It's June (!) which means there are only two months to go until August which means there are only two months until Ohio State opens up fall camp for the 2016 season. The Eleven Warriors Offseason Mailbag is here in the meantime to bridge that gap.
Will 11W ever have recruiting news again? — DenBuck
I'll start here since people seem to be up in arms about a decision Birm made that is better for his personal career and well-being — one that every single person here would have made if in the same position.
Of course we will continue to have recruiting coverage, but all we're asking is that you stick with us through this transitional period. When there is recruiting news to bring you — commits, decommits, big visits, top-10s, etc. — our staff members will bring it to you. You just won't have a nightly update for a short period of time.
I have a scheduled time slot every day of the week and plan to dedicate one or two of those spots per week to recruiting roundups similar to The Hurry-Up. Then, once we get a full-time replacement things will be back to normal.
Please be patient.
How do you see the DB dominoes falling for 17? Riep has an announcement date, Okudah reportedly announcing before the season, the two Wades sitting as question marks: What's the deal? — HuffDaddy
Let me preface this by saying I'm not Birm nor will I ever claim to be Birm, but I try to follow recruiting as best I can so I'll weigh in on this one.
I'll start with Riep, and it appears right now it's coming down to Ohio State and Michigan State for the Cincinnati star. My gut tells me the Buckeyes won't lose this one, though it's not as surefire as most Ohio kids usually are. Okudah seems to be leaning heavily toward Ohio State right now and there were some rumors floating around he may have silently committed to the Buckeyes over the weekend. There's still a long way to go, but Ohio State fans should feel confident right now with the five-star out of Texas.
The Wades are a bit more complicated. A few months back I would have said there was little chance the Buckeyes would hold onto Shaun Wade, but it appears things have gotten a bit strong after two recent visits. I'll put it as 50/50 Ohio State holds onto Shaun's commitment. As for Lamont, it also seems like it's 50/50 right now and maybe has trended a bit away from the Buckeyes of late. He seems to be quite high on Penn State and you certainly can't rule out Pitt at this point either.
I don't think Ohio State can land all four; I think that's too many defensive backs to take here. But I think they have a shot to land three of them.
What am I missing with Tate Martell? Call me old school but he's undersized. — TheNorthernBuckeye
He's short; there is no denying that.
But Tate Martell is an insanely gifted quarterback, and you don't necessarily have to be the biggest guy when you play the way that he does.
Ohio State was looking for a bit of a different kind of quarterback on its roster as it has those bigger-type signal callers in Joe Burrow, Dwayne Haskins and Danny Clark. Martell is that kind of player. He's also competitive as hell and hasn't lost a game in like three years or something like that.
Check out his highlights; he's not your average 5-foot-10 quarterback. He can really sling the football.
Do you think Ohio State finds that vertical TD threat downfield that was missing last year? And if so, who do you think it will be? — ICouldNotGoFor3
Ah, yes, the "Who will be this year's Devin Smith?" question.
To be honest, no, I don't think there will be one go-to vertical threat this year for Ohio State like Smith was in 2014. There are a group of guys who can do it, but it's hard for me to say one guy will step into that role this season and be a surefire homerun threat.
What the Buckeyes may have to do is do it by committee. Guys like Corey Smith, Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin, Johnnie Dixon, Torrance Gibson and others may all have to contribute to that spot as I don't see one guy fully taking charge.
Which incoming Buckeye basketball player has the biggest impact this season? — AnalyticalGuy
As someone pointed out in the comments, it's going to be whoever is going to play the most and that's impossible to tell right now. The six returning core players will eat up the bulk of the minutes so the incoming class won't see a ton of playing time next season, but one guy I know that will play is C.J. Jackson strictly out of necessity. Ohio State only has two guards on its roster in JaQuan Lyle and Kam Williams, and only Lyle is capable of playing the point. Jackson will need to contribute next season to that guard rotation.
What is your drink of choice? (It can't be bourbon, Zima or FourLoko as all are spoken for) — FitzBuck
I attended a wedding over the weekend and exclusively drank Captain and Cokes all night and that's usually my go-to drink when I decide to go the hard alcohol route. I enjoy a good whiskey and coke, as well. I had my days of FourLoko in college; I'm terrified to ever drink those things again in my life.
Usually, though, I'll just drink beers and I enjoy pretty much all kinds. Land-Grant is my favorite brewery here in Columbus but there are plenty of other great spots, as well.
If LeBron left again how would Cleveland react? — SFlaBuckeye13
Don't you put that type of evil on us, Ricky Bobby. Let's never ask this question again, please.
How many football games does Lebron come to this fall? — FatPants
While we're on the LeBron talk, I'll take a stab at this question, as well.
LeBron is probably only going to be coming to games at Ohio Stadium that are at night so that pretty much limits the options to Northwestern or Nebraska. The only problem there, as was the problem last year, is that's right around the start of the NBA season so it would have to work with the Cavs' schedule.
I guess there's always a chance LeBron makes a September trip to Norman, too.
Who are the 5 people you'd most like to sit down and have a beer with? — JohnnyKozmo
I'm going to keep this strictly sports-related because five people in the world is a near-impossible task for me.
This is in no particular order, but here is my list and I'm sticking to it:
- Mike Leach
- Allen Iverson
- John Daly
- Charles Barkley
- Mike Tyson
If cats were available to rent at hotels, would you rent one to snuggle with overnight? If so, what would you consider a fair hourly rate for the rental? — Former intern Kevin Harrish
No, Kevin. This is a terrible idea.
When are you gonna change your favorite sports moment on your bio? — ThePritch
Done.
