The NFL Combine heats up today. Our indomitable Eric Seger, whom you should follow on Twitter, is in Indianapolis. Your full primer is over here.
Programming note: The women's basketball team plays Northwestern in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, also in Indianapolis. That game tips off at noon ET on BTN. Kevin Harrish will attend. Follow him on Twitter, too.
Word of the day: Clairaudience.
If we get laid off today, let's handle it with the grace of Nick Mangold getting the news while at Disney World:
Aaaaannnnddddd now I'm a free agent. #ThatEscalatedQuickly pic.twitter.com/ebm5jusZkm
— Nick Mangold (@nickmangold) March 2, 2017
HOOKER TALKS INJURIES. Malik Hooker, the safety that darted across the Buckeye echelons as quick as a comet across a summer night's sky, suffered an injury while chasing glory for the state of Ohio in its annual knuckleduster with the sack of serpents from Ann Arbor.
Hooker played through the injury.
From nfl.com:
"The labrum tear, it felt like a groin injury, like something was connected to my groin that just wasn't allowing me to do anything but walk," Hooker told NFL.com as part of a regular Path To The Draft update he'll be providing us throughout the spring. "And even when I walked it just felt like someone was punching me in the groin constantly.
"And the labrum tear, it just felt like my skin was tearing when I stood up. It was constant pain and stuff like that. For me to be where I'm at in the process, the process is going well. A lot faster than what a lot of people think."Hooker said he sustained the injury in a thrilling, 30-27, double-overtime victory over Michigan in the regular season finale. In that game, he logged seven tackles (one for a loss), and a pick-six with 4:03 to go in the second quarter.
Malik Hooker playing epically while injured in a loss is something I haven't seen since Ryan Shazier almost bludgeoned Michigan into submission (at the Big House) while operating with one functional leg in 2011. (Yes, the Wolverines put up points but Shazier was a whirling dervish that game.)
The only difference being their age.
If Ohio State had Hooker in 2011 he probably would've starred both ways in a victory in a game that was already within one of two freshman Braxton Miller overthrows to wide open receivers that would've been touchdowns.
Crazy to think how far Meyer has brought the roster. The 2017 team, right now, would beat 2011 by 30 points.
BIG IF TRUE. Pat Elflein and Cam Johnston will test at the combine today. Noah Brown and Curtis Samuel will perform Saturday.
Both of those two could use solid showings. Samuel's ceiling is higher, however.
From former scout and current NFL Network analyst D.J. Jeremiah:
Ohio State has produced a ton of NFL talent over the last few years. Last year's class featured guys like Ezekiel Elliott, Joey Bosa and Michael Thomas. This year's group features two of my top five players -- Malik Hooker and Marshon Lattimore. However, when you study Ohio State tape over the last two seasons, Samuel is the one who appears to be the most explosive. When he gets some space, he can fly. Scouts have been told to expect him to run the 40 in the high 4.3s or low 4.4s, post a vertical close to 40 inches and broad jump at least 10 feet, 6 inches.
Urban Meyer is a communist when he envisions the distribution of wealth in his offense when it's operating at peak capacity.
We saw how Michael Thomas blew up when the New Orleans Saints unleashed him. Samuel could blow up in a similar way... as long as he lands with a competent franchise.
HOW SHEFFIELD MADE THE CUT. Spring semester at Ohio State started in January. JUCO transfer CB Kendall Sheffield started Tuesday. That's because OSU offers "first and second session classes" during the semester, so Sheffield will be limited to those in his first half-semester in Columbus.
Turns out he had to do some extra testing to make the cut academically due to his leap back into a four-year school.
From dispatch.com:
"He just wanted a chance to get re-recruited," Blinn coach Ryan Mahon said. "Kendall is a great kid. There was no discipline problem, nothing, not at all any issue with him. Ever. I mean, he is an exceptional human being."
Moving to Blinn put Sheffield back on the market, and with cornerbacks coach Kerry Coombs leading the way in recruiting Sheffield, the Buckeyes gained the nod.
To get to Ohio State in time for spring practice, Sheffield had to complete an unspecified class at Blinn in the past month. That was to meet the OSU standards which require that a transfer who starts at a four-year school and then moves to a two-year college have at least 12 hours of transferable credit for each full semester in school and have at least a 2.5 grade-point average.
Sounds like he's cut from the cloth Meyer has prioritized since taking over the reins.
And how about Kerry Coombs? Fifty-five-years-old and he's still out here relating to the #youth. He doesn't need gimmicks or even a totality of understanding about hashtags to do it, either. It's almost as if a passion for life translates across all generations.
I DIDN'T SAY IT. Xavier men's basketball head coach Chris Mack teed off on NCAA basketball getting a weekly seeding show ahead of March Madness back in January.
Now it's Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin's turn to get in the act. Here he is tearing down March Madness' seeding process, which he says is all about money:
Mick Cronin said NCAA tournament seeding is all about money.
— Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) March 1, 2017
Here's his entire 2+ minute explanation. You'll want to watch this. #Bearcats pic.twitter.com/GJWCF7C1CS
Makes you think.
THE 'ZA WAR HAS BEEN ON FOR 20 YEARS. Campus pizza is as partisan debate as can be found in Ohio State circles. Personally, I think people who complain about pizza should be sentenced to gulags designed for their ilk.
Pizza is squares or slices of cheese and sauce with toppings. Sometimes that order is flipped. Sometimes the crust is thin. Sometimes it's thick. It's good cold or hot.
From a 1996 issue of The Lantern, via The Ohio State University Alumni Association (click to enlarge):
I was partial to Gumby's (peace be upon it). Their pizza was fine, but I spent thousands of dollars during Two-for-one Pokey Stick Tuesdays.
The worst pizza on campus is Ohio State Pizza, the ACME of area pizza shacks. I still ate it, and it was fine too.
God bless Mario, the inventor of pizza. Our country owes him so much.
THOSE WMDs. Help put a dinosaur skeleton in Orton Hall... 11 secrets of bartenders... "Fuck that gator!" How Tommie Woodward's last words will haunt his family... The man who loves books too much... Buried alive: Stories from inside solitary confinement.
