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Weakest Position Group for 2019

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Which unit will be the "Weakest" for 2019?

  • QB

    Votes: 2 3.6%

  • RB

    Votes: 1 1.8%

  • WR

    Votes: 1 1.8%

  • TE

    Votes: 1 1.8%

  • OL

    Votes: 16 28.6%

  • DL

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • LB

    Votes: 29 51.8%

  • CB

    Votes: 6 10.7%

  • Coaching

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    56
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Oh8ch

Oh8ch

Cognoscente of Omphaloskepsis
Staff member
Last year there seemed to be consensus that the OL and LB would be our weakest groups. What about this year?

QB - Nobody saw Haskins coming last year - not like he did. But we still saw it as a strong group. This year I am assuming Fields will be eligible and Martell will be gone. I believe we are still incredibly strong. Fields will not put up the passing numbers but our running game will return in full force. And with Baldwin I feel good about our bench.

RB - Fields is a key here. I look for Dobbins to have a monster season and with so many options for the second and third player we will be fine.

WR - We lost a bunch. But Mack will be back. Victor is coming on. Olave!!!! And Fields for a 5th season. Plus the #1 receiver recruit in the nation. Just fine.

TE - Berry, Farrel and Hausmann have all been solid contributors and are all upper classman. But I look for this to be the season of Jeremy Ruckert. Absolute strength.

OL - Once again the OL is an area of concern. But only because of the depth. Davis and Meyer - both 5 star recruits now in their 3rd season - are ready. Alabi and Bowen have starts under their belt and Munford rounds out the group. Plus the #1 OT recruit from 2017 has a season under his belt along with 2 other highly rated RS Frosh. Experience and depth make this a concern - but if everyone comes through and stays healthy it could be a strength.

DL - I don't care who we have lost, just too many talented players and too much depth and experience to call this anything but a strength. And of course - Larry Johnson.

LB - This group started to come on late and every one of them is back. But most importantly the LB coach isn't. There are some very talented players here who have not shown up yet and have the potential to make this the heart of the D.

DB - This unit IMO proved to be the actual weakest on the team in 2018 and I had grave concerns for this season until new names emerged the last few weeks. And now Fuller is returning which I frankly didn't expect. Once again with new coaching I see the return of the silver bullets.

Coaching - Hard to predict how all these new names will work together but I have to believe it will be better than 2018 where I believe much of our problems on D related to the dynamics between Grinch and Schiano. So I will fall back on the time worn adage - trust the coaches.

Frankly - I don't see a weak unit at all. Fields not being granted eligibility would change everything (I like Baldwin but not Baldwin with no backup). My major concern is depth on the OL - so that unit gets my vote.

I am bullish on the 2019 Buckeyes.
 
One other factor I should have mentioned regarding our strengths. Last season we had 7 scholarship seniors on the entire team - zero on D. And don't think that isn't a factor for how the D performed.

This year we have NINETEEN seniors. I can't recall when we had so many.

We have TEN MORE seniors playing Defense than we had last season. This is CFB where kids have 3 or 4 years to learn their craft. That is truly significant.
 
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RE: every bashing Tuf..... I really feel like he should not have been playing this year and was greatly slowed or maybe permanently slowed by his achilles injury in the spring... I dont know but he didn’t look nearly as bad in ‘17 when he was fillin in the middle or that slow... I wonder how much coming back from that so quickly affected him or if it is permanently slowed him down.
 
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If I assume that:

- LBs improve by leaps and bounds (from the clear weakest performer in 2018)
- Alabi continues his progression
- Fields gets his waiver
- TEs remain average (both in how much they're utilized and what the floor of their execution is)

Then I believe DE is the weakest unit for now (and I have the least confidence in massive growth by september compared to my expectations at LB, OL). That said, there's so much talent there for a rockstar like LJ SR to work with, and a healthy and older Chase Young can transform that unit (like Nick did for the dreadful September 2018 defense as a whole).

QB all comes down to Fields' waiver. If he gets it, then this is a pretty solid group.
QB Fields - could be the Deshaun Watson level of talent that Urban chased all throughout his OSU tenure but never landed. That's an unbelievably high bar to clear but Justin has tle talent.

QB Baldwin - lost in all of the "Day upset Tate by bringing in Fields" chatter is the fact that Baldwin quietly received a huge percentage of the "practice hype" this year, and did so as the 3rd string guy getting limited reps. A lot of smart people were very high on him in HS and that chatter only increased after arriving at OSU.

Losing Tate hurts depth a lot, but if Fields gets his eligibility, it's really an even swap, while trading some offensive continuity for passing upside (and durability). They were going to have 2 QBs next year without Justin and should have them with him. It hurts only having a few bodies, but realistically they only had 1.5 QBs that they leaned on anyway in past years (if not 1). Fields and Baldwin also give them a rare minimum of 2 years from a high level talent.

If Justin is ruled ineligible, then someone will be transferring in to be the on-deck QB the minute they enroll.
Click to expand...

RB is thin but should be fine
Dobbins thrives when he's the workhorse. Teague showed promise, and RB is the easiest position to blossom. Crowley coming in early is big.
Click to expand...
WR has a rare mix of talent and experience. Can they block as well as Terry and JD?
Mack - returning is a huge shot in the arm. He was a steady force before he went down.
Victor - really benefits from Mack/Hill's presence, as he can continue as an ultra talented role player.
Olave - the sky is the limit for him, and he no longer has to wait behind veterans to make his mark.
Hill - enormous pickup. Steadying force at a position that had no XP, and was going to be Gill by default.
Saunders - steady depth guy.

Young vets: Can Gardiner and Harris break into a talented unit?
Talented newcomers: Gill, Smith, Wilson, Williams (is Babb healthy?)
Click to expand...
TE remains a regular unit, unless Ruckert can take the next step.

Can OSU find a few more steady contributors on the OL? If they can get to 6-7 guys they can trust, they can steal a solid unit out of a concerning one.
C - OSU has had to steal their best guard to have a center for 3 straight years. Can Myers be a true center at last? (Obviously Pat/Billy were studs, but they weakened the guard spot to do it)

OT - Will Alabi be another late gem?

OL - Bowen, will he be his old self? If so, that's a giant shot in the arm

depth - is a giant issue
Click to expand...
DE - Just two years ago, they were so stacked that they had Chase Young moonlight at MLB. A guy like Nick Bosa wasn't even needed at DE. Now, they would kill for a Lewis type outside.
Young is ultra talented but needs to get a lot more disciplined. He took a step in the Rose Bowl. Can he build on that after getting healthy at last?
Cooper has been playing regular minutes for awhile. Can he take the next step and be a solidifying force on a thin unit?

Cornell, is he a DE again? They have a lot of talent inside that should no longer be so young. If he can be a Steve Miller level contributor, that would go a long way.

Harrison is unlikely to be a steady contributor right away.

Tyreke played well ahead of his years. Can he take the next step?
Tyler has played sparingly. What can we expect from him?

Potter ran circles around Harrison in HS and was the true monster DE in the state. Can he have an instant impact while the very young depth comes into its own?

Will developmental guys like Williams, Jean Baptiste contribute or still need more time?
Click to expand...
DT has a lot of depth and talent. They lose Jones, but return everyone else. I'm also thrilled about a unit where there are more reps for Tommy Togiai. He is a rare specimen at DT that does not usually come to OSU (but were often seen at Bama, USC, LSU, etc).

LB is a proper coach's dream scenario. It's the Brian Kelly CoY scenario, where the previous year was so bad that anything solid will look amazing.
There's talent for days and there were a lot of games where 0-1 guys executed adequately (let alone well). That was while rotating a ton of guys as well (a fact lost on the "the coaches never play the best guys" mob).

Werner (became more consistent, is more of a hybrid than a LB)
Tuf (struggled a lot but was also injured)
Malik (flashes then gets lost, really started to put it together late)

Backups: Browning, Jones, Hilliard
Next wave: Mitchell, Gant, Pope
Incoming: Eichenberg, Young, Stover* (is he a LB?)
Click to expand...
I'm not seeing the weakness at DB that others see.
Okudah - stud. Wildly underrated this year, and played like that all season.
Fuller - all big ten type of performer. Steady force on the back end.

Wade, White - really promising futures. Can they take the next step to being promising talents to reliable standouts?

Arnette - much maligned, in part because he followed an unprecedented run of elite NFL talent. For a team with zero depth, he's a big pickup for one more year. People need to look at him as though he were a grad transfer. If Sheff declares, they have zero depth for their 5th DB (which is a starter in this era). You would take a player of his caliber all day if he was transferring from WVU or Cinci.

Also lost in his contributions is his size. Wade is ultra talented but extremely light, and I'm not sure I expect that to change much this offseason.

Sheffield - likely gone. If he returns this unit is an automatic strenght.

Benched veterans that started - Wint, Pryor - what is their future for OSU?

Vets that have played sparingly: Williamson, Riep - can these guys be steady depth to step up when injuries and expulsions occur?

Young talent with hype in practice - Tyreke, Sevyn, Josh - can these guys take the next step?

Unknown youngsters: Brown, Hooker, Rickman, Shaw - probably not contributing to the primary D this year
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
I think it has to be OL. 4 of 5 will be new starters. Losing Jordan put the line squarely at #1 for me. Yes, they are returning experience but that's a big shake up.

Talent looks solid but depth a huge concern. With a new QB in the fold for '19, the slobs need to be especially good next year to take the pressure off Fields, Tate, or Baldwin (Yes, it sounds funny including all 3 but until it's official I'll continue to do so).

They didn't run the ball very well this year until the last few games, and with 2 proven studs in the backfield with a solid line. Don't imagine it will be better than this year. Having the possibility of Fields running it a little more should increase the overall numbers but I still see the entire OL, as a unit, as the weak link. They have talent and a ton of experience everywhere else.
 
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mendensa said:
I think it has to be OL. 4 of 5 will be new starters. Losing Jordan put the line squarely at #1 for me. Yes, they are returning experience but that's a big shake up.

Talent looks solid but depth a huge concern. With a new QB in the fold for '19, the slobs need to be especially good next year to take the pressure off Fields, Tate, or Baldwin (Yes, it sounds funny including all 3 but until it's official I'll continue to do so).

They didn't run the ball very well this year until the last few games, and with 2 proven studs in the backfield with a solid line. Don't imagine it will be better than this year. Having the possibility of Fields running it a little more should increase the overall numbers but I still see the entire OL, as a unit, as the weak link. They have talent and a ton of experience everywhere else.
Click to expand...

Position coach also has some questions and uncertainty.
I dont know what to think of Stud...
 
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