The bad new is, the AAF is canceled. The good news is, Jalin Marshal will now almost surely go down as a top-five AAF receiver of all time.
Silver linings, folks.
ICYMI
- Austin Mack is ready to make a difference, wherever he lines up.
- A look at Nicholas Petit-Frere's absurd 8,000 calorie diet.
- Former Buckeyes who improved their draft stock with one elite season.
- Daniel Giddens' potential return to Ohio State wouldn't be totally unprecedented.
- April Heat Check.
Word of the Day: Stalwart.
BAD COACH HAS BAD OPINION. One way or another, a substantial number of people are going to be extremely wrong about Dwayne Haskins when the dust settles.
But after finding out my opinion is pretty much the direct opposite of noted bad coach Todd Haley's, I'm feeling pretty confident I'm not going to be one of those extremely wrongs.
From SI.com:
COACH: Todd Haley
Former Head Coach, Kansas City Chiefs; Offensive Coordinator, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona CardinalsStrengths: Size, short accuracy, quick release, quick passing game, level of competition, protects the ball.
Weaknesses: Deep accuracy, don’t see many NFL throws, one-year starter, doesn’t see coverage, all shotgun, average athlete, can’t extend plays, minus runner, below-average drops/footwork
Player Comp: Jacoby Brissett.
Ideal landing spot: A west coast offense—progression passing game
Can he be a starter in 2019?: I would bet against him starting early. He had arguably best offensive line in college football, and a good supporting cast with a proven system. I believe the jump to the NFL will be a big one for him and he will be game manager-type early. I just didn’t see enough NFL throws on tape. And so much success was created by the system. He has shown the baseline skill set to be a successful one-year starter in college against a high level of competition, he shows very good short accuracy and the ability to be a progression passer. However he lacks downfield accuracy on tape and I don’t see him make many NFL throws. So it will take time and development.
Potential to become a franchise QB: I just didn’t see enough big-time plays to get real excited about him.
A player comparison to Jacoby Brissett with absolutely no explanation or rationale might be the most disrespectful thing said about Haskins this entire draft process.
But reminder: Haley was part of the braintrust that actually started Tyrod Taylor over Baker Mayfield at the beginning of last season, and he was fired after just eight games on the job in Cleveland. So, forgive me if I'm not taking his opinion very seriously.
SI also spoke to longtime front-office exec and scout Joey Clinkscales as well as longtime NFL quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, but their analysis was pretty standard and relatively uncontroversial, so you can keep your pitchforks holstered.
EVALUATING WEBER. I believe with all of my heart that Mike Weber is going to end up as one of the most underrated prospects in this entire draft.
At the combine, he measured in at 5-foot-10 and 211 pounds and pumped out 22 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press before running a 4.47 40-yard dash – the third best time of any running back at the event.
Weber is a physical freak who just happens to have much less hype than a Buckeye back should because he split carries in a pass-happy offense his final season. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report has Weber as the No. 7 running back prospect in the class, with a third-round grade, and I think that would be an absolute steal.
POSITIVES:
—A reliable pass-catcher out of the backfield with soft hands and skilled routes.
—Solid frame with low center of gravity allows him to bounce off tacklers.
—Has enough speed to pull away from defenders; he can accelerate to reach the edge and run past tacklers.
—Instincts, vision, patience and balance are all very good and underrated qualities of his game.
—Doesn’t go down on first contact and will look to break tackles, fall forward and keep the run going.
NEGATIVES:
—Inconsistent production after his freshman season; lost carries to J.K. Dobbins.
—One-move back without the ability to set up tacklers with his feet or hips.
—Runs look tight at times; won’t beat a tackler with hip looseness or quick cuts.
—Straight-line fast with average agility in and out of cuts.
—Couldn’t hold onto the starting job at Ohio State and has a history of getting banged up.
OVERALL:
Mike Weber looked like a future starting running back after his freshman season, but the following two years were disappointing as he struggled to stay on the field or take over the RB1 job. Still, he projects as a solid NFL running back who has the speed, vision and hands to, at least, contribute early on if not become an outright starter in the right scheme.
It seems like the biggest, most consistent knock on Mike Weber is some variation of "he couldn't beat out J.K. Dobbins," and that just feels lazy to me. They both got plenty of first-team reps, mostly just depending on who had the hot hand, and he only averaged three fewer carries per game than Dobbins last season.
I guess you could criticize either one of them for not emerging as the decided "RB1," but maybe Ohio State just had two NFL-caliber running backs the past two seasons and felt it needed to play both. It's not like that's unheard of.
GOOD FOOTBALL PLAYER, BETTER ARTIST. Former Buckeye defensive back Percy King was good enough at football to play at Ohio State and have a very brief NFL career, but his first love was always drawing.
When football tried its best to take that away from him, King had to get a little creative.
From Nancy Gilson of the Columbus Dispatch:
When Percy King, a former defensive back for the Ohio State Buckeyes, was a boy, he loved to draw, a pastime he continued as an adult. But the years of playing football took a toll — he suffers nerve damage in both of his shoulders, making sketching for any period of time painful.
So after playing at Ohio State from 1995 to ’99 and a brief stint in the NFL, King figured out an alternative way to create. He “drew” with pieces of wood, layering shapes into three-dimensional portraits of rappers, hip-hop artists and other African-American musicians.
...
King, 42, who lives with his wife, Stephanie, and their two children in Blacklick, works on his art in his two-car garage that is cluttered with saws, drills, sanders and other tools, and is filled with the pleasing aroma of freshly cut wood. His large portraits are created from pieces of fiberboard in hues of black, brown and cream.
“My color palette is dependent on what’s at Home Depot,” said the muscular, 6-foot-3 artist, who was about half-finished with the portrait of Kamau, a well-known Columbus photographer and mentor to other African-American artists. Next he will begin work on the woodcarver Pierce and Hawkins, an outsider folk artist.
It turns out, his work looks every bit as unique and amazing as the description seems to suggest.
I can't express how impressed I am with his work. The only thing I've ever successfully created with bits of scrap wood is a bonfire.
BUCKEYE ON BUCKEYE CRIME. Depending on your prospective, Evan Turner might be the most amazing or the most insufferable person on the planet. Or maybe even both simultaneously.
If you're not sure where you fall on that spectrum, your reaction to this Instagram post and caption will serve a pretty solid litmus test.
Keep your head up, Keita. There's no shame in giving up a triple double to a future NBA Hall of Famer.
KEEP IT UP, EVAN! I absolutely live for the random spurts of news that come out about former Buckeye hoopsters playing overseas who now live in the very periphery of my memory.
For example, I learned yesterday that Evan Ravenel is now owning the hardwood in Japan.
Evan Ravenel is on a mission out in Japan this season! Having a truly dominating season for Fukushima, with 21.3ppg, 9.1rpg, 3.0 apg, along with 58-34-78% from the Field/3/FT. Keep it up Evan! #JCKFam #Japan #Fukushima #OhioState #Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/D1qnhnDGIi
— JCK Sports Group (@JCKSportsGroup) March 25, 2019
I would like to request that all future overseas hoops updates arrive in my timeline in the form of a bitmoji like this one, please and thank you. Japan does it right.
LINK LOCKER. I was on a plane and the pilot announced there was a bomb on it... The challenge of going off psychiatric drugs... Actor Rob Ostlere discusses his role as the first casualty in Game of Thrones... This Russian drone is literally a flying 12-gauge shotgun... Photographs capture an abandoned world inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone...
