursday.

But now he believes last year?s tribulations have prepared him for the greatness predicted for him.

Coach Urban Meyer inserted Grant as the starting middle linebacker at the start of spring practice and declared that failure wasn?t an option.

?We have no choice,? Meyer said in March. ?He has to be a player for us. If he?s not, we?ve got problems.?

The Buckeyes ? and Grant ? feel encouraged that he will answer the challenge. Meyer described him as much improved until a pinched nerve ended his spring early.

?I feel pretty good,? Grant said of his development. ?It?s not great yet. I?m trying to keep progressing to get to the next level.?

But in body, mind and spirit, he?s far better than he was a year ago. Believing he needed to bulk up for the Big Ten rigors, the Richmond, Va., native gained 20 pounds and weighed 250 when he reported to Columbus last summer.

That was a mistake. Grant also was slow to pick up the defensive scheme. The weight of high expectations added to his stress.

?There?s a point where your mind has 1,000 things running across it,? he said. ?You don?t know what to do or who?s on your side.?

For the first time, he was lost.

?I?ve never felt like that a day in my life when it came to football because the game was so natural to me,? Grant said. ?It?s just something I?ve done since I was knee-high to grass.?

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http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/stories/2012/05/27/grant-eager-for-shot-at-fresh-start.html
 
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Ohio State football: Linebacker Curtis Grant finds confidence, top spot at MLB
Published: Thursday, May 31, 2012
By John Kampf
[email protected]
@JKBuckeyes

Curtis Grant was close to walking away from the Ohio State football team last fall.

Closer than he and anyone ever expected to be.

After coming to Ohio State as a ballyhooed recruit from Hermitage High in Richmond, Va., the top-ranked recruit in former Coach Jim Tressel's final recruiting class in Columbus, the talented linebacker had bottomed out.

"I did (think about quitting)," Grant admitted recently. "I am not going to lie. I did.

"I got to a low point where I was like, I didn't want to play anymore."

Bogged down by his lack of playing time, his frustration with the transition to the college game and coming up short on expectations, Grant bottomed out.

"It started off hard," Grant said with a sigh. "Expectations were so high."

Things have changed quite a bit for the linebacker who came to Ohio State as a five-star recruit and the top-ranked middle linebacker in the nation as a high school senior.

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http://news-herald.com/articles/2012/05/31/sports/nh5549087.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Curtis Grant's family, faith eased 'hard' transition to Ohio State
By Andy Evans
[email protected]
Published: Thursday, May 31, 2012

Linebacker Curtis Grant said he returns to the Ohio State football team a stronger man.

At one point, the sophomore said he wasn?t sure he wanted to return at all. But the support he received from his family and friends allowed him to persevere through a disconcerting time in his life last fall when he was not seeing much playing time, and he came to the decision that he wanted to remain a Buckeye. The biggest factor in his decision was one word: faith.

Grant said he got to such a low point after last season that he wasn?t sure he even wanted to continue playing football.

?It was a little hard because of expectations being so high,? Grant said. ?I?ve always played since I was 6 and coming in and not playing, it was kind of depressing.?

He came to OSU as one of the highest-ranking high school linebacker prospects in the country. As a senior at Hermitage High School in Richmond, Va., he recorded 134 tackles and six sacks, earning him Parade All-American and ?USA Today? All-American honors. He was also the leading tackler for the East squad in the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which pits some of the best high school football players in the country against each other.

Despite those accolades, Grant?s expectations might have played a role in not seeing a lot of the field last year. He said he was down on himself and didn?t feel like playing any more. That?s when, he said, he turned to his family and friends, and put his faith in God.

?I started talking to my parents and my family a lot more, reading the Bible and going to church and getting a better understanding of life,? he said. ?You know, praying and asking God to guide me through.?

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http://www.thelantern.com/sports/cu...ansition-to-ohio-state-1.2875537#.T8ipD8XczQY
 
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