Josh Dooley
Guest
You’re Nuts: Highlighting the top performances by NFL Buckeyes in Week 2
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Ohio State was off, but its former players were tearing up the professional ranks.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
While the current Ohio State football team enjoyed an early bye week, several former Buckeyes enjoyed a productive and prosperous weekend (Week 2) in the NFL. This, after a rough opening weekend at the professional level; one that saw Cam Johnston go down with a season-ending injury and many former members of “Zone 6” struggle to get on the same page with their respective quarterbacks.
But as mentioned, Week 2 was a different story, and a good-to-great one for (most of) the pros previously accustomed to donning scarlet and gray. The teams with the largest OSU contingents – Browns, Jets, Saints, Seahawks, Texans – all won, and several former Buckeyes balled out on an individual level. So much so that Gene and I decided to recognize our favorite individual performance by a former Ohio State player.
Somewhat begrudgingly, my “award” goes to J.K. Dobbins of the Los Angeles Chargers. But I only say that (begrudgingly) because of the coaching situation in LA, where Jim Harbaugh and several of his Michigan cronies are running the show for the Chargers. With an emphasis on running. Coincidentally, that’s where Dobbins comes in.
One of Harbaugh’s first hires in LA was Greg Roman as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator. Prior to heading out west, Roman was the OC in Baltimore, where he worked for ol Jim’s brother and coached/helped develop Dobbins (as well as Gus Edwards, LA’s RB2). So despite my hatred for both Michigan and the Baltimore Ravens, even I had to admit that this appeared to be a perfect situation for all involved... On paper, at least.
But for said situation/arrangement to really pay off for the Chargers, Dobbins had/has to stay on the field and perform. And boy, has he. The former 2,000-yard rusher has looked explosive and strong, essentially like his old self. Which is sort of wild given his injury history.
Through two games, Dobbins has rushed for 266 yards on 27 carries, good for 9.9 yards a pop! He has also added two touchdowns for an LA team that has only scored five total (TDs). And while LA has dog-walked their first two opponents, it’s been great to see Dobbins performing and standing out as the team’s best offensive player.
And it’s not even an argument. The former Buckeye has virtually the same number of total yards (270) and Justin Herbert has passing (274). This Chargers team has Harbaugh’s prints all over it, but it is currently being elevated and made better by Dobbins. That’s an Ohio State over Michigan victory in my book.
This past weekend, Dobbins toted the rock for 131 and a tuddy against the Panthers. And while that was impressive in and of itself, I was more impressed that Dobbins was able to replicate his Week 1 success. Because Week 1 is always fluky, and we had no idea how the former Buckeye’s body was going to respond. Fortunately, Dobbins looked confident and spry in Week 2, and showed no signs of fatigue and/or wear-and-tear. Surely that will change as the season progresses, but for now, Dobbins looks lethal.
In fact, there’s an argument to be made that Dobbins (currently!) looks like the best running back in the NFL. He leads the league in rushing by nearly 20 yards, on 20 fewer carries than the guys behind him. Jordan Mason, Josh Jacobs, and Rhamondre Stevenson are the only other players with 200+ yards, and they all have at least 46 carries. And only Alvin Kamara has more than two rushing TD. So no matter how you look at it, Dobbins is one of, if not the most, efficient, effective, and productive RBs in the entire league.
Which is why he gets my vote for the most impressive former Buckeye of the week. But even if Dobbins was just out there in a supplementary role, it’s great to see him healthy and presumably having fun. It’s been a tough few years for the once-explosive runner, and now it appears that we have that guy back. Go nuts J.K., you deserve it.
Week 2 of the NFL season was an incredibly impressive showing for a huge swath of former Buckeyes. On a weekend where the current Ohio State football team was inactive and the coaching staff was hitting the recruiting trail, the performances by players developed in Columbus provided the best recruiting pitch of all.
It was an especially lucrative week for former members of Zone 6, as Brian Hartline’s protege’s were making plays across the league. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a huge game, hauling in 12 catches for 117 yards in a 23-20 win for the Seahawks. Chris Olave had four catches for 81 yards in a 44-19 Saints win, and Garrett Wilson had four catches for 57 yards in the Jets’ 24-17 victory. There was another big Buckeye receiver performance as well, but we will get to that in a minute...
As Josh laid out, it was also a huge day for J.K. Dobbins, who has looked stellar for the Chargers in his return from injury. In his first two games with Los Angeles, Dobbins has totaled 266 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, averaging nearly 10 yards per attempt. After missing all of the 2023 season, Dobbins has already accrued half his total yardage from his 2022 campaign (520 yards) in just two weeks.
On Sunday night football, C.J. Stroud continue to show off why he was the best quarterback by far in the 2023 NFL Draft. Out-dueling rookie Caleb Williams, Stroud helped lead the Texans to a 19-13 win over the Bears, with Houston moving to 2-0 on the season. Through two games, Stroud has completed nearly 70% of his passes for just under 500 yards with three touchdowns and no picks.
However, without beating around the bush too much, of course one of the biggest performances of the day by a former Buckeye was none other than rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. After being held to one catch for four yards in the Cardinals season opener — and his QB puzzlingly forgetting that it actually is his job to get his top receiver the ball — Maserati Mark broke out in Week 2 with four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
All of the discourse following his incredibly underwhelming Week 1, wherein Kyler Murray did not see Harrison Jr. wide open down field late for a potentially game-changing play, was clearly for naught, as the star wideout showed that his skillset will very obviously translate to the pros. Now that he has his first two career touchdowns under his belt, it will be fun to watch the former Ohio State standout work his way towards becoming one of the league’s top pass-catching options — right alongside a bunch of his former teammates.
Continue reading...
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Ohio State was off, but its former players were tearing up the professional ranks.
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
This week’s topic: Top performances by NFL Buckeyes in Week 2
Josh’s Take
While the current Ohio State football team enjoyed an early bye week, several former Buckeyes enjoyed a productive and prosperous weekend (Week 2) in the NFL. This, after a rough opening weekend at the professional level; one that saw Cam Johnston go down with a season-ending injury and many former members of “Zone 6” struggle to get on the same page with their respective quarterbacks.
But as mentioned, Week 2 was a different story, and a good-to-great one for (most of) the pros previously accustomed to donning scarlet and gray. The teams with the largest OSU contingents – Browns, Jets, Saints, Seahawks, Texans – all won, and several former Buckeyes balled out on an individual level. So much so that Gene and I decided to recognize our favorite individual performance by a former Ohio State player.
Somewhat begrudgingly, my “award” goes to J.K. Dobbins of the Los Angeles Chargers. But I only say that (begrudgingly) because of the coaching situation in LA, where Jim Harbaugh and several of his Michigan cronies are running the show for the Chargers. With an emphasis on running. Coincidentally, that’s where Dobbins comes in.
One of Harbaugh’s first hires in LA was Greg Roman as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator. Prior to heading out west, Roman was the OC in Baltimore, where he worked for ol Jim’s brother and coached/helped develop Dobbins (as well as Gus Edwards, LA’s RB2). So despite my hatred for both Michigan and the Baltimore Ravens, even I had to admit that this appeared to be a perfect situation for all involved... On paper, at least.
But for said situation/arrangement to really pay off for the Chargers, Dobbins had/has to stay on the field and perform. And boy, has he. The former 2,000-yard rusher has looked explosive and strong, essentially like his old self. Which is sort of wild given his injury history.
Through two games, Dobbins has rushed for 266 yards on 27 carries, good for 9.9 yards a pop! He has also added two touchdowns for an LA team that has only scored five total (TDs). And while LA has dog-walked their first two opponents, it’s been great to see Dobbins performing and standing out as the team’s best offensive player.
And it’s not even an argument. The former Buckeye has virtually the same number of total yards (270) and Justin Herbert has passing (274). This Chargers team has Harbaugh’s prints all over it, but it is currently being elevated and made better by Dobbins. That’s an Ohio State over Michigan victory in my book.
This past weekend, Dobbins toted the rock for 131 and a tuddy against the Panthers. And while that was impressive in and of itself, I was more impressed that Dobbins was able to replicate his Week 1 success. Because Week 1 is always fluky, and we had no idea how the former Buckeye’s body was going to respond. Fortunately, Dobbins looked confident and spry in Week 2, and showed no signs of fatigue and/or wear-and-tear. Surely that will change as the season progresses, but for now, Dobbins looks lethal.
In fact, there’s an argument to be made that Dobbins (currently!) looks like the best running back in the NFL. He leads the league in rushing by nearly 20 yards, on 20 fewer carries than the guys behind him. Jordan Mason, Josh Jacobs, and Rhamondre Stevenson are the only other players with 200+ yards, and they all have at least 46 carries. And only Alvin Kamara has more than two rushing TD. So no matter how you look at it, Dobbins is one of, if not the most, efficient, effective, and productive RBs in the entire league.
Which is why he gets my vote for the most impressive former Buckeye of the week. But even if Dobbins was just out there in a supplementary role, it’s great to see him healthy and presumably having fun. It’s been a tough few years for the once-explosive runner, and now it appears that we have that guy back. Go nuts J.K., you deserve it.
Gene’s Take
Week 2 of the NFL season was an incredibly impressive showing for a huge swath of former Buckeyes. On a weekend where the current Ohio State football team was inactive and the coaching staff was hitting the recruiting trail, the performances by players developed in Columbus provided the best recruiting pitch of all.
It was an especially lucrative week for former members of Zone 6, as Brian Hartline’s protege’s were making plays across the league. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a huge game, hauling in 12 catches for 117 yards in a 23-20 win for the Seahawks. Chris Olave had four catches for 81 yards in a 44-19 Saints win, and Garrett Wilson had four catches for 57 yards in the Jets’ 24-17 victory. There was another big Buckeye receiver performance as well, but we will get to that in a minute...
As Josh laid out, it was also a huge day for J.K. Dobbins, who has looked stellar for the Chargers in his return from injury. In his first two games with Los Angeles, Dobbins has totaled 266 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, averaging nearly 10 yards per attempt. After missing all of the 2023 season, Dobbins has already accrued half his total yardage from his 2022 campaign (520 yards) in just two weeks.
On Sunday night football, C.J. Stroud continue to show off why he was the best quarterback by far in the 2023 NFL Draft. Out-dueling rookie Caleb Williams, Stroud helped lead the Texans to a 19-13 win over the Bears, with Houston moving to 2-0 on the season. Through two games, Stroud has completed nearly 70% of his passes for just under 500 yards with three touchdowns and no picks.
However, without beating around the bush too much, of course one of the biggest performances of the day by a former Buckeye was none other than rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. After being held to one catch for four yards in the Cardinals season opener — and his QB puzzlingly forgetting that it actually is his job to get his top receiver the ball — Maserati Mark broke out in Week 2 with four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
All of the discourse following his incredibly underwhelming Week 1, wherein Kyler Murray did not see Harrison Jr. wide open down field late for a potentially game-changing play, was clearly for naught, as the star wideout showed that his skillset will very obviously translate to the pros. Now that he has his first two career touchdowns under his belt, it will be fun to watch the former Ohio State standout work his way towards becoming one of the league’s top pass-catching options — right alongside a bunch of his former teammates.
Continue reading...