LB Mike Mitchell (transfer to Texas Tech, transfer to Southeastern FL)

[C-busBuck]

Mitchell is red shirting for one reason only: he isn't ready to play yet and because of that there isn't any reason wasting a year of eligibility. Don't think for one minute they would be saving him if he could play right now.

It just means he didn't crack the top 5 deep. Which means Burger (a preferred walk-on) is further along in his development at this stage. That doesn't mean Mike won't be an awesome linebacker once the light comes on. Also, he probably needs another year with S&C program. I would certainly not count him out at this point as a solid started for this team in the future.

 

[UpNorth_Buckeye]

It just means he didn't crack the top 5 deep. Which means Burger (a preferred walk-on) is further along in his development at this stage. That doesn't mean Mike won't be an awesome linebacker once the light comes on. Also, he probably needs another year with S&C program. I would certainly not count him out at this point as a solid started for this team in the future.

This isn't necessarily 100% true. It could be, but could be that the coaches see that neither Burger or Mitchell would be getting much play time, and why use a potential future star for a few plays instead of a walk on? What would have been interesting is if Grant was injured for an extended period of time, particularly early in the season. I could have seen Mitchell getting solid play time and potentially ahead of Burger.

 

[ShowMeBuck]

My point is simply that Mike got the red shirt this year because he wasn't ready. I think Urb hinted around that perhaps he shouldn't have red shirted some guys this year and he may have been directing this at Mike. He has tons of potential and by no means am I saying he won't be a stud in the future. I'm just saying that the staff put the shirt on him because he wasn't ready moreso than they wanted to "save" a year. With the LB depth I personally think this was a mistake. I would much rather have seen where Mike was today with actual game reps than the other choices we had as seen in the game against Illinois last Saturday. If he got more minutes along the way I think he would have contributed better in that game than his counterparts. Again, that is just my opinion. It is truly shocking how thin our LB depth is. For all the fret about OL recruiting the last few classes I think it is obvious we should have been more concerned about LB depth.

 

[TampaBuckeyes]

My point is simply that Mike got the red shirt this year because he wasn't ready. I think Urb hinted around that perhaps he shouldn't have red shirted some guys this year and he may have been directing this at Mike. He has tons of potential and by no means am I saying he won't be a stud in the future. I'm just saying that the staff put the shirt on him because he wasn't ready moreso than they wanted to "save" a year. With the LB depth I personally think this was a mistake. I would much rather have seen where Mike was today with actual game reps than the other choices we had as seen in the game against Illinois last Saturday. If he got more minutes along the way I think he would have contributed better in that game than his counterparts. Again, that is just my opinion. It is truly shocking how thin our LB depth is. For all the fret about OL recruiting the last few classes I think it is obvious we should have been more concerned about LB depth.

I think you will see why everyone is fretting about the o line come next year. On the other hand the future of our lb corps seem promising, bringing in 2-3 top guys a year, and get them some experience and built up. It is this year that lb is concerning.

 

[sflbuck]

Mitchell is red shirting for one reason only: he isn't ready to play yet and because of that there isn't any reason wasting a year of eligibility. Don't think for one minute they would be saving him if he could play right now.

Not everyone shows up ready physically ready to play college ball. especially if the don't enroll early.

 

[ShowMeBuck]

I think you will see why everyone is fretting about the o line come next year. On the other hand the future of our lb corps seem promising, bringing in 2-3 top guys a year, and get them some experience and built up. It is this year that lb is concerning.

Sure, OL concerns will crop up next year but the fret about it was building from the 2012 class when, at the time we should have been more concerned with LB depth because it was an earlier concern as proof this year.

Not everyone shows up ready physically ready to play college ball. especially if the don't enroll early.

True but I think Mike's physical gifts coming out of HS was not so much the problem. I mean he was off the charts on his SPARQ scores. Seems like he wasn't ready mentally. I would rather have Mike with game reps at this point than some of other LBs we have seen.

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

Mitchell hasn't played probably due to two reasons:

1). He's got two guys ahead of him at MLB in Perry and Grant.

2). Our base defense is the nickel that sees 2 LB on the field 70% of the time.

Trey Johnson got early pt b/c he's the primary backup to Shazier, who's going to be gone after this season.

I think Mitchell has a real chance to pull a Joey Bosa next year in beating out a veteran for the starting spot (I'm aware Diesel has been banged up). Even though we lose Shazier, I feel we have a chance to be a much better unit.

 

[pnuts34]

Mitchell hasn't played probably due to two reasons:

1). He's got two guys ahead of him at MLB in Perry and Grant.

2). Our base defense is the nickel that sees 2 LB on the field 70% of the time.

Trey Johnson got early pt b/c he's the primary backup to Shazier, who's going to be gone after this season.

I think Mitchell has a real chance to pull a Joey Bosa next year in beating out a veteran for the starting spot (I'm aware Diesel has been banged up). Even though we lose Shazier, I feel we have a chance to be a much better unit.

I think the major point you mentioned is that we mainly use only 2 LBs at a time, and that will cause a number of LBs not to have a lot of PT in our defense. I'm not complaining, just stating. It'd be hard for mike to see the field this year because one of our LB spots is already taken, and despite him having good physical attributes, it doesn't always transfer to the college game when he isn't comfortable in the schemes. Let's just give mike a little time fellas, he's only a frosh, some got a little over excited when we landed him, and comparisons to katzenmoyer were far premature. But he's a young talent that still has a bright future.

But idk that well have an overall better defense. We lose a lot of leadership with roby, Barnett, Bryant, Pitt brown and Shazier. We will have a ton of talent to replace them with, with guys like burrows, bell, Mitchell, Johnson, Worley, etc, but we saw this year how even though you can have all the talent in the world, nothing replaces leadership. Just imagine having just 1 of John Simon or zach boren on this defense.

 

[TexasBuck]

Not sure if it's been pointed out recently, but Mitchell went to a small private high school. He didn't play against elite competition in high school. I think that made the adjustment to college harder for him, versus other players. He still made some noise in fall camp, but the coaches obviously think he could use another year to develop. Next year, he should be a special teams demon and hopefully, a major contributor at LB.

 

[pnuts34]

Not sure if it's been pointed out recently, but Mitchell went to a small private high school. He didn't play against elite competition in high school. I think that made the adjustment to college harder for him, versus other players. He still made some noise in fall camp, but the coaches obviously think he could use another year to develop. Next year, he should be a special teams demon and hopefully, a major contributor at LB.

Good point, his best competition was in the summers in shorts and t shirts while in HS. He was huge and very fast, but didn't play any of the 4 or 5a Texas teams, like a desoto, south lake Carroll, Allen, skyline, etc

 

[kujirakira]

Mitchell hasn't played probably due to two reasons:

1). He's got two guys ahead of him at MLB in Perry and Grant.

2). Our base defense is the nickel that sees 2 LB on the field 70% of the time.

Trey Johnson got early pt b/c he's the primary backup to Shazier, who's going to be gone after this season.

I think Mitchell has a real chance to pull a Joey Bosa next year in beating out a veteran for the starting spot (I'm aware Diesel has been banged up). Even though we lose Shazier, I feel we have a chance to be a much better unit.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I've been under the impression that the 'base' is Nickel in large part due to the level of play from the LB corps. My impression is the opposite -- Rather than LBs just not getting a chance b/c we have some preference for Nickel, the defensive staff is scheming to put less LBs on the field b/c as a unit they're not up to speed yet.
I mean, Powell has been silently decent... but I would figure most coaches would prefer not to put a (RS)Freshman on the field as a Nickel when they've admitted elsewhere that we've only got 2 or 3 solid CBs.

 

[AFK4403]

Good point, his best competition was in the summers in shorts and t shirts while in HS. He was huge and very fast, but didn't play any of the 4 or 5a Texas teams, like a desoto, south lake Carroll, Allen, skyline, etc

I think many forget he played at Plano West his junior year and his production was quite similar based on the stats I've seen. That's 5A competition I believe, though I know little about Texas divisions outside of what I read on the interwebs.

 

[pnuts34]

I think many forget he played at Plano West his junior year and his production was quite similar based on the stats I've seen. That's 5A competition I believe, though I know little about Texas divisions outside of what I read on the interwebs.

Yes, Plano west is 5A,but their district isn't very strong, but mike did have similar stats against the competition. Allen(the infamous High school with the $60m stadium) is the dominant power in their division and defending state champ if I remember. The rest of the district is pretty average. Mitchell was able to play at a high level in both divisions shows his talent.

 

[LitlBuck]

Freshman linebacker Mike Mitchell: The five-start recruit from 2013 wound up redshirting this season and hasn't seen the field. But while the Buckeyes are excited about the four linebackers joining the Class of 2014, led by five-star Raekwon McMillan and Ohio Mr. Football Dante Booker, Mitchell can't be forgotten.

“I'm always impressed by Mike Mitchell,” Linsley said. “That kid is fast.”

Mitchell was limited by some injuries at the end of preseason practice, and he wasn't yet around in the spring. So this bowl season is his chance to start to show that he could be in the mix to start in 2014 as a redshirt freshman.

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2013/12/finally_its_vonn_bell_time_and.html

 

[ScriptOhio]

Top 10 redshirt freshmen ready to become breakout stars in 2014

Mike Mitchell, LB, Ohio State

Scout.com
Mitchell, a five-star prospect and No. 2 middle linebacker last season, impressed on the scout team in 2013.

The Buckeye came on so well late in the year that there was talk of Ohio State burning his redshirt, but head coach Urban Meyer decided against it.

With the subpar linebacker play Ohio State had last season, and Ryan Shazier heading to the NFL, Mitchell has a clear path to the field in 2014. --
Entire article: http://msn.foxsports.com/college-fo...ready-to-become-breakout-stars-in-2014-011414