It's Friday, folks.
ICYMI:
- Mike Weber labeled last year's play-calling "a little predictable," but said he's already seen changes this spring.
- Though Tony Alford wants to keep him at running back, Demario McCall doesn't care where he lines up.
- McCall will switch to No. 2 in the fall (sorry, J.K. Dobbins).
- Urban Meyer loves to praise early enrollees. Their impact during the season remains the question.
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Wastrel.
WEBER LEADS THE WAY. Somewhere, on a hellacious timeline, Michigan Wolverine running back Mike Weber prepares for a season in which his team will search for its first win against Ohio State since 2011.
On this one, however, Weber leads the Buckeye stable into the season a year after Bri'onte Dunn's expulsion from the team forced him into an elder statesman role.
Weber admits he didn't come to Columbus as the most mature guy. It would have been more a revelation if he did at 18 years of age. He has come a long way in two seasons.
From rotoworld.com:
"[RB coach Tony] Alford is doing a good job of helping me lead the guys. We’ve been in the playbook, and everything that comes with being a leader, I’m learning that and taking on the task right now," Weber said. The 5-foot-10, 215-pounder received the bulk of the running workload with the Buckeyes last season, rushing for 1,096 yards (6.0 YPC) and nine touchdowns, taking 182 carries over the course of 13 games. He is hoping for even bigger and better things during the coming campaign.
Weber showed consistency last year and I think an improved offensive line will pave the way to a more productive 2017. The only thing preventing him from reaching his ceiling is health, catching, and ball-security.
Even if he improves none of that, he'll still be a monster to haul down for four quarters.
IT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE. All 32 NFL teams sent representatives to last week's pro day at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. They were mainly there to see the likes of Marshon Lattimore, Gareon Conley, Pat Elflein, Raekwon McMillan, etc.
But they also got a chance to look at two former walk-ons, Jarrod Barnes, a safety from Westerville, and Craig Fada, a linebacker from Columbus.
From dispatch.com:
"Absolutely, you've got that in mind," Barnes said. "You know, Nate was in the building last week, and I was talking to him about the journey and how he did it. The way I see it, if he can do it, why not me?"
Fada has been rolling down that path for a while.
"What Nate has done, it drives you (and) shows you it can be done," Fada said. "Like Nate, I walked on here; I played since my freshman year on. Now I look at it as kind of just walking on again, but this time in the NFL. Let's see if I can get a spot in the league, let's see if I can make a name for myself, and go from there."
I wouldn't bet on Barnes or Fada tearing up the NFL (sorry, fellas, it's a realization 99.8% of men in the world come to have), but I wouldn't have bet on a Natty Light aficionado like Ebner becoming a two-time Super Bowl champion as a New England Patriots special teams mainstay.
PRAY FOR HOOKER. I'm telling y'all, the lizard part of my brain affiliated with the Cleveland Browns is tingling. They can no longer ignore the Buckeyes.
Malik Hooker will visit the Browns in Berea today, along with Gareon Conley and North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
Malik Hooker says he is on his way to Cleveland today and will visit the Browns in Berea tomorrow.
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) March 30, 2017
If Hooker is there at No. 12 and the Browns select him, I'll summersault from Piqua to Philadelphia to hand in the card myself. If he's there at No. 12 and the Browns don't take him, I'll summersault to Berea to commit arson.
(My lawyer, Starcat, wants everyone to know the latter part of this paragraph is a pitiful attempt at a joke and not to be taken seriously.
KIFFIN DISAVOWS FRESHWATER. Flashback to September 2015, when a single message board post assassinated the character of then-Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin.
My friend was in a Tuscaloosa bar about 6 moths ago and saw Kiffin there. Kiffins proceeded to hit on one of his friends under the alias "Joey Freshwater". My friend knew it was Kiffin though and called him out on it, but he kept claiming "he gets that a lot". "Freshwater" ended up getting shutdown by the girl (I guess she wasn't in to guys twice her age) and goes to try his luck somewhere else. I have been waiting a long time to tell the legend of "Joey Freshwater" and now seemed like the perfect time since he was found cheating.
As I said then: I didn't believe it, yet it wouldn't stop me from referring to Kiffin as Joey Freshwater. Unfortunately for the jokes, Kiffin disavowed the name during a Thursday radio appearance.
From al.com:
Lane Kiffin admitted Thursday Joey Freshwater is a "good name" but denied ever using it as an alias.
[..]
"No, I have not," Kiffin said about using Joey Freshwater. "I've used Jimmy Chestnut but not Joey Freshwater."
[...]
"Someone told me Joey Freshwater is the best thing I've ever heard," Kiffin said," and I said 'Well, his friend is Jimmy Chestnut and is just as good."
Kiffin later made it clear he was kidding about the name Jimmy Chestnut, which, as aliases go, isn't bad.
CRUISE DOWN MEMORY LANE. Here's a trip down High Street, circa 1988:
Good to see Buckeye Donuts pearling in the video. Hope that place runs numbers out the back for the next 10,000 years.
THOSE WMDs. An Alabama prison's unrelenting descent into violence... A death in the winelands... The curse of the Bahia Emerald... The prostitution scandal that tore apart Kennebunk, Maine... The man who fell to Earth... Domino's atoned for sins, built $9 billion empire.
