Senior Bowl Practice 2 was similar to Practice 1 in that the Buckeyes did the damn thing, though a groin injury sidelined Joshua Perry.
- Adolphus Washington fried Michigan State's All-American center Jack Allen twice.
- In a hilarious interview suddenly turned macabre, Tyvis Powell says he wants to be drafted by the Browns.
- Nick Vannett continued to show pass-catching prowess.
This is all without mentioning the two best athletes on the field: Braxton Miller and Noah Spence.
Oh, and Braxton Miller crushed again today. Top-40 may not be optimistic enough. He'll be in a lot of my first-round mock drafts #SeniorBowl
— Eric Galko (@OptimumScouting) January 27, 2016
Watching DE Noah Spence explode off the ball at the Senior Bowl & fly all over the field. Easy to see why he was a 5-star recruit out of HS.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 27, 2016
Five of Jim Tressel's former players are in the Super Bowl (six if you count the IR'd Jeff Heuerman). Urban Meyer could easily surpass that one day. The flood gates are about to burst.
If you're watching TV today/tonight:
- ESPNU will broadcast the North's practice from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- The No. 7 women's team plays a respectable Northwestern team at 7 p.m. on BTN.
- The men's basketball team plays Illinois in Champaign at 9 p.m. on BTN. (Daniel Giddens is my new favorite player.)
NOBODY LIKES GETTING THEIR ASS KICKED. When Urban Meyer arrived in Columbus, he stole Kyle Dodson from Bert Bielema. Bert whined about SEC-styled recruiting and an unspoken "gentlemen's agreement" not to go after prospects committed to other Big Ten schools. (Urban Meyer then dumped Bert in Madison and thus retired one of the B1G's greatest villains to the Ozarks.)
Fifty wins and a national championship later, and things are a bit different in the Big Ten East.
From foxsports.com:
For many years the league's collective recruiting efforts lagged far behind the SEC's, if not others. But for 2016, Ohio State is in position to land the conference's first consensus No. 1 class of the Internet era. Archrival Michigan will likely join it in the Top 5, while Michigan State (No. 7) and Penn State (No. 11) are in or near the Top 10 on Scout.com. That's quite a departure from just two years ago, when No. 5 Ohio State was the lone Big Ten school higher than 19th.
The funny thing about Urban's arrival is Michigan fans thought they had the conference's best recruiter.
Jim Harbaugh eclipses Brady Hoke, but there's no doubt he's taken "roster management" to new heights lows since arriving. You would think years of living with the cognitive dissonance created by Michigan fandom would've prepared them for the inevitable "Elite recruiter does shady thing to manage the roster" moment, but here we are gawking.
Just look at what Michigan savior Jim Harbaugh is doing in order to restore the Wolverines' rightful glory. Simply put, he's running off prospects with longstanding commitments to the Wolverines to make room for others.
Five years later, Michigan itself is expected to sign as many as 30 players this recruiting class, which means it, too, will need to clear room. The same folks who used to cry bloody murder about SEC recruiting tactics now find themselves in the awkward position of rationalizing Harbaugh's recruiting practices. You know these are strange times when even Ohio State folks are defending Harbaugh.
Michigan fans, like Jim Harbaugh, would do unseemly things to beat Ohio State, which is why they'll take a hit off their fandom pipe and be cheering for the Maize and Blue come fall.
We'd be doing the same if the tables were reversed. We want to win, and as long as assistant coaches aren't kneecapping kids with tire irons, we'll accept it. (I fear some CFB fans would accept a kneecapping as long as players' educations were still "free.")
Urban Meyer's devout desire to win has rubbed off on us all, really.
BRAXTON: TOP 5 DEAD OR ALIVE. Braxton Miller dominated games his first three years at Ohio State. Though lightning struck from time to time, Miller's disappearance during large swaths of play felt unnatural and unbecoming.
Which is why I've enjoyed these last two days of Miller showcasing his talents in Mobile. It's also nice to see national writers recognizing what he means to Ohio State.
From si.com:
The cruelest twist of Miller’s college career was the fact that an injury sustained while he was still the offense’s primary playmaker ultimately kept him out for every down of the national championship season he—more than any other player—helped set into motion. No matter what happens to Miller in the NFL, hopefully the Buckeyes of the future will recognize that he deserves a place alongside Hopalong Cassady, Archie Griffin, Eddie George, Chris Spielman and Mike Doss. Of the star-studded list of ex-Buckeyes whose names will be called in the draft in April, Miller probably meant the most to the program.
Afroduck (R.I.P.) is the only Buckeye more popular than Miller right now. His legend will only swell if he lights up the NFL too, though it still might be surpassed by Afroduck when he rises from the dead this spring.
Miller also doesn't lack the confidence required to play outside in the NFL. If he had to keep some bravado tempered as a quarterback, he can let it all loose now. "Every team needs a playmaker," Miller said Tuesday. The unspoken next sentence? Miller considers himself that playmaker.
Tuesday, a reporter asked Miller twice if he'd contemplated trying to play quarterback at the next level. "That's in the past, man," Miller said. "I'm a receiver." But he was a quarterback—one of the best who ever played at Ohio State. No matter what happens from here, we should always remember that.
Pour one out for Braxton's QB career. My favorite pass of his is easy:
ROBY TALKS SUPER BOWL PREPARATION. Tom Brady ruiner Bradley Roby stopped by BTN to talk his first Super Bowl berth and the meaning of his NFL journey:
Spoke with Bradley Roby about @OhioStAthletics in the Super Bowl, and how much this NFL journey means to him. https://t.co/mwpQO5KYAD
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) January 27, 2016
Bradley is another guy whose stock faltered at the end of his collegiate career. It is, however, always good to see players bounce back from adversity.
I'm cheering for the Panthers and want them to win, but I'd be cool with three Roby pick-6s. Just because I think Ted Ginn would beat him in a foot race doesn't mean I wouldn't watch it.
LOVE YOURSELF LIKE E.T. LOVES E.T. Here are the sandals of Evan Turner, who is averaging nine points a game:
Evan Turner's sandals, though... pic.twitter.com/3kjtxNEFbP
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) January 27, 2016
Confidence is 90% of the game, I suppose.
LET'S GO, LUIJI. Folks, I identified 2017 four-star DE Luiji Vilain as a must-have prospect on Feb. 16, 2015 based on name alone.
According to 247's Alex Gleitman, Ohio State offered him on Wednesday.
Maybe I should've kept cutting film in exchange for cold Tubby's Pizza slices under Tim Hinton at during his reign at Marion Harding. I could be drafting for the Browns by now.
THOSE WMDs. #Teens aren't ruining language... $70,000 in stolen cheese found in Milwaukee... Insiders say Wounded Warriors Project spends lavishly on itself... Don't poke the worm... Huge news! The penis implant is here... A day at B's barbecue.
