Skull Session: Buckeyes Have the Nation's Best Pass Protectors, Ohio State Has Dominated Receiver Recruiting, and More Commitments Are Coming

Let's start off the day with some random Cardale Jones appreciation, shall we?

Or the hurdle in the Maryland game. pic.twitter.com/BXteiuULAf
— Evan Weckerly (@EvanWeck) June 7, 2021

If I could make my own contribution to the Dolo love fest...

Word of the Day: Sloven.

BOTH BEST. Withouth doubt my favorite thing about this Ohio State offense is that you can mention that the Buckeyes have the two best players in the country at a particular position and it's not immediately clear which position you're talking about.

Your mind probably jumps to Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave first, but...

Lowest QB pressure % allowed by returning power five OTs

1. Thayer Munford, Ohio St: 1.2%
2. Nicholas Petit-Frere, Ohio St: 1.7%

3. Tyler Beach, Wisconsin: 2.0%
4. Evan Neal, Alabama: 2.3% pic.twitter.com/Q6oiF39rAm
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 7, 2021

The two best tackles and the two best receivers in the country heading into 2020 – that's one hell of a gift to a first-year starter at quarterback.

TAKE A BOW, BRIAN HARTLINE. Here's what it looks like to lap everybody else when it comes to wide receiver recruiting.

Spent entirely too much time looking this up. Here are the top-60 receiver prospects coming out of high school the last four years (2019-2022), regardless of class, according to the 247Sports composite ratings.

Ohio State has signed/got a commitment from 11 of them pic.twitter.com/ScELNTpXNV
— Bill Landis (@BillLandis25) June 8, 2021

The Buckeyes almost double the next highest total, and realistically, the only reason they don't have more is because they're hindered by those pesky scholarship limits.

ACROSS THE SHIELD. Turns out, Ohio State won't just get you to The League, it'll make sure you're prepared to dominate The League, too.

CBS Sports just rolled out its annual list of the top-100 players in the NFL, and it has some distinct Buckeye flavor with seven Ohio State players cracking the list.

68. Corey Linsley: He was an important part of the Green Bay offense the past few seasons playing in front of Aaron Rodgers. Now he will fill the same role for Justin Herbert, which is an important thing for a young quarterback.

65. Cameron Heyward: His sack numbers fell from nine to four last season, but he still had 19 quarterback hits. He is also a good run player, which is key in their scheme.

57. Ezekiel Elliott: Elliott is coming off a disappointing 2020 season that saw him rush for career lows in yards (979) and average (4.0). The line was banged up in front of him, but this is a big prove-it year for Elliott coming up in 2021.

55. Michael Thomas: His 2020 season was a disappointment in a lot of ways. He was hurt for much of the year, suspended by the team for a game for a practice-field altercation, and had career lows in catches, touchdowns and yardage. He played just 10 regular-season games and was clearly not the same player he was the two prior seasons.

40. Chase Young: He had 7.5 sacks as a rookie, but really came on late in the season. Look for his sack numbers to go way up in 2021 and for him to be much higher on this list next year.

25. Joey Bosa: Injuries limited him to 10 starts last season, which is why his sack number dropped from 11.5 to 7.5. But he still remains a handful off the edge for any offensive tackle.

17. Nick Bosa: He missed 14 games last season after tearing his ACL in Week 2 against the Jets. He should be full-go this season, which means he will be back to wreaking havoc on quarterbacks.

Terry McLaurin and Marshon Lattimore got a little bit of love in the "Just Missed" category, but if we're being real, Cameron Johnston is actually the biggest Buckeye snub (I can't even tell if I'm being sarcastic or not).

MORE COMING. You could probably safely assume that Ohio State's recruiting efforts were not quite finished given that they only have 13 commitments in the 2022 class, but don't worry, CJ Hicks and Tegre Tshabola are here to remove all doubt.

And if yall thought we were done were not #BOOM
— CJ Hicks (@imcjhicks) June 8, 2021

Its funny cuz were just getting started #BOOM22
— Tegra Tshabola (@tshabola_tegra) June 8, 2021

As for who it's going to be or when, well, it looks like you'll just have to camp out on Eleven Warriors dot com and wait for that red banner to appear.

SONG OF THE DAY. "Time Of The Season" by The Zombies.