The bad news is, today's Skull Session was later than anticipated because I was celebrating my wife's 25th birthday and lost track of life.
The good news is, after today, you won't have to deal with me for over a week, because we'll be taking our celebration to Disney World for the week. The mouse ain't ready.
Please promise to be every bit as cruel to my substitutes as you are to me.
Word of the Day: Venerate.
DEVELOPED HERE. If you've thought every NFL Draft for the past decade has lowkey resembled an Ohio State infomercial, you probably weren't wrong!
Turons out, Ohio State has had the second-most players selected in the first round of the draft since the year 2010.
2011: Cameron Heyward, DE (31)
2014: Ryan Shazier, LB (15), Bradley Roby, CB (31)
2016: Joey Bosa, DE (3), Ezekiel Elliott, RB (4), Eli Apple, CB (10), Taylor Decker, OT (16), Darron Lee, LB (20)
2017: Marshon Lattimore, CB (11), Malik Hooker, S (15), Gareon Conley, CB (24)
2018: Denzel Ward, CB (4), Billy Price, C (21)
2019: Nick Bosa, DE (2), Dwayne Haskins, QB (15)
2020: Chase Young, DE (2), Jeff Okudah, CB (3), Damon Arnette, CB (19)
And here's to many more years of stuffing NFL draft boards with talent. Let's hope it also brings us some nattys.
TEERAW SHEDDING WEIGHT. Teradja Mitchell has been about the most patient top-50 player I've ever encountered as he waits for his turn to show out as part of Ohio State's linebakcing corps. And part of that work he's been putting in is his diet.
Teradja Mitchell has been as heavy as 255 pounds, but he's down to 235 pounds now. Like Justin Fields, Mitchell switched to a vegan diet last season, though he's eating fish now too.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) March 25, 2021
Of all the insane things these athletes are asked to do, the weight shedding and gaining has to be the craziest to me – in both directions. A 20-pound difference almost makes you a completely different human being. I cannot imagine just shedding 20 pounds on a whim to be in shape for spring practice.
Granted, I also could not imagine shedding 20 pounds period, but that's probably a different problem.
BUILDING THE BROTHERHOOD. TreVeyon Henderson and Evan Pryor are trying to steal a starting spot right f of the gate, but that doesn't mean they aren't getting some help from the older guys they're competing against, too.
“The older guys, they give me a lot of tips, they taught me a lot of things,” Henderson said.
As Henderson and Pryor get acclimated to the Ohio State football program, one thing has stuck out to them: the brotherhood.
With the blue chip prospects finally getting their first taste of “the brotherhood,” Pryor emphasized its importance in the running back room.
...
“We started off by building the brotherhood first. We’re brothers first,” Pryor said. “We obviously know it’s competitive, but that’s not something that is spoken about every day. So we’re just gonna keep coming in every day and making each other better.”
We should go ahead and make "We're Brothers Fist" the tagline of every Ohio State position battle.
The quarterback battle is going to get all the attention this offseason for reasons that are beyond understandable, but personally, I'm just as fascinated to find out who's going to be carrying the ball for the Buckeyes next fall as throwing it.
WELL, THIS ISN'T FAIR. Y'all saw the numbers Jared Sullinger was putting up over in Korea, now you can see the video.
Warning: this looks like a damn snuff film.
Jared Sullinger (@Jared_Sully0) last night in South Korea:
— TBT (@thetournament) March 25, 2021
41 pts | 18 reb pic.twitter.com/QDwKXhk5Wn
I get that the NBA probably isn't super keen to hire folks who haven't played basketball in two years, but based on that tape, it seems Sully needs to be back among the big boys because what he's doing currently looks a hell of a lot like when I play nerf basketball with my school-age nephews.
SONG OF THE DAY. "When You Wish Upon a Star" by Jiminy Cricket.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. The former Netflix DVD library is a lost treasure we’ll never see again... Why airlifting rhinos upside down is critical to conservation... Sit-ups and crunches need to be retired... Why do so many men with big penises think that they're small?...
