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underclassmen declaring for NFL

Brown is essentially a returning starter, assuming he is fully healthy.

Schutt was not outplaying Hill. Boren and Farris had some rough times this year and vannett was up and down. Those spots can be replaced if not upgraded next year.

Wideout is losing a ton of talent but a better scheme and blocking could really turn them into a much better group. I also think Samuel provides a more steady h back than Braxton, who was feast or famine with the ball (when he got it).

Next year could see a more natural set of wideouts with brown, hill, Gibson, Mack (maybe one more frosh?) with Samuel, Wilson and McCall. There will be growing pains but I love their long term potential.

And most of all, this will be a hungry team once more who has accomplished next to nothing. The only two who will have accomplished much of anything will be Barrett and McMillan and both are major warriors .
This is how I see it too J. I think the offensive line can actually be just as good next year because IMO Boren had trouble at times due to his size and Farris just doesn't have that length you need at Tackle. So not worried at OL.

Not worried at QB obviously and I'm not worried about WR. As you said this is now a more natural WR group due to Braxton/Marshall being out. Marshall particularly probably should've stayed two mote years but I'm excited to see people who have a little more fluidity than Marshall does. Besides that's two less people we feel obligated to get the ball to and maybe now we just take what they're giving us regardless of who's getting the ball.

At RB you don't replace that sort of blocking and home run hitting abilities that Zeke brought. However I have no doubt Weber/Dunn can be consistent in hitting those 10-15 yarders that break opponents backs.

DL we lose 3 starters but Hubbard may as well have started with how much he played. Like you pointed out Hill was every bit as productive as Tommy. Also with Bosa coming in (God I love saying that) that'll give us a fairly deep rotation when you figure in Holmes/Slade. Also call me crazy but I like what Sprinkle has been doing these past few games but maybe it's just the dreds.

LB and Secondary is where my concerns are with LB actually my bigger concern. In the secondary while we lose 3 we also will have Conley, Burrows, Smith, Ward, Webb, and Hooker all fighting for three spots.

At LB though is anyone confident that Worley can give us what Lee had to an extent? I'm not sold on him for some reason and I don't know why. Also Booker is a greatly athletic kid but his size scares me as its fairly light for a backer.

With next year's schedule being difficult we also have to understand that no one has recruited as well as us and NO one is returning a crap load besides Nebraska which will be at home most likely at night. Our team will be out to prove a point and with JT leading the way as long as the defense doesn't shit the bed we should be fine.
 
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9 early departures is a little crazy but it helps recruiting too. Recruits like unproven depth charts and the proof they can get to the league. See: Corley, Donnie & Fuller, Jordan

I wonder with all these early departures, what will Urban come up with the "theme" for year 2016? In 14 it was the "Chase" In 15 it was the "Grind" It will be interesting to see what he will come up with - If any at all.
 
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I wonder with all these early departures, what will Urban come up with the "theme" for year 2016? In 14 it was the "Chase" In 15 it was the "Grind" It will be interesting to see what he will come up with - If any at all.

My money is on "Who the eff are all these guys?"
 
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"It is a very good junior class," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said last week. "I take my hat off to them.

"This the the way it is [with a lot of talented draft-eligible players]. I'd rather be in this situation than have a bunch of not-very-good players."

http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2016/st...nother-underclassman-michael-thomas-nfl-draft

I wish he just would've said, "Do the math--if you're a recruit with a bunch of offers and you want to go to the League, I suggest you come to Ohio State." And then walked off the stage.
 
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OSU Will Rebuild After Draft Exodus

As expected, much of the national college football conversation in advance the national championship has centered around Ohio State. It's just not about the actual national championship.

Instead of talking about a national title matchup for the Buckeyes, as just about everyone expected in August, we're watching as Ohio State's 2014 title team continues to get disassembled. With announcements by receiver Michael Thomas and safety Vonn Bell on Tuesday, nine Ohio State underclassmen have declared their intentions to forgo their remaining eligibility and enter the 2016 NFL draft.

It's hardly a surprise. The team that beat Oregon to win the national title last year did so a year earlier than expected with a relatively young team. While players like Devin Smith and Michael Bennett were lost entering 2015, the Buckeyes did not lose a single player early to the draft after winning the championship, a very rare occurrence.

That is what made Ohio State such an overwhelming favorite to repeat this season -- so much so that it was a unanimous preseason AP poll No. 1 -- and that is what makes a 12-1 season somehow feel like a disappointment. This team was at minimum a playoff-or-bust team in 2015, but things rarely clicked as hoped, even if the team's only loss was by a field goal to a team that did make the playoff. Few teams have ever had expectations as high, and at times it felt as if nothing but 15 blowout wins on the way to an undefeated national championship season would be the only satisfying result.

The truth is that Ohio State was one of the nation's best teams in 2015, with a great defense and running game, but anything less than a national title felt like a disappointment, even for a roster that already had a national title on its resume.

The season did end on a high note with a 44-28 win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, but the draft decisions have quickly shifted attention in Columbus to the ample questions the team will face in 2016. The mass exodus should be finished now, so here is who Ohio State has lost early:
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Meyer is one of the nation's two best coaches, and he has recruited at a high level, hovering around the top five of recruiting rankings every year. The number of draft defections shows that not only is Meyer recruiting top talent, he's quickly developing it too. Both Michigan and Michigan State have plenty of talent to replace, even if it's not as much as Ohio State's ridiculous turnover, but only Alabama is equipped to reload like Ohio State is. In fact, Ohio State may relish lesser pressure than 2015, as 2016 will present an opportunity to find new stars and likely get better as the season progresses, without the weight of astronomical expectations and relentless national attention.

It's a tough challenge, for sure. LSU, who also is one of the nation's best recruiters, was hit hard by early defections in 2013 and 2014, and the result has been a 27-11 record over the last three years. Bad? No, but these are the types of schools in which reloading is expected rather than rebuilding. Such severe attrition -- in the case of Ohio State, the bulk of a national title team -- is impossible to manage perfectly, and next year will undoubtedly feature plenty of bumps.

But based on Meyer's track record, the talent he has recruited, the return of a proven starting quarterback and the questions elsewhere in the Big Ten, the Buckeyes are still as good of a bet as any to win the conference in 2016. How Meyer goes about putting a new team together will be one of the most fascinating stories to follow over the next 12 months, and any discussion of breakout players for next season is bound to include a lot of Buckeyes.

Entire article: http://news.yahoo.com/osu-rebuild-draft-exodus-044132733.html?nf=1
 
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