This Week in Twitter: Chris Olave Challenges Michael Thomas for "Slant God" Status, Nine Buckeyes Land on Award Watchlists, and Gene Smith Becomes a Cowboy

By 11W Staff on August 6, 2022 at 2:35 pm
Chris Olave of the New Orleans Saints at NFL Training Camp
Stephen Lew | USA TODAY Sports
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This Week in Twitter is a look at some of the week's best and most entertaining tweets from Buckeyeland and beyond.

The start of the Ohio State football season is now officially less than a month away, with this week marking the start of training camp for the latest group of Buckeyes to take the field in Columbus.

Conveniently, the basketball team finally answered C.J. Stroud's call-out for an inter-squad scrimmage between the gridiron gang and hoops troupe, right as the former's practice responsibilities are starting to pick up. Likely having witnessed what Marvin Harrison Jr. brings in his dunk package, Zed Key and Chris Holtmann made sure to time their response in letting Ohio State's latest Heisman hopeful know that they are now ready for a showdown at any moment.

Holtmann did give out more than just sly compliments this week. He and his wife made a donation to the City of Columbus Recreation and Parks Department in helping restore the basketball court at the Feddersen Community Center, with many Buckeye basketballers taking part in the celebration of its re-opening.

Meanwhile, the rest of Ohio State's basketball team continued to prepare for their upcoming exhibition games in the Bahamas — the first of which takes place today against the Egyptian national team.

Even further across the Atlantic Ocean, more good news came for Ohio State basketball this week when former Buckeye Deshaun Thomas became the latest signing for Olimpia Milano of Italy's LBA.

Getting back to training camp(s), plenty of professional Buckeyes have been lighting up the NFL on the precipice of preseason play. However, no one has been quite literally turning more heads of late than Chris Olave.

Given Michael Thomas' rep around league circles and beyond as the "Slant God," it appears he may soon have some competition for that title in the form of a fellow former Ohio State receiver. Given the abundance of short route prowess on display for the Saints, it's fair to wonder if Drew Brees currently spends his days pondering if he should have put off retirement.

Then again, Bradley Roby seems to be having more success sticking with the wideout formerly recognized as CO2.

Eli Apple seems to be having similar success sticking with his elite NFL teammates on their practice routes, given recent comments made by last season's NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, Ja'Marr Chase.

Not to be outdone by his own former Buckeye teammate in New Orelans, Garrett Wilson continues to make a splash in his new home with the New York Jets while still showing respect to fans of the program that witnessed him build himself up to a name worth national recognition.

Word around the Bay Area is that Trey Sermon also appears to be having an impressive start to training camp after garnering plenty of praise last offseason as well.

Even outside the highest level of professional football, former Ohio State players made plenty of noise this week. Cardale Jones teased a return to the XFL for the league's planned comeback in February 2023.

While out of playing football entirely, Harry Miller clearly seems intent on continuing the trend of retired offensive linemen making substantial slim-downs soon after their playing days have come to a close.

Speaking of dramatic offseason transformations, Gene Smith became a cowboy this week at the Ohio State Fair!

The rest of the week saw an abundance of Buckeyes land on several key preseason outstanding player award watchlists, including Zach Harrison and Ronnie Hickman as names to track for the Chuck Bednarik Award.

Also among the Ohio State players earning preseason positional distinction included:

The volume of preseason standouts for the Buckeyes makes sense given not only the consistent success of the team, but also the abundance of quality leadership among its most senior members in recent seasons.

That standard of excellence seems to permeate throughout all the upperclassmen at Ohio State. Though Harry Miller announced his retirement in March, the remaining linemen still appear eager to continue echoing classical literature and philosophy quotes.

Though for some the college football season may still feel further away in time than the days of Ancient Greece, rest easy knowing that the first kickoff sits only four weekends away from today.

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