Football
Ginn's Role to Expand?
By John Porentas
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</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Punt returner, kick returner, wide receiver...defensive back?
OSU's dynamic sophomore Ted Ginn Jr. is currently sporting three titles on the OSU football roster, punt returner, kick returner and wide receiver, but OSU fans are transfixed on the idea that Ginn can be also be a lock down cover corner. Ginn, after all, came to OSU touted as a defensive back, not an offensive player.
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ted Ginn [/FONT]
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Some have doubted the wisdom of playing Ginn on the defensive side of the ball. An injury to Ginn, perhaps tackling a rumbling running back or on the receiving end of a block down field, would deal a devastating blow to both OSU's special teams and offense, but the interest in Ginn as a defensive back persists.
OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel has been coy when asked if Ginn would make an appearance on the defensive side of the ball. Tressel has said consistently that Ginn could possibly make an appearance on defense, but most probably when the weather got cooler. It's November, it's cooler, and the fans want to know if Ginn will play defense. On Tuesday, Tressel remained noncommittal on Ginn as a defensive back when reminded of his comments that Ginn might play a little defense when the weather turned cooler.
"It was kind of hinted when the weather gets cooler?" said Tressel as if that were news to him.
"I'll defer that to Donte," said Tressel, referring to safety Donte Whitner who was also in the room.
"He sees him over there in drills, you can ask him that. If our team needs to do that to be better, you know, then -- we wouldn't do it in a normal situation. Might do it in a nickel or a dime or we're banged up back there or whatever, but Donte can tell you more about how he does."
Whitner was much more direct in his answer to the question of whether Ginn would play defense this season.
"He's been doing individual drills with the corners and covering receivers and things like that. I believe that the next week we play Northwestern, and they like a lot of spread," said Whitner.
"You could possibly see him next week against Northwestern. He's not going to take out one of the normal corners in the regular defense and put him in, but next week vs. Northwestern with all the spread and things like that Ted could possibly be in," said Whitner.
Whitner doesn't seem to think that Ginn will play defense against the Illini, but hinted strongly that Ginn could see the field against the Wildcats despite the fact that injured cornerback Tyler Everett is expected to return to action this week against Illinois. Everett's return, according to Whitner, will help, but does not make it less likely that Ginn will play against Northwestern simply because of the Wildcats' style of play.
"No, it doesn't make it less likely because even when Tyler was back he was still doing drills with the corners," said Whitner.
"You can almost be certain that you might see him in at least the dime package for sure. I'm not really sure about the nickel with Tyler being back, but the dime package next week against Northwestern, you could see him in there."
Tressel has said steadfastly that weather has played a role in the decision on how to use Ginn, but there may be one other factor in play. Ginn has already proven himself as a devastating return man, but has yet to demonstrate the same spectacular level of play at wide receiver. According to the man who coaches him as both a receiver and returner, OSU assistant Darrell Hazell, there is a reason for that.
"I think he will be a fantastic receiver a year from now. Fantastic. He will have the same capabilities as a Santonio Holmes. He just needs the work. He needs reps. He's behind at that position," said Hazell.
That, more than anything, may explain why Ginn has not appeared on defense. He's still learning to play on offense, and there is only so-much a player can assimilate at one time. Hazell ticked off the areas in which Ginn needs to improve as a receiver.
"He needs to learn how to power through people when he gets caught in jams, I think he's gotten better at that, staying low when he's being confronted by defenders.
"You can never get enough transition work at the top of the break, being to put your feet in the ground, no wasted motion, drive them back on the ball, keep the shoulders down.
"He's learning how to do those things," Hazell said.
Hazell said he is not surprised that Ginn's development as a receiver is behind his development as a returner.
"Returning is more instinctive. It gives you a chance to freelance a little bit more," Hazell said.
Ginn has those instincts that allowed him to make an immediate impact as a returner, but like so many talented athletes, has yet to learn enough about the receiver position to make the same kind of impact in that role.
"Very few guys can do that, very few," said Hazell.
"There's a lot of technical things you have to learn. It's not scheme or plays, but it's recognition sometimes, recognition of coverage, things like that," Hazell said.
Ted Ginn's role may someday expand to include defense at Ohio State, but for now, it's a pretty sure bet it will be spot duty in specific situations. He's still pretty busy mastering the wide receiver role. Asking him to master a corner role as well at the same time is probably just a little too much.
