Skull Session: Anonymous Coaches Dish on Ohio State, Buckeyes Own the Slot, and Ohio State Favored For Three More Receivers

By Kevin Harrish on June 16, 2022 at 4:59 am
Brian Hartline is throwing a ball in today's skull session.
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I haver never in my life been more thankful for air conditioning.

Never leave me again, my beloved.

Word of the Day: Ameliorate.

 CLOAK AND DAGGER COACHES. Every year, we get a fresh batch of "anonymous coaches" dishing juicy #takes about rival college football schools. And every year, I tell y'all that I'm more than a little bit skeptical.

HOWEVER, that's never stopped me from sharing them anyway, and I ain't gonna stop now.

“Most coaches in the country would do anything to have a season that’s considered a bad year for Ohio State,” the coach said. “Their bad year is a great year for anyone else. When we broke down their roster last season, it was like editing your NCAA video game on dynasty mode and you put everyone at 99. Essentially they could do whatever they wanted on offense for most of the season.”

...

“The sole issue that kept them out of the playoff has been fixed,” the second coach said. “It’s all about how fast Knowles gets them fit for what he wants. If you’re looking for a criticism here, they’re short superstars on this side lately.”

"Essentially they could do whatever they wanted on offense for most of the season.”

I've got news for this fine fellow – I don't think this is going to change even a little bit this upcoming season. In fact, it might get even more outrageous.

 SPECIAL IN THE SLOT. Ohio State's been causing problems from the slot receiver position for a long time, even going back to the days when Urban Meyer called it an H-Backs and insisted that they were part running back.

Since Ryan Day's taken over, the Buckeyes have been just as lethal out of the slot with K.J. Hill, Parris Campbell, Garrett Wilson, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba all running the show. There have just been noticeably fewer jet sweeps.

I know what you're thinking – why am I sharing this stat to make my point if the list doesn't even have a Buckeye at the top of it?

Well here's the thing – on the surface, this stat looks very pro-Penn State. But the fun wrinkle is that Parker Wilson put up those 10 touchdowns in two seasons while Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Garrett Wilson each only played one season in the slot.

So, JSN and Wilson were nearly as productive as Washington even though he played an entire season's worth of extra snaps.

 THREE MORE? According to noted recruiting knower Steve Wiltfong, it seems Brian Hartline and the Buckeyes are in good shape to be getting some good news three times in the next couple of weeks.

Frankly, it's about damn time Ohio State landed some elite receiver prospects. It looks like things are finally looking up at that position.

 DBU, BIA, ETC. Friendly reminder: Ohio State's defensive backs absolutely dominate the NFL.

The whole "we've had a bunch of first-round picks" thing was probably super cool for recruiting and such, but I'm sure that "we have two of the five most productive corners in the NFL" probably sells even better.

Also, "we produced the highest-paid corner in the history of the NFL" probably doesn't hurt.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner.

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. A cocaine shipment worth $83 million accidentally gets delivered to supermarkets by mistake... A gas station manager accidentally set the price to 69 cents per gallon by misplacing the decimal... A woman is charged with a felony after spitting on a corpse in a casket at a funeral home... Inside Kate Bush's alternate universe... A frog so small it could not be a frog... You're afraid of AI for all the wrong reasons...

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Prognosticating: Indiana

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