It's the day we all love to know. Friday! Back in the day, Friday used to be Wednesday, but brave men and women laid their souls down so we could celebrate 48 hours off the clock.
*opens an illicit FourLoko* Shoutout to those folks.
This week's NSFW ANTI-WORK #BANGERS:
- Shameless — Frank Gallagher on bullying
- Shameless — Carl goes to court
- Maurice Clarett — "The Freshman"
THE GOOD FOOTBALL MAN CATCHES NOTICE. Ohio State sent two safeties to the NFL this past offseason. That's a death sentence to people unfortunate enough to cheer for programs not coached by Urban Meyer.
For the local team, it means future NFL players replace current NFL players.
Enter Malik Hooker, a former three-star prospect who will be in the NFL next year,
From mmqb.si.com:
Ohio State S Malik Hooker (vs. Wisconsin, ABC, 8 p.m.): It’s pretty heavy to compare a college safety to Ed Reed, but I’d heard the name evoked a few times over the last few months in reference to Hooker. So I kept asking people. While some pumped the brakes, I haven’t found anyone yet who shot it down out of hand, which says plenty. “He’s a ballhawk, so I would agree with that,” texted one area scout assigned to the Buckeyes. “Dude is the best player on the field. I like him better than both safeties last year [Karl Joseph and Keanu Neal] … First-rounder. Physical, quick, fast and explosive with a great nose for the ball.” When I asked for drawbacks, this was what came back: “Just getting better overall with playing experience.” And that’s the scary thing about Hooker. Even while notching 23 tackles, four interceptions (one returned for a TD, another he scored on called back), six passes defensed and two breakups in his first five collegiate starts, he’s still seen as raw. This wasn’t a five-star recruit. Hooker drew in OSU director of player personnel Mark Pantoni and defensive coordinator Luke Fickell. Then he won over Urban Meyer with his length and athleticism when the head coach saw him drop 30 in a prep basketball game. He only played two years of high school football. So based on that, and where he is as a redshirt sophomore five years later, it seems he’ll keep ascending over the last couple months and then, should he declare, entice a lot of pro teams to think about just how high his ceiling might be.
Only ignorant people cuss, and I try not to display my ignorance often. But fuck any NFL team that hasn't seen all they need to see from Malik Hooker this year.
Is he Ed Reed? No. Will he be Ed Reed? Hell, the way I figure it, these old timers will tell their kids about how Reed was a broke-ass version of Hooker.
Just. My. Take. Y'all.
TURNS OUT THERE'S MORE TALENT. Remember when Marshon Lattimore was a highly rated prospect whose hamstrings wouldn't allow him to prosper? Those days are over.
Unfortunately, it seems the NFL scouts are hawking the team we love to know's secondary.
From walterfootball.com (via 11Wer Osunut2):
Hooker isn't the only Buckeye defensive back who is held in such high regard. Redshirt sophomore cornerback Marshon Lattimore is also receiving high first-round grades, and sources from multiple teams are saying that Lattimore could be a top-16 pick if he declares for the 2017 NFL Draft.
Lattimore has 15 tackles, six passes broken up and three interceptions thus far in 2016. He has had some excellent games, including his performances against Tulsa and Oklahoma. Lattimore has been very good in coverage with the size to match up against big wideouts and the speed run with receivers downfield. The 6-foot, 192-pounder has teams excited about his skill set, and they believe that he is a future No. 1 cover corner in the NFL.
While teams are very excited about Lattimore and Hooker, sources say there are some rumors that one or both might return to Ohio State in 2017. That isn't uncommon this time of year, but late in the season, many players change their mind and decide to enter the draft. Lattimore and Hooker could hear their names called early on the opening night of the draft, and that can be very persuasive to getting players to leave early.
Few storylines are better in sports than "injured man battles back to prosper in spite of his disgruntled ligaments."
But it's impossible to argue with any NFL scout who sees Lattimore as a legitimate prospect. I said it before, and I'll say it now: He and Gareon Conley will both be first-round draft picks next spring.
CAMP RANDALL AIN'T SHIT. I hope everyone here listened to me earlier this week and liquidated their 401Ks (Millennials, gooogle that phrase. It's like a piggy bank, but fancier.)
Madison is a magical place. Camp Randall is even more magical, and the Badgers have done some things there.
From espn.com:
Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest facility in the FBS, provides a home-field advantage that is generally considered among the best in the country. Since the start of the 2004 season, Wisconsin has compiled a 75-9 record there (.893 winning percentage). Among Power 5 programs, only Ohio State (80-9, .899) has won a higher percentage of its home games in that time frame.
During big night games, when Camp Randall is the center of the nation's attention as it will be Saturday, the place is notably manic. It's so loud even Jim Harbaugh was speechless back when he played at Michigan. And with all due respect to Virginia Tech's heavy metal entrance from Metallica's "Enter Sandman" or Tennessee's rendition of "Rocky Top," nobody rocks like Wisconsin when "Jump Around" blares through the stereo system.
Come for the football, stay for the party and even walk home through a Civil War camp. When you say Wis-con-sin, you've said it all.
"Jump Around" doesn't intimidate any elite team.
People say Randall has been a house of horrors for Ohio State. Maybe in the past, but not for an Urban Meyer-coached team. To me, Wisconsin fans are spending money to witness their inferior team get smacked.
Maybe I'm wrong. But I'm also 55-4 in predicting Ohio State games. So we'll see.
A CHEATER IN THE MIDST? Will Grier balled at Florida until he got suspended for injecting illegal substances into his veins.
According to Greir, he would be an Ohio State Buckeye if Urban Meyer had his way.
From bleacherreport.com:
I never thought McElwain appreciated anything I did. If it were a different situation and he did appreciate what I did, he would've done anything to get me ready to play for the next year. Trying to keep me in it, around the team, prepared to go if and when the opportunity happened again. Instead, it was just the opposite.
So when I was looking at other schools, I wanted to find a coach who wanted me. Urban Meyer probably recruited me the hardest, and Oregon did, too. West Virginia was close to home (Charlotte, North Carolina), so I visited and just loved the way they practiced and the way Dana taught the quarterbacks. It was exciting.
The lesson here is Meyer will never stop recruiting quarterbacks. Do you have a son? Meyer already sent backchannel emissaries to feel him out.
COLUMBUS ON THE COME UP. The Columbus beacon is in the air, y'all. What you choose to do with it is between you and Warren G. Harding.
From bizjournals.com:
The Columbus region is poised to add 622,906 residents in the next quarter century, cementing its status as the fastest-growing metropolitan area in Ohio, according to new population growth estimates.
[...]
The region is slated to pass greater Cincinnati in overall population by 2025, the analysis found, topping 2.27 million residents. Cincinnati that year will have 2.25 million inhabitants while Cleveland will have shrunk to 2.01 million.
Columbus now, Columbus tomorrow, Columbus forever.
THOSE WMDs. The greatest lawyer letter ever... Early book praising Hitler may have been written by Hitler... The making of the American Airlines and US Airlines merger... A history of denim... Dating on the autism spectrum... Thirty days in Seattle's central library.
