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Next years O - and the year after.

Oh8ch

Cognoscente of Omphaloskepsis
Staff member
Looks like no news on the bowl bid is likely for a while, so I been looking ahead a little. Regardless of how effective our O has been we have sent a ton of players to the NFL the past few season. Not so this year - or next.

OL - It all starts with the line. If you really take a look at what has happened with recruiting the past few years we had no reason for high expectations from this OL. Great lines commonly consist of RS Juniors and Seniors - 4th and 5th year players. We did not have a single scholarship player anywhere on the two deep who was more than two years out of HS at the start of this season. I can't think of a position where growth and experience are so important.

Next year our only loss is Kne. Appreciate all that he has done but if we can't fill that void we need to hang it up. The following year it is Mangold and Sims. Yes, those are huge losses. But look at what has been filling the pipeline recently. Add the rumored influence of Peterson and the optimist in me is screaming that we are going to have a great OL on the field for the next several season.

QB - Smith and his backup - shoot, what was his name - oh, yeah Zwick - will both be back for two more years and the competion for that spot will only increase (I loved the comment from Schoenhoft that his job when he got here was to make Smith better). Of course, we could always have a transfer, but I never count that as a loss. Talk about a positon where experience counts - just look at the emergence of Troy Smith against Michigan.

RB - I really like Ross and Hall, but I can no longer get excited about their contributions. Joe is probably a bigger loss than either as things have evolved. But Pittman and Haw along with two new studs this year (we all know it is going to happen) are going to fill out this backfield nicely. Next season experience could be a factor, but the talent pool will be full. It is critical that we land two can't miss prospects with this class - but that is going to happen. In 2006 we will have some polished RBs hitting those holes the OL is opening.

FB - Dionte has already emerged as the man. We have him for three more seasons.

TE - Hanby will leave after next year, but there are just too many solid prospects on board for that to be an issue.

WR - Wow. This is where I really get excited. By the end of the season our only two upper classmen (Childress and Hollins) weren't even on the two deep.

Ginn is ready to go to the NFL now. He probably should be allowed to go now. But the rules say we got him for two more seasons. Even with Holmes leaving early after next season (he could stay TWO more if he wanted) we have plenty of candidates to build around Teddy - and all will be here for at least two more season.

Of course, during the next two years we should be doing nothing but adding more talent to feed the beast. Let's just hope there are not too many unexpected casualities along the way.

If Jim Tressel finds a way to sit on this Offense he ought to be shot.
 
My greatest concern is still the Offensive line. The offensive line defines your success on offense. They had a great game against Michigan, but I am not sold yet. You made a great point about experience. I couldn't agree more about the importance that experience plays, and the fact that we didn't have a lot of it. But, (an this is where my concerns come in) the reason was that we just put a bunch of OLs in the NFL...and a couple of them are actually starting for NFL teams their first year. Now, if you remember right, we were not really happy with the offensive line last year either. Offense wasn't really firing on all cylinders, and a lot of the blame went to "fat, slow linemen". So, my concern is that the problem with the O-line is a technique problem that is being taught to them. I think we have personnel for a great line, but they do what they are told and how they are told....and I think that there is a problem in those instructions.
 
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I like Teddy... but I don't think he has an NFL frame... yet. I feel sorry for the rest of the b10 as he starts to fill in even more.

I think the most important thing will be our RB situation next year. I think our line play has been average to below average for the last few years... but I do believe our RBs didn't help a thing. The Idiot made our O-line look totally different than when Lydell was in there. It would be nice to have someone emerge that ran like him and acted nothing like him.

I'm going to be on the edge of my seat for this bowl game. If we have a good game and roll, the offseason will be full of promise. A bad showing and all of the sudden we look really inconsistent.
 
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The Idiot made our O-line look totally different than when Lydell was in there. It would be nice to have someone emerge that ran like him and acted nothing like him.

In the 8 games MC started in 2002, osu averaged 435 yards of offense per game (excluding the fiesta bowl). He averaged 5.9 ypc on the season, including the games he played hurt. Compare that to a lofty 3.7 for a healthy lydell.


OSU OL recruiting has been substandard for the last 6 years, save for the 2004 and incoming classes. Its evident by the number of position converts and walk-ons in the two deep at OL.

Jim Bollman's zone blocking scheme has failed miserably. Several different people have stated that Bollman has been relegated to the booth and Peterson is assuming more control over OL blocking in the last few games.

Overall, osu's offensive deficiencies are being addressed, but its still going to take time to see notable offensive improvement.
 
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I love the statement, "It is critical that we land two can't miss prospects in this class" in regard to RB.

Was there ever a better commentary on the recruitng process than that? Why would you need two 'can't miss guys?' Well, that's just the way it is.

Anyway- no offense to Tony Pittman... but RB is the spot where we have to get better...

At least to OL looks like a couple kids are stepping up to where there are at least 5 guys who can play... with both a more talented and experienced depth chart.... Whether that's because of Petersen or Bollman or whatever... I don't really care...

But, if we can run the ball... it makes it a lot easier on the QB's and WR's....
 
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We have recruited awesome talent but have not developed it.

Given the eveidence that you provide, I do not agree with this conjecture as of yet. OL is one of the toughest positions to learn and perhaps the most demanding from a strength development standpoint. This is why HS OL are the most difficult to project of any position. We had a bumper crop of OL last year, and will this year as well. But to infer that our line is insufficient because we havent developed the 2004 class is in my opinion unfair. Revist this in 2006 and 2007 and then let me know.
 
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scUM Buster said:
My greatest concern is still the Offensive line. The offensive line defines your success on offense. They had a great game against Michigan, but I am not sold yet.
Well, there is some truth that we caught UM thinking that we had no offense. They must have been gobsmacked when Smith hit Gonzales for the first touchdown and with Smith's mobility. We won't surprise anyone else now that we let that loose against UM.

Nevertheless, they will come back a blooded team that has held together through incredible adversity on and off the field. They have truly become a Buckeye team, like Tressel or not that is his great contribution, he has brought back that tradition to OSU. They also know that they can lose and it can get ugly. Everyone on next year's team will be working over the winter because they will be hungry to avoid being out of the Top 10.

Personally, I like their chances.
 
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AKAKBUCK said:
Anyway- no offense to Tony Pittman... but RB is the spot where we have to get better...

Uh, I think Pittman did pretty damn well...5.4 ypc for the season ain't bad. And that should improve behind his gained experience, a better offensive line, and a more mobile QB that the defense now has to pay more attention to.
 
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Given the eveidence that you provide, I do not agree with this conjecture as of yet. OL is one of the toughest positions to learn and perhaps the most demanding from a strength development standpoint.

The OL is truly an enigma to me. During JTs first three years the OL seemed to be underperforming - yet every OL we graduated went to the OL. On the one hand you can argue that the talent was there but wasn't developed - but how do you argue that two kids went straight from OSU to starting positions this year? Certainly they had been doing more than sunbathing for the past five years. I have heard mention of 'technique' issues, but nobody goes straight to a starting position in the NFL unless somebody has been preparing them for something.

It is this season that I would most readily give JT a pass on the OL performance. You CAN fault him for not recruiting better players to fill the OL spots. We have zero scholarship senior OL and the pedigree of the six kids from the '02 class who are currently listed as OL simply isn't that impressive. Certainly not in the same category of the players we have graduated the past three years or of what is coming down the pike in the next two classes. But given the talent and experience we have now there is little basis for high expectations. Yet they seem to be coming along nicely.
 
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Uh, I think Pittman did pretty damn well...5.4 ypc for the season ain't bad. And that should improve behind his gained experience, a better offensive line, and a more mobile QB that the defense now has to pay more attention to.

He did do pretty damn well--- When we I say we have to get better, I don't mean better than Pittman... I mean better at the position... if experience makes Tony better next year... fine with me... and He did get dinged in limited action, which tells me we need depth (which is pretty clear anyway)... if that depth is Haw, or a recruit... I don't care... but we need to get better than we have been at RB, and that includes the Michigan game.
 
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