• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

S Malik Hooker (All B1G, All-American, Dallas Cowboys)

His three picks has him currently tied for the lead nationally in interceptions with two others, Kai Nacua of BYU and Mike Tyson (not a typo) of the Juggalos. Neither Nacua nor Tyson have a TD and their total return yardage of 39 yards combined is a tad over half of Hooker's 70 yards.

I was looking at those stats earlier.

Nebraska and Cincinnati each have 7 interceptions as well, but their return yardage combined is less than Ohio State's 185 return yards.

Nebraska 7 for 70 yards.
Cincinnati has 7 for 104 yards.
 
Upvote 0
If he keeps this up we'll never know how good he is compared to other OSU safeties, because he'll be in the league. His range is so special, ball skills are great, and he has solid size. That's a recipe for a very high draft pick.
 
Upvote 0
If he keeps this up we'll never know how good he is compared to other OSU safeties, because he'll be in the league. His range is so special, ball skills are great, and he has solid size. That's a recipe for a very high draft pick.
True, but if he keeps this up, you'd have a hard time putting anyone other than Doss or Whitner up there with him among safeties of the last 15 years, even with just one year of play
 
Upvote 0
im-a-hooker-whats-your-superpower-t-shirt-men-s-t-shirt.jpg


He is a special talent. What amazes me is just how good the secondary is. All of these kids can play.
 
Upvote 0
If he keeps this up we'll never know how good he is compared to other OSU safeties, because he'll be in the league. His range is so special, ball skills are great, and he has solid size. That's a recipe for a very high draft pick.
If Malik can make it to the NFL after starting for only one year, then that would also be a huge recruiting tool. A project football player who was more of basketball player becomes an NFL caliber player after starting for one year and also becomes one of the most dynamic defensive players in CFB. I don't want to get too far ahead, but that sure sounds like a great plan
 
Upvote 0
Malik is a special talent and no doubt has the opportunity to be a Buckeye great before he leaves here. However, I won't put him above Vonn Bell until he basically locks down a national championship the way VB did. Bell changed that secondary, a lot like Malik is doing. Vonn Bell also kept the recruiting doors wide open in the south for more talent to come on board in Columbus along with McMillan. Malik is definitely "the shiny new toy" in our defensive backfield and he's earning all the accolades headed his way, but, until he becomes a leader like Vonn Bell and pulls our asses out of the fire in a close one, he's not to that level yet.

I will admit that I might be a little biased though (checking VB thread and finding subliminal recruiting technique) but I love what Malik is doing. More time is needed to pass VB on my talent board.
 
Upvote 0
Fcuk's sake, is it not possible to recognize the athletic ability of a current player without denigrating past greats? No one has said anything about Hooker's leadership, etc. precisely because we don't know anything about it. He's played two games. No one's running down Bell or Doss.
 
Upvote 0
Vonn was a great buckeye. Whitner and Doss were even better safeties .

Vonn and Doss never displayed this blend of attributes . Doss had the size, Vonn had the quickness, neither had both. Whitner was closer though Malik might be even more explosive

Of course we are way early on calling them equals, but this is a pretty outrageous start to a career. Diddy had a good comparison in Ed Reed, he's displaying that kind of range, physicality and ball skills and doing it on his very first chance to play. He's also doing it with just an alright front 7 in terms of pressuring the qb. (They'll get there but for now it's no Bosa, Washington, Hubbard/Lee pass rush, or the wrecking crew that was in front of Doss )
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
It has been pretty impressive, stunning, in fact. I'd still like to see more games before we anoint him. He's gonna blow a coverage, jump a route, do something that looks quite stupid. Anyone who plays that position does at some time or another. Let's just remember that before we have game thread comments about how he's not living up to his second coming credentials.
 
Upvote 0
Back
Top