One more day to the weekend, as if the days aren't all blended these days anyway. Either way, survive and advance, baby.
If you need a little help getting through the day, just go ahead and ponder this question for the next few hours.
Which secondary are you rolling with? pic.twitter.com/Na9XFceEIf
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) May 7, 2020
Song of the Day: "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles.
Word of the Day: Sagacious.
SAME AS ALWAYS. There's been speculation that the supplemental draft would feature a flood of players changing their mind and entering the league with the college season in flux.
Naturally, that would make Buckeye fans a bit nervous, with guys like Shaun Wade and Wyatt Davis perhaps fitting into that group.
But rest easy – it ain't gonna happen.
The NFL making clear behind the scenes that to be eligible for the supplemental draft, the normal reasons need to apply -- academics issues, suspensions, etc. https://t.co/DUU5mQN44p
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 7, 2020
That's one bridge crossed. Now, if we could just work on guaranteeing we'll have a college football season, that would be stellar.
NO STOP. Jeff Okudah didn't exactly come out of nowhere to become a top-five pick in the NFL Draft. The dude had a 99 rating from 247Sports for every single evaluation for over two years. Shit, his high school coach knew he was going to be a first-rounder the second he stepped on the practice field.
The reality is, there are kids like that in every class. Every class features players destined to be first-round picks, blessed with every physical gift imaginable. Ohio State's full of them.
But most of those prospects don't even meet, much-less exceed those expectations. Okudah did, becoming the first defensive back selected among the first three picks since Shawn Springs in 1997. And it wasn't just because of his God-given talent – he worked his absolute ass off.
Jeff Hafley knew he had something special in Jeff Okudah when, not long after he was hired as Ohio State’s co-defensive coordinator last winter, he got a text from his star cornerback.
“It’s a Saturday morning and I’m moving into my new house and I’m getting a text, ‘Hey are you in the office? You want to watch film?’ ” recalled Hafley, now the head coach at Boston College. “It was like, ‘Holy crap, who is this kid?’ ”
...
“After every workout — every workout — whether we were working on speed, working on change of direction, working on strength, whatever it was, he would stay out there for hours working on his footwork technique, extra conditioning, ball drills, all that,” Marotti said. “To a point I would say, ‘Enough.’ I would kick him off the field.”
During conditioning last summer, Okudah typically joined Ohio State’s 10 a.m. workout group. Marotti said he arrived at the football building around 8:30 a.m. each day, ate breakfast and prepared for his 2-hour training session.
“He’d get done around noon with everything and you go up to get some lunch and you’re seeing the kids that you just trained at 10 and then you look outside the window that looks down on the field and there he is, him and two other guys,” Marotti said. “And then you get done eating and you go in your office and you get ready for the 1 o’clock group and you walk out on the field and, still there.
"And then you get done with the running and you go in the weight room and then he’s still there. And then that group gets done and he’s in the locker room. It’s like, ‘It’s time to go home, brother.’ ”
The only other story I've heard of the staff having to tell a player to go home is John Simon. And John Simon wasn't a consensus top-five player coming out of high school.
Okudah is a top-five freak athlete and a top-five worker in this class. That ain't fair.
TIMES ARE DIFFERENT. At this point last year, C.J. Stroud was the No. 860 player in the 247Sports composite rankings without a shot in hell of earning even a glance from Ohio State. Eight months later, he was a five-star prospect according to 247, and the composite No. 41 player in the country.
He's now got a chance to be Ohio State's next starting quarterback when Justin Fields inevitably heads to the next level. But if he was a member of the 2021 class, there's no basically way he would have even got a look from the Buckeyes.
At this time last year, C.J. Stroud was a three-star quarterback prospect who sat outside of the top 500 overall in 247Sports’ composite rankings for the 2020 recruiting cycle. In mid-May, Stroud competed at the Elite 11 regionals in Oakland, Calif., and was one of the last quarterbacks who earned an invite to the Elite 11 Finals in Texas. At the end of the month, his recruiting ranking shot up from No. 860 overall to No. 511.
He went on to dominate the Elite 11 Finals, winning MVP at the event in late June. Recruiting analysts took notice, as did colleges. He jumped all the way to No. 252 overall, became a four-star prospect and in the months that followed earned offers from Oregon, Ohio State and Georgia.
Stroud followed that up with a spectacular senior season and eventually signed with Ohio State as the No. 41 overall player in the 2020 cycle, narrowly missing five-star status. It’s a great recruiting story, and for now, it’s one that seems increasingly unlikely to be replicated by anyone in the 2021 cycle.
“C.J. Stroud isn’t C.J. Stroud this year,” 247Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins said.
Now, the flip side of this is that Ohio State is going to be absolutely fine, because Ryan Day's not exactly seeing a need to fill his 2021 class with diamonds in the rough. But it undeniably hurts kids' chances at improving their recruiting stock and finding a school that fits.
The side effect of all of this is there are going to be some extremely talented players that come out of absolutely nowhere in the next few years, and the transfer market is going to be insane.
Needless to say, buckle up.
WATCH KOREAN BASEBALL. If any of you are so desperate for sports that you've seriously pondered tuning in to some Koren baseball, I offer you zero judgment and nothing but my fullest support.
If fact, I've just found your new favorite player.
Representing the #Buckeyes in South Korea!
— Cameron Fontana (@CameronFontana) May 7, 2020
I spoke with @OhioState grad @drewrucinski about what pro baseball is like overseas right now and if it can work in the US. PLUS we attempt the (probably) longest O-H shout in history!#GoDinos @ncdinos_fan @wsyx6 #KBO #KBOBaseball pic.twitter.com/30M2fp3sfQ
Folks, it looks like this is an NC Dinos blog now. My Korean is admittedly a little shaky, but with the help of Google Translate I've gathered that Drew pitches again on Sunday and I can guarantee I'll be tuned in.
Get dumped then, LG Twins.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. A man killed in a police shooting livestreamed the police chase just moments before his death... Researchers develop the chemistry needed to create a marijuana breathalyzer... San Francisco is giving alcohol, marijuana and tobacco to homeless addicts in isolation amidst the coronavirus crisis... Carrots were once a crucial tool in anti-Nazi propaganda... All websites look the same... The dad who helped bring those giant inflatable flailing tube men to life...
