Another day on the death march to National Signing Day. We're almost there, folks!
ICYMI:
- The most important pieces of the 2017 class, ranked.
- Weighing Ohio State's options with National Signing Day a week away.
- Help 11W put a statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown.
SHORT ANSWER: YES. Anybody reading this knows the headliners of Ohio State's draft class: Ezekiel Elliott, Joey Bosa, and Michael Thomas. But it went deeper than that. Eli Apple, Taylor Decker, Braxton Miller, Vonn Bell, Adolphus Washington, and Darron Lee all contributed to their teams in their rookie campaigns.
According to SCIENCE, it was enough to surpass Pittsburgh's historic 1981 draft class (led by Dan Marino and Russ Grimm), which makes it the greatest draft class of all time.
From espn.com:
... until this season, when Urban Meyer's Buckeyes took over the top spot. Ohio State had 12 draftees suit up for NFL teams this season, including five first-rounders and two second-rounders. You're already familiar with Elliott and Bosa, of course, who will likely claim Rookie of the Year awards in a couple of weeks. Taylor Decker started at left tackle all season for a Lions team that went to the playoffs. Michael Thomas finished the year with 92 catches, the second most for a rookie in league history, while his 1,137 receiving yards were seventh-best.
There's an entire second tier of contributors, too. Eli Apple eventually took Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's job for the Giants and was an impact corner by the end of his rookie season; the Giants allowed a 55.5 QBR without Apple on the field and a 43.7 QBR when he was between the lines. Vonn Bell, Darron Lee and Adolphus Washington were regulars for admittedly bad defenses. Braxton Miller even started six games for the Texans.
Is approximate value a perfect measure of impact? Of course not. This method credits Bosa with just three points of replacement-adjusted AV, which seems low given how effective he was on a play-by-play basis. It does serve as a dispassionate, unbiased approximation of performance, though, and that's exactly what's needed to answer a question like this one.
Just imagine if Rex Ryan had been smart enough to play Cardale Jones. He probably would still be employed and preparing for a Super Bowl right now.
But seriously, look at that class again. It produced NFL contributors at every position group except quarterback, with the jury still out on the Iron King. Combine this with a three-time champion as coach and it's easy to see why talented #teens flock to Columbus.
Now, all we need is J.T. Barrett to replace Tom Brady because I'm sick of Michigan fans propping him up like he was a demigod at Michigan instead of a dude who left the program with a dad bod.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF NICK BOSA. Ohio State fans love to know Nick Bosa, the five-star little brother of Joey. Little Bear arrived in Columbus while still recovering from an ACL injury but turned up the heat on quarterbacks by the end of the year.
Unfortunately for opposing defenses, Bosa estimates he could still improve by 200%.
From cleveland.com:
"I think I've improved 100 percent, but I have another 200 percent I can improve. I've gotten so much better, but yet I can still get so much better."
Assume he will. Assume he'll be healthy and dangerous and ready to show why he was the No. 8 overall recruit in the Class of 2016. That's a player who should see the field on almost every snap, even if Ohio State plans on a rotation like it used in 2016. Instead, it's hard to imagine how Bosa could start. He was a great part of the third-down package, and he wound up second on the team with five sacks.
But he needs more than that, doesn't he?
"I think it's cool to get out there on third down. That's what everybody dreams of doing, playing on third down and getting sacks for Ohio State," Bosa said. "Obviously I want to play more and play every down, but just the ability to go out there and make some of the biggest plays in the game, get sacks, is pretty fun."
Bosa said he wants to play every down, and it will be interesting to see how Larry Johnson deploys him with both Sam Hubbard and Tyquan Lewis back in the fold.
The winner will obviously be Ohio State no matter what he chooses.
MEYERS CONSOLED AND CONSULTED ANDREWS. Here's something I didn't know: Urban and Shelley Meyer are good friends with FOX Sports reporter Erin Andrews.
So much so, the two consulted with her during the trial of the stalker eventually sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for filming her through a reversed hotel peephole. They also consoled her during her battle with cervical cancer this season, which she beat.
When the scandal first broke, she consulted Urban Meyer for advice. What is going to happen if I meet a coach or a player for the first time and this is all they know me for? “In a way, this all has allowed me to relate to players more,” Andrews says. “I understand what it’s like to be the story.”
[...]
Throughout the trial, Andrews was comforted by support from her broadcasting team’s otherwise all-male crew (Aikman sent an inspirational text each morning) and by how many men in professional sports extended encouragement. Andrews received dozens of messages from the likes of Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner, Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer. (Meyer’s text on the day of the verdict: “[My wife] Shelley and I have been thinking about you. Justice served.”)
[...]
“I’ve always seen Erin as a role model for my daughters,” says Shelley Meyer, who became close with Andrews when the reporter covered Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators. “Because when you watch her on TV, you aren’t distracted by the fact she’s female. She’s just a reporter.”
(That sound you hear is Sexless_Internet_Commenter rushing to the comments to disagree with Shelley's #take in the final paragraph.)
MICHIGAN PAYS OUT. How much would you pay for one of the masterminds behind the Cleveland Browns' 2016 offense, which finished second-to-last in the league?
Michigan shelled out a million dollars a season over four years:
Pep Hamilton contract pic.twitter.com/GQhpAEzuD1
— angelique (@chengelis) January 24, 2017
Pep Hamilton won't even be a coordinator, though Michigan is also paying both of theirs north of a million dollars as well.
Michigan is the first school to have three assistant coaches making at least $1 million.
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) January 24, 2017
For perspective: Only 12 assistants made over a million last year.
Prediction: Ohio State will probably have two coordinators making more than a million a year when it kicks off in Bloomington, Indiana in eight months.
Also, please remember: This is an amateur sport and these schools actually aren't making any money off this endeavor.
GOD BLESS CORPORATE SPEAK. I swear on the grave of Warren G. Harding if my boss ever offers a "voluntary separation incentive" instead of just saying "a buyout," I'm burning the place to the ground as a "voluntary separation ritual."
Thankfully for y'all, I don't work at Ohio State, which will soon begin a "voluntary separation incentive program."
From Tom Knox of bizjournals.com:
The largest employer in Columbus wants “to have more flexible programs to facilitate positive changes in administrative streamlining, assist in management of the timing of employment separations for retirement-eligible faculty and staff, and meet the needs of individual colleges and administrative units to reduce costs or redirect faculty lines and resources to promote programmatic goals,” according to a proposal set to be heard by trustees this week.
[...]
“We consider having the ability to offer a (voluntary separation incentive program) by a particular college or unit as a necessary tool for good work-force planning,” Johnson said in a statement.
I have four or five (or maybe 12) sources employed at Ohio State. The consensus is there are a lot of executives making six-figures that don't do shit. The only reason that makes me mad is because nobody offered me a similar package.
THOSE WMDs. Fox vs. ESPN: Anatomy of a moving target... Army quietly deactivates its small-team reconnaissance units... Maid of Honor drinks bottle of Fireball, turns wedding into a nightmare... An oral history of the NHL's glowing puck... Transcendently boring YouTube videos.
