It's Monday, which signifies another week of working for currency to trade for protection against hunger, sickness, and the cold.
ICYMI:
- Teammates see improvement in Isaiah Prince.
- Our most popular article from Student Appreciation Day: A bro in jeans won a fast student heat.
- Taron Vincent is a great start, but Ohio State wants more defensive tackles in 2018.
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Hirsute.
IT'S CALLED OHIO SPEED NOW. Remember when Ohio State lost back-to-back title games due to the superiority of southern teams' God-given speed? Those were not fun times for local fans.
Urban Meyer worked toward rectifying the lack of team speed the moment he stepped foot in Columbus. Entering his sixth year, the roster has been remolded in his image.
As it turns out, speed can be found anywhere in the country, even in Ohio.
From 247sports.com:
At each position that we have gotten a glimpse at, here are the players who have been measured as the fastest by Mickey Marotti's staff:
Running Back: Demario McCall
Wide Receiver: Eric Glover-Williams
Linebacker: Dante Booker
Defensive Back: Denzel Ward
[...]
While quarterback (Tate Martell) and tight end (A.J. Alexander) would go to out-of-staters, we're told that on the offensive line (Josh Myers) and defensive line (Sam Hubbard), that Ohio would take the cake once again. That would be six out of eight position groups measured here.
Haters moan about Ohio's lack of spring football hindering the development of our prospects, but at least they can no longer joke about foot speed.
MORE JOHNNIE DIXON HYPE. Ben Victor and K.J. Hill are expected to lead the way for Zone-6. Parris Campbell continues to draw rave reviews at H-Back. After that, the depth chart is a crapshoot.
One card to watch is former four-star recruit Johnnie Dixon, whose career was stunted by injuries.
Source told me that Johnnie Dixon is feeling "the best he's felt in a long time." The guy spent a lot of time with the ones on Saturday.
— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) April 8, 2017
This isn't the first report of Dixon aligning mind and body this spring. Tendinitis may have robbed him of speed, but there are more ways to contribute to a maligned receiving corps than running past a guy.
Now it's a battle of keeping him healthy. I'd probably be more doubtful of a potential comeback if I hadn't just seen Marshon Lattimore go from injured reserve to top-five draft pick in one season.
GOOD PROBLEMS TO HAVE. Six years in, we've reached the end-game of Meyer's relentless recruiting: There are too many good players and not enough positions on the field.
One way the coaching staff may get its best pass-rushers on the field by playing Sam Hubbard, who you might not know once committed to Notre Dame lacrosse, at linebacker.
Ironically, it'd allow Hubbard to use other abilities without rubbing a quarterback's nose in the dirt.
From landgrantholyland.com:
As a stand up linebacker, Hubbard will be asked to keep contain just like he does as a defensive end. He’s proven to be more than capable of handling playmakers in space thanks to his closing speed and ability to not get deterred by blocks from tight ends and running backs.
In addition to needing to keep contain on run plays, outside linebackers will be asked to drop back in coverage when they aren’t rushing the passer. We don’t have a ton of film on Hubbard doing this, but Ohio State won’t ask him to cover a wheel route or anything too extraordinary. Instead, they’ll look to drop Hubbard in coverage in an attempt to confuse blocking schemes and take away any short passes. It’s what the defense regularly deployed with Joey Bosa during his junior season.
[...]
Hubbard might not demand the same level of attention on the line that Bosa did, but he’s more athletic and should be more than capable at handling some short-zone responsibilities. Of course, the real upside to using Hubbard as an outside linebacker is the chance for him to feast on one-on-one matchups when the Buckeyes decide to deploy their five-man defensive line.
Teams will have to be productive on first and second down to beat the Buckeyes. They're not going to want any part of these packages on 3rd and 7 while trailing by 10 points early in the fourth quarter.
KEVIN WILSON: VISIONARY. When Kevin Wilson makes eye contact with you, he's looking into your soul.
Pitt OC Shawn Watson on #OhioSt OC Kevin Wilson: "He's great at game-planning..Football comes easy to him. He sees what other ppl cant see"
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) April 8, 2017
As long as he sees 70 points per game. That's all we care about here.
ROLL TIDE. If I'm ever arrested on television, please believe I will false flag as an Alabama fan by hollering "Roll Tide," which is one of my favorite CFB memes:
"I'm on TV? Roll Tide."
— Jim Weber (@JimMWeber) April 9, 2017
pic.twitter.com/PEaruKs5jx
I applaud any officer putting a teenager into a cage, where they belong. If they're Alabama fans, we've then struck a blow against two of the great social diseases feasting on our country's gentle people.
THOSE WMDs. How Columbus' Refugee Road got its name... Gangneung incident, 21 years on... Grape juice wars of Passover... Accounts of girl raised by monkeys in India questioned... Amazon to spend $4.5 billion in fight against Netflix... Illegal amber mining in Ukraine.
