Condolences to everyone returning to work after a New Year's break, but there are no holidays with a real job like blogging. Students, I don't even want to hear a peep about the drudgery of your first class in three weeks. That ain't no job.
Thankfully, the Clemson crater no longer smokes in the confines of my ruined soul. That's not the first loss I've taken in my life and the lopsided sack of rotten bologna meat looking back at me in the mirror this morning told me it's not going to be my last, either, playboy.
It's wild a week ago we walked through a #content bonanza, and now we're thrown back into the offseason desert. We need Thad Matta's men to make a Final Four run like Théodan needed Gandalf and his noble white stallion at Helm's Deep in The Two Towers.
SEARCHING FOR AN OFFENSIVE IDENTITY. With Tim Beck likely walking the plank for the offense's failures, Urban Meyer will have to return to the drawing board. The guy who rose to power using the power spread was left without an answer in Glendale.
From portsmouth-dailytimes.com:
“The door is open now,” he said. “You’ve got all these really good young players, and it’s their time to shine and time to go.
“It’s going to be back to a hungry, nasty, mean team like in 2014, I hope,” he said.
Or maybe he didn’t completely believe that. Meyer admitted at Fiesta Bowl media day he thought Ohio State was a year away going into this season, especially with road games at Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan State on the schedule.
Meyer completely agrees with that. Besides whipping Oklahoma's basic defense, any competent front frustrated his offense for the last two years.
Kevin Wilson is the hot name right now. But he got fired by the school that fired Bobby Knight for basically being Knight-light. I'm not sure how Ohio State's brass would feel hiring a guy accused of forcing players to play through injuries, etc.
Chip Kelly is another name that will be thrown into headlines by click-herders and SEO gurus. That strikes me as a pipe dream. But so would have "Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Greg Schiano Joins Urban Meyer's Staff."
To me, the idiot, those picks seem stale. Sure, Wilson did some things in Bloomington. But I refuse to believe a failed Indiana coach is the best Ohio State can lure to coach a roster with blue chip third-stringers.
James Franklin went out of the box and tapped an FCS coach to lead his offense. A year later, I'd sell a kidney for Joe Moorhead and Penn State's "tuddies."
It's a different side of the ball, but Jim Harbaugh had never talked to Don Brown, a former FCS head coach and then–Boston College DC. That worked out for him.
Look at Meyer's success with Chris Ash and Tom Herman.
Former Notre Dame head coach Bob Davie admits, in retrospect, he should've promoted Meyer from receivers coach to offensive coordinator. Clemson made Dabo Swinney its head coach without any previous coordinating experience.
I'm definitely not advocating the promotion of Zach Smith. Rather, that the obvious choices aren't always the best choices.
The game is fierce right now. Ohio State needs hitters at every position. If Wilson comes in as a quality control guy, fine. But Meyer could find a better offensive coordinator.
SLOBS HIT THE COMEBACK TRAIL. Hot take: The Slobs didn't play terrible against Clemson. Michael Jordan played with a high ankle sprain(!). They weren't aided by the game-plan(?).
No, they didn't win the war. But they didn't get "embarrassed," which is a word tossed around too loosely by our fan base.
But next year's line should be better.
From dispatch.com:
“We have a lot of talent coming back,” [Jamarco Jones] said. “Billy coming back is going to help us on the line. And some of the young guys we’ve got — you got to see Meech (Demetrius Knox, who subbed for a few plays while Jordan had a high-ankle sprain tended to Saturday night).”
Jones also cited junior-college transfer Malcolm Pridgeon, who had been expected to offer immediate depth in 2016 before suffering a preseason knee injury, from which he now has fully healed. And he said Matt Burrell and Branden Bowen were on the rise as the season came to a close.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys that are ready to step up and perform,” Jones said. “So spring ball is going to be really big and this offseason training. It will be really big for all of us.”
Happy Jamarco coming back is literally massive. His body and film already earned him an NFL shot, but he could become a premiere tackle in the country next year.
Price to center, we'll see how he handles the mechanics, but that seems like an upgrade due to size. Michael Jordan will obviously start next to him.
The right side of the line should be an open competition. Pridgeon, Knox, Burrell, and Bowen will be in the mix. Evan Lisle said he's gunning for a starting job.
But don't forget about Josh Myers and Wyatt Davis. They possess bodies and size to be quite the tandem.
Myers is also early enrolling and can already power snatch 155 pounds with one hand and flip 1,000-pound tires. He might be considered a weapon of mass destruction by the time he leaves Mick Marotti's dojo for the final time.
Unless Prince takes a leap mentally and fundamentally, I see the line looking like this, from left to right: Jones, Jordan, Price, Pridgeon, and Myers. That's a line-up of earth-movers, y'all.
Another wild card with the line: What happens with Ed Warinner and Greg Studrawa.
HOOKER HITS PAY DAY. Malik Hooker, we hardly knew ye. Folks, he was so good he stood out equally against Bowling Green and Clemson.
Hooker, however, declared for the 2017 NFL Draft. His stock is sky high and will only get higher.
From mmqb.si.com on Oct. 13th:
“He’s a ballhawk, so I would agree with [the comparisons to Ed Reed],” texted one area scout assigned to the Buckeyes. “Dude is the best player on the field. I like him better than both safeties last year [Karl Joseph and Keanu Neal] … First-rounder. Physical, quick, fast and explosive with a great nose for the ball.” When I asked for drawbacks, this was what came back: “Just getting better overall with playing experience.”
Thank you to Bleacher Report draft analyst Matt Miller for having more credibility than me and typing something with which I agree:
Let's just put this to rest right now.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) January 2, 2017
Malik Hooker is a better prospect than Jabrill Peppers.
Same to CBS Sports guru Dane Brugler, who ranks Hooker as his fifth overall prospect:
On my very early board, yes. There is a reason he's known as "Malik the Freak" within the OSU program. https://t.co/tvUuK1ZiDj
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) January 2, 2017
Let me put this into terms even the Cleveland Browns can understand: Draft Malik Hooker No. 1 overall. If they do not do this, they do not deserve him.
I don't care what they say about Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett. Malik Hooker will be the better NFL player. FAVE THIS TWEET.
ELFLEIN LINKS UP WITH LEGEND. LeCharles Bentley last trimmed Taylor Decker into a productive NFL rookie.
Pat Elflein is the latest protégé to enter his offensive linemen factory:
Welcome to OLP @elflein65 - Time to change the game. #NextLevel #OLPBuiltToDominate pic.twitter.com/nBsrfjp8Xr
— LeCharles Bentley (@OLineWorld65) January 3, 2017
Best of luck at the next level to Elflein. People said Corey Linsley was undersized too. They don't say that anymore.
THANKS, MOM. I blasted this to all social media channels yesterday like the #Millennial trash I am, but I wanted to canonize my mom's belated Christmas gift into 11W lore:
Just got a belated Christmas gift from my mom. pic.twitter.com/W4snY1M8uO
— D.J. Byrnes (@marion_ohio) January 2, 2017
It says, "To D.J. — Listen to your mom!" ... though it looks like it says "To O.J." I wish my parents named me O.J. (O.J. Byrnes, an international jewel thief, would blog about crime via a satellite connection to a yacht in the Baltic Sea.)
My mom said Cardale just shook his head in consternation and disbelief while signing it as Tyvis Powell rolled with laughter.
So, we did it. We got the good meme to the Iron King, though I'm still perturbed how seamlessly my late bangs fit into that cat hair.
THOSE WMDs. John Berger, who helped the world to see, dies at 90... Calvin & Hobbes baby raccoon storyline... A look back of the futuristic food of the 20th century... Cincinnati streetcar triggers millions in developments along line... How much sugar can you avoid today?
