Ohio State holds its fifth training camp practice Thursday morning. It will be the first practice in full pads as the location shifts from the Woody to the Coffey Road fields.
Afterward, Greg Schiano and Tim Beck will be made available to the media, along with some safeties and a "select QB," which is probably J.T. Barrett's music.
Follow 11W's Eric Seger, Tim Shoemaker, and Andrew Lind for up-to-the-minute updates.
THE RB DEATH TRAIN ROLLS ON. Ezekiel Elliott (more on him later) started for two years under Urban Meyer. He left as the undisputed best blocking back in college football.
Mike Weber, Elliott's heir apparent, observed the 2015 season that cemented his status as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft. It appears he picked up a thing or two.
From btn.com:
1. Mike Weber looks good. The redshirt freshman arrived in Columbus with a fat scrapbook. I was impressed with how he performed in pass-protection, which typically is one of the most difficult things to pick up. He figured to start at some time in 2016 after Ezekiel Elliott bolted for the NFL. With Bri’onte Dunn booted from the club, that time came sooner than most expected. Weber looks the part, showing impressive moves. The guy could be a special back, but he isn’t as thick or strong as Elliott.
Honestly, I want to hear more about this "fat scrapbook." Is this a figurative reference to his high school accolades or a literal scrapbook of pictures from when he used to be fat? Alas, we may never know.
It's also a long way from Practice 3 (when Tom Dienhart, the author, observed this) and picking up a streaking linebacker on 3rd and 7 in Happy Valley. In Weber's defense, that streaking linebacker hasn't appeared yet.
But if Weber proves a capable blocker—look out. The only other question I'll have about him will be his hands out of the backfield. Let's hope he makes it through camp healthy.
WARINNER RELISHES NEW ROLE. Most of us know the story. Urban Meyer decided to keep Ed Warinner, his new offensive coordinator, on the field at the start of last season because of his critical work with the Slobs.
After Michigan State, Warinner went to coaches' box, and Ohio State bulldozed Michigan and Notre Dame like vacant crack houses.
Meyer didn't rest there, however. He moved tight ends coach Tim Hinton (pour one out for a Marionaire legend) to a support role and hired Greg Studrawa as the new offensive line coach.
Meyer gets the best of both worlds that way—Warinner in the box and a Slob commander in the trenches. Ohio State's offensive coordinator approves of the move, too.
From scout.com:
“Well the whole thing about being removed like that, elevated, is you can process all the information without it being relayed to you,” Warinner said Tuesday of his move to the box. “Someone doesn’t have to see it, tell it to you then you don’t have to listen to it and then make a decision, you can do all that on your own. So that transition time is 1 or 2 seconds instead of 7 or 8 seconds and then you can go faster. Or you have time to think if you don’t want to go faster, you have a little more time to decide.
“Up there you see all the pieces if you have a good broad vision of what’s going on. So it’s easier to do that and it’s less chaotic. The sideline is, you know, very high energy, loud, somewhat chaotic, weather can effect things down there.”
Laid out like that, it's easy to see how the move helped Ohio State regain its mojo.
Between the streamlining, Tim Beck settling in, and the lack of a QB competition, the only reasons the offense would regress would be a lack of offensive line or receiver development.
DINGED HAMMY LIKELY TO BENCH ZEKE. The Dallas Cowboys don't play the Los Angeles Rams until Saturday night, but it already looks like Ezekiel Elliott's tweaked hamstring will keep him from making his professional (albeit preseason) debut.
From star-telegram.com:
He has not practiced since last week and it not expected to anything in the days leading up to the game.
[...]
The Cowboys are going to be careful with Elliott because of the nature of soft tissue injuries.
“He is making progress and again he falls into the category of soft tissue injuries that you have to be pretty deliberate with before you bring guys back,” Garrett said. “That’s one of those injuries if you bring him back a day or two too soon all of a sudden you can have a six or seven week injury and we don’t want that for him or for anybody else on our team. He’ll continue to work on the side. He’s done a little bit more each day.”
No sense in rolling a dinged Ferrari into an exhibition game.
But it's been a bad week for Zeke. His first professional injury didn't save him from rookie hazing.
His teammates booed all three of his songs.
From sportsday.com:
That's been a problem for Ezekiel Elliott. The fourth overall pick has sung three times. He attempted the Ohio State alma mater and then "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers.
"Zeke got booed the first night, the second night and the third night," sixth-round pick Rico Gathers said.
Was his "Lean on Me" rendition at least better than his alma mater?
"No," [sixth-round pick Rico] Gathers said. "Absolutely not."
At least this Cowboys didn't draft him for his singing.
CHARGERS SULKING LIKE GOTH #TEEN. The Chargers and Joey Bosa are stuck with each other if Bosa wants to see the field in 2016.
He could be waiting for a hot minute, though. The two camps haven't spoken with each other in almost two weeks.
From espn.com:
Chargers general manager Tom Telesco expressed a similar view in an interview with Xtra 1360 Fox Sports radio.
"I really don't want to get into a play-by-play of everything," Telesco said. "The next update will be when it's done. It doesn't really matter if it's close right now or far away -- it's not done yet."
[...]
The two sides have not talked since July 28. There appears to be no end in sight, but Telesco believes a compromise eventually will be reached, with Bosa signing a contract and in camp.
What a second-rate franchise. And I would know, I'm a Browns fan.
COLUMBUS MAKING MOVES. Columbus could one day host an NCAA men's basketball regional tournament:
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther says he is pushing for the city to host an NCAA regional in men's basketball. "We're ready." #MSR2016
— Lori Schmidt (@LoriSchmidt) August 10, 2016
Looks like another Columbus–Mexico banger is coming to Columbus as well.
Was just announced at Columbus Morning Sports Report that there's a "very, very strong chance" Columbus hosts USA-Mexico soccer on Nov. 11.
— Ryan Ginn (@rmginn) August 10, 2016
If this goes down, my advice is to go if you can. It's always an electric atmosphere.
KEVIN'S OLYMPIC RUNDOWN. Yesterday was a typical Buckeye giant-slaying sort of day as Ohio State senior Eleanor Harvey dumped the No. 1 fencer in the world, Arriana Errigo of Italy to become the first Canadian ever to reach the final eight in women's foil.
Sadly, giants do defy the odds and win on occasion. The United States rugby team could not get by top-ranked Fiji despite late-match heroics from former Buckeye football player Nate Ebner. With the loss, The Land of Liberty was officially eliminated form medal contention.
More sad news: there are no Buckeyes competing in the Olympics today. Come back tomorrow.
THOSE WMDs. Suspected meth lab beneath Wal-Mart parking lot astounds officials... Why U.S. women's gymnastics will win just about everything in Rio... Tim Tebow's carefully engineered baseball adventure... One cranky rocker takes on the streaming music industry... From Mets to Browns boss: How trailblazer brings Moneyball to the NFL.
