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RB Antonio Pittman (Official Thread)

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all i know is that after watching film and reading all the accolades, i stated numerous times that i thought that Maurice Wells would be the starter by mid-season in '05... boy was i wrong... what actually happened was that the more carries Ptt got, the better he got, and despite all the hype, Wells couldn't hold a candle to Pitt, and Pittman went on to rush for 1335 yards, the 10th best single season total in Ohio State history, and Pitt became only the third Sophomore in Ohio State history to rush for 1,000+ yards, joining the likes of Archie Griffin and Keith Byars...

the bottom line is that no matter how badass Chris Wells might be, Antonio Pittman has the heart of a lion, and a work ethic unlike many we have seen, and i don't see anyone unseating him as the starter, no matter how studly they might be...

don't get me wrong, i think that Beanie will be productive as a Freshman, and i think he can definitely help in the redzone, but i think that a LOT of people are selling Pittman short... the people in Akron didn't name him the Pittbull for nothing...

i doubted Pitt going into 2005... i won't make that mistake again...
 
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BuckeyeKid789 said:
I don't know if anyone else feels this way but I hope Wells doesn't steal too many carries away from Pittman. After what Pittman did for us this year, which is giving us a running game, he deserves his 20-25 carries a game and I think he should get first dibs at a touchdown if we're inside the 10 yard line. Hopefully we'll be good enough to give Wells plenty of garbage time though. The only time I want to see Wells enter in for Pittman is if Pittman isn't doing anything and we need a change of pace. Here's to Pittman getting 1,500 yards and 10+ touchdowns and 1st team all Big-10 honors!:cheers:
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I am a Cincinnati Reds fan too and so I am going to use a Reds analogy to describe what I hope will happen.

Jason LaRue has long been an above average catcher for the Reds, but he has been somewhat of an ironman. This past season, Javier Valentin proved to be very capable as a catcher and at the plate and began to get more time. It wasn't a platoon situation, but Valentin spelled LaRue quite a bit, giving him about 20 or more games of additional rest. And LaRue's numbers skyrocketed, his career best. And the combination of LaRue and Valentin was the best production any team got out of catcher in the majors.

Now, what does this have to do with Pittman and Wells? I believe that Pittman was overworked and overrelied on to some extent in 2005, since he was really the only capable back. Much of his rest came from running Troy or using the passing game. I believe that if Pittman can get a little more rest in games, he can be even more productive when he runs. Now, this is not to say that Pittman isn't fully capable of being a 30 carry a game back. I believe he is. But, if Wells is the real deal, I believe giving Pittman 20 carries and Wells 10 a game will allow Pittman to have more legs late in the game as the defense is getting softened up by the pounding of Wells and will allow him to increase an already very good Yards per carry average by another 1-1.5 yards.

The other thing I believe is that Troy Smith ought to get some tape of Boomer Esiason or some of the other world class guys at the play action pass, because I think play action could be the most deadly play in our arsenal if Smith can sell the fake a little better. Not saying he isn't good at it already. Just saying that the run is going to be huge, but the WRs will still be fast and deadly and that is a great playaction combo.

This is going to be a fun offense. And the thing that is really nice about it is I don't have really any injury fears either because we have awesome depth everywhere. The only guy I would be really worried about injury wise is Ginn just because you can't replicate the game changing ability.
 
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cincibuckeyenut said:
I am a Cincinnati Reds fan too and so I am going to use a Reds analogy to describe what I hope will happen.

Jason LaRue has long been an above average catcher for the Reds, but he has been somewhat of an ironman. This past season, Javier Valentin proved to be very capable as a catcher and at the plate and began to get more time. It wasn't a platoon situation, but Valentin spelled LaRue quite a bit, giving him about 20 or more games of additional rest. And LaRue's numbers skyrocketed, his career best. And the combination of LaRue and Valentin was the best production any team got out of catcher in the majors.

Now, what does this have to do with Pittman and Wells? I believe that Pittman was overworked and overrelied on to some extent in 2005, since he was really the only capable back. Much of his rest came from running Troy or using the passing game. I believe that if Pittman can get a little more rest in games, he can be even more productive when he runs. Now, this is not to say that Pittman isn't fully capable of being a 30 carry a game back. I believe he is. But, if Wells is the real deal, I believe giving Pittman 20 carries and Wells 10 a game will allow Pittman to have more legs late in the game as the defense is getting softened up by the pounding of Wells and will allow him to increase an already very good Yards per carry average by another 1-1.5 yards.

The other thing I believe is that Troy Smith ought to get some tape of Boomer Esiason or some of the other world class guys at the play action pass, because I think play action could be the most deadly play in our arsenal if Smith can sell the fake a little better. Not saying he isn't good at it already. Just saying that the run is going to be huge, but the WRs will still be fast and deadly and that is a great playaction combo.

This is going to be a fun offense. And the thing that is really nice about it is I don't have really any injury fears either because we have awesome depth everywhere. The only guy I would be really worried about injury wise is Ginn just because you can't replicate the game changing ability.
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I'm not sure I agree with everything, but a great post none the less. I don't think Pittman was over worked this year at all. I think he got what he wanted, the bulk of the offensive snaps. Thats what you come to Ohio State to do. To prove you can handle being an every down back in the Big Ten, and thusly, the NFL. If you can handle the beating of being a starting RB in this conference, and just get stronger as the the season goes like AP did, you are a sure bet to get drafted into the league.

As for the playaction, did you see his toss to Holmes in the Bowl game? That was a pretty good fake. Smith is progressing into a great college QB.
 
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BuckeyeKid789 said:
I don't know if anyone else feels this way but I hope Wells doesn't steal too many carries away from Pittman. After what Pittman did for us this year, which is giving us a running game, he deserves his 20-25 carries a game and I think he should get first dibs at a touchdown if we're inside the 10 yard line. Hopefully we'll be good enough to give Wells plenty of garbage time though. The only time I want to see Wells enter in for Pittman is if Pittman isn't doing anything and we need a change of pace. Here's to Pittman getting 1,500 yards and 10+ touchdowns and 1st team all Big-10 honors!:cheers:
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I agree, because Pittman had an awesome season and has proved himself immensely, but I think that we should do whatever is going to put our team in the best position to win. Obviously, Pittman should get the majority of carries, but if Wells comes out and starts dominating the defenses, we can not be too loyal and not increasing Wells' carries, even if it means taking a few away from Pittman.


Either way, its all great for news for Buckeye nation :biggrin: .
 
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ScarletBlood31 said:
Haha well that fatass is goin to the AFC championship game and the hall of fame.....
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BINGO... #5 All-Time NFL rusher ... and I'm a die-hard Browns fan..
In college.... averaged almost 6 ypc... and scored about once every dozen carries... not bad stats...

Michael Bush may have been a better choice...
BUT... this is Antonio's thread... so back to the Pittman show
 
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