Five Musts for Our Gridiron Gang
June 18 2007 10:57 PM -- Filed in: Football
The complete lack of football newsworthy items is
fantastic. That means no one is imitating Pacman Jones nor do
we have any freak accidents. Instead we
have our head coach apologizing, in so many
words, to the Big Ten for the national title
game and eager to get going in August. And, just
what about this coming year? Depending on who
you talk to, expectations are all over the map
but there are a few things that must happen in
order to make noise on the national title scene.
In Letterman-like reverse order...
5) Paging Ray Small - Simply put, we need a field stretching wide-receiver step up and produce. Ted Ginn struck fear in every defensive coordinator and to compensate, they rolled coverage all year. Defenses will play us more honestly now until someone shows they can get vertical. That someone isn't Brian Robiskie - he's more of a technical route runner who won't usually stun you with speed. Enter Ray Small who has all the tools to become "the next Ted Ginn" at Ohio State. Unfortunately, right now he's more known for getting knocked out than making big plays. That will change quickly.
4) Keep Beanie Fresh - Chris
'Beanie' Wells (pic) will be a load next
year. Speed, power, tremendous nickname - he has it
all. Plus, ask Michigan about vision. But, I fear he may be
called on too much during the year because of
the lack of proven backups. It'll be important
for us to not overuse Beanie early where, by
season's end, he's worn out. Only Maurice Wells
and gang can help out with this issue.
3) Cover Up DT - We have said goodbye to Quinn Pitcock and David Patterson, which is the problem. We are devoid of any legitimate returning experience in the middle of the defensive line. The strength of our linebacking crew will need to cover the, mostly likely, large gaps they'll see directly in front of them. I have faith in Doug Worthington, Todd Denlinger and others but I'm also realistic. This unit will need some time.
2) Return of Russell - Anderson Russell went down with an ACL injury at Iowa last year. The injury happened on a benign looking special teams play but the impact on the defense was significant. Russell was clearly a rising star at the time of the injury and it stunted his growth as a player and the secondary as unit. Jamario O'Neal, a more highly rated player out of HS, filled in admirably but he didn't perform nearly to the levels of Russell. All indications are Russell will be full go this fall and his return will should bolster an already strong back 7.
1) No QB Carousel - From what I can tell, Todd Boeckman has the starting quarterback job wrapped up. Or, at least, it is his to lose. But, I don't care really who starts, be it Todd or Antonio or Robbie. What I think is important is that we don't suffer through a quarterback rotation. A commitment to the starter will lead to quicker improvement, better timing with new receivers and higher probability of more victories. The only time to endorse change is if the quarterbacking is awful in a long-term sort of way.
5) Paging Ray Small - Simply put, we need a field stretching wide-receiver step up and produce. Ted Ginn struck fear in every defensive coordinator and to compensate, they rolled coverage all year. Defenses will play us more honestly now until someone shows they can get vertical. That someone isn't Brian Robiskie - he's more of a technical route runner who won't usually stun you with speed. Enter Ray Small who has all the tools to become "the next Ted Ginn" at Ohio State. Unfortunately, right now he's more known for getting knocked out than making big plays. That will change quickly.
3) Cover Up DT - We have said goodbye to Quinn Pitcock and David Patterson, which is the problem. We are devoid of any legitimate returning experience in the middle of the defensive line. The strength of our linebacking crew will need to cover the, mostly likely, large gaps they'll see directly in front of them. I have faith in Doug Worthington, Todd Denlinger and others but I'm also realistic. This unit will need some time.
2) Return of Russell - Anderson Russell went down with an ACL injury at Iowa last year. The injury happened on a benign looking special teams play but the impact on the defense was significant. Russell was clearly a rising star at the time of the injury and it stunted his growth as a player and the secondary as unit. Jamario O'Neal, a more highly rated player out of HS, filled in admirably but he didn't perform nearly to the levels of Russell. All indications are Russell will be full go this fall and his return will should bolster an already strong back 7.
1) No QB Carousel - From what I can tell, Todd Boeckman has the starting quarterback job wrapped up. Or, at least, it is his to lose. But, I don't care really who starts, be it Todd or Antonio or Robbie. What I think is important is that we don't suffer through a quarterback rotation. A commitment to the starter will lead to quicker improvement, better timing with new receivers and higher probability of more victories. The only time to endorse change is if the quarterbacking is awful in a long-term sort of way.
