Skull Session: Ryan Day Struck Gold With C.J. Stroud in 2020, Johnnie Dixon III Looks Back at the 2018 Receiver Room and Ohio State Football Participates in a Career & NIL Expo

By Chase Brown on April 6, 2023 at 5:00 am
Ryan Day and C.J. Stroud
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

The spring game is less than 10 days away – nine, to be exact. Can you feel it?

Let's have a good Thursday, shall we?

 RYAN DAY, THE GOLD MINER. Ohio State football's class of 2020 was full of star-studded talent, including Julian Fleming (No. 3 overall in 247Sports’ composite rankings), Paris Johnson Jr. (No. 29), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (No. 29) and C.J. Stroud (No. 42).

Who would have thought Stroud, a quarterback who possessed only three stars before a stellar performance at The Opening and Elite 11 camps in 2020, would end up as the best Ohio State player in the class, let alone one of the top players in the nation? At the time, probably not very many people, but that's precisely what happened.

Ryan Day is lucky that's how it all turned out.

This week, The Athletic's Antonio Morales wrote an article that re-ranked the quarterback 2020 recruiting class. His one-word assessment of the class was “underwhelming,” which I endorse completely. Unless you landed Bryce Young or Stoud, you had zero, zip, zilch, nada. That's why Day stuck gold with the quarterback with the golden arm (or platinum arm or palladium arm) from Rancho Cucamonga, California.

From Morales' article:

No. 1 - Bryce Young, Alabama

Original ranking: No. 1 QB (No. 2 overall)

Why he’s here: Young was the top-rated player at the position coming into college and lived up to the hype at Alabama, where he accounted for 87 touchdowns, threw for 8,356 yards and became the first Crimson Tide quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy. He also took Alabama to the College Football Playoff championship game in 2021. He accomplished more — individually and team-wise — than any other quarterback in this class. And he was fun to watch, as well.

2. C.J. Stroud, Ohio State

Original ranking: No. 3 QB (No. 42 overall)

Why he’s here: Stroud, a former four-star prospect, was a two-time Heisman finalist, led Ohio State to the College Football Playoff this past season, won the Rose Bowl the year before and threw for 8,123 yards and 85 touchdowns with only 12 picks in his two years as a starter. If it weren’t for a missed field goal late against Georgia in the 2022 Peach Bowl, he might’ve had a national championship on his resume, too. Not bad for someone who was an under-the-radar, three-star prospect with about eight months left in his recruitment.

As for the rest of the rankings, let's play a game called “Who He Play For?” made famous by NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and the NBA on TNT crew of Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith. I'll list the names, and you'll guess where they play football. The answer key will be below in the next paragraph.

Class of 2020 Quarterbacks: Ja'Quinden Jackson, Luke Doty, Harrison Bailey, Ethan Garbers, Haynes King, Jay Butterfield, Michael Pratt, Will Rogers, Anthony Richardson, Jayden de Laura, Tyler Van Dyke, Blake Shapen, Will Howard, DJ Uiagalelei.

Answer Key: Jackson, running back at Utah (via Texas); Doty, South Carolina; Bailey, UNLV (via Tennessee); Garbers, UCLA (via Washington); King, Georgia Tech (via Texas A&M); Butterfield, San Jose State (via Oregon); Pratt, Tulane; Rogers, Mississippi State; Richardson, Florida; de Laura, Arizona (via Washington State); Van Dyke, Miami; Shapen, Baylor; Howard, Kansas State; Uiagelelei, Oregon State (via Clemson).

Outside of Richardson, how many names did you correctly match with their schools? For me, I landed Pratt at Tulane – mainly because I watched him and the Green Wave torch Alex Grinch and the USC defense in the Cotton Bowl – and Van Dyke at Miami. That's about it. I whiffed on the other quarterbacks.

So, yes, Day and the Buckeyes struck gold with Stroud, who, out of all these quarterbacks, turned out neck and neck with Young as the best signal-caller for the 2020 class. That's a job well done by the New Hampshire Man. He sure does know his quarterbacks.

 “I MISS THESE FOOLS.” Ohio State's 2018 wide receiver room featured some really talented players, with Terry McLaurin, Parris Campbell, KJ Hill and Johnnie Dixon III chief among them for that season – one in which the late Dwayne Haskins broke all kinds of records by completing 70% of his passes for 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns.

Thanks to a quote tweet from Dixon late last week, a video of those four receivers in a Big Ten Network interview from five years ago resurfaced on Twitter. The nearly two-minute clip is bound to make you chuckle, so I wanted to pass it along here.

When I think of The Brotherhood, this is what comes to mind.

For those that played sports, doesn't this kind of make you miss it? Yes, sports are about wins and losses, championships and titles, but at their core sports are about relationships with coaches and, more importantly, teammates. What I wouldn't give to have one more basketball and baseball practice or game with my friends. Those were the days.

I'm sure Dixon was thinking the same thing as he watched back on this video of him and his teammates laughing and having fun. I definitely need there to be footage of when these four dudes have a reunion because that would certainly be a fun time for all.

 LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL. With how well Ohio State football recruits high school talent, every player who sets foot in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center has reason to believe he’ll make it to the next level.

However, the reality is that many more Buckeyes don’t make the NFL than the ones who do. That's why Ohio State holds events like the Career & NIL Expo for the football program, an event that allows all Buckeyes – the ones who will be drafted and the ones who won't – an opportunity to benefit from their name, image and likeness and learn about future employment opportunities while they represent the scarlet and gray in the school's most prominent sport.

The 2023 edition of the event took place on Tuesday, with over 40 Central Ohio companies packing into the Covelli Center to meet with players, who traded in pads and jerseys for suits and ties.

Based on a video from the team's Twitter account posted Wednesday, I believe the Buckeyes had a phenomenal time at the event, with many understanding that they can benefit from their association with Ohio State football. Even more, they will always have the program's legendary reputation that they can associate with and leverage into future career opportunities.

"We have Amazon all the way to Wells Fargo and everything in between. The Buckeyes are getting it done off the field," Donovan Jackson said in the video.

Indeed they are. And good on them for that.

While I know every Buckeye fan wishes Ohio State players could have long careers that end with national championships, Super Bowls and all kinds of individual awards, I think every fan will also feel a tremendous amount of pride for the players who succeed at the highest level in whatever line of work they end up in.

 OLYMPIC VILLAGE. Ohio State men's diver Lyle Yost was named the 2023 Arthur Ashe Jr. Male Sports Scholar of the Year by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine this week. He is the school's first male athlete and second overall athlete, along with Sophie Jaques of women's hockey last year, to win the award.

Yost won the award overly nearly 1,000 student-athletes nominated over the past 12 months. The Shaker Heights, Ohio, native was selected for "best exemplifying the standards of scholarship, athleticism and humanitarianism," according to the collection of voters for the honor.

From an Ohio State athletic department release:

Yost had a strong 2023 season, capped with a national title on the 1-meter board. He is the first Buckeye since 1988 to win the 1-meter at the NCAA Championships. He was the only diver at NCAAs to advance to the championship final and earn First Team All-American honors in all three dives. Yost was also selected by the CSCAA as the Diver of the Year. 

Academically, Yost is also a standout. He is a three-time CSCAA Scholar All-American and a Dean’s List honoree. Yost is pursuing a degree in Spanish and maintains a 3.9 GPA. Yost has been very involved in the community during his time with the Buckeyes. He has worked with students with disabilities on Buckeye-themed arts and crafts and has also done outreach with the Dublin City Schools’ PATHS program. Yost also serves as a diving coach for ACES Diving, a local youth program that practices frequently at Ohio State. 

Sounds like a do-it-all kind of person. I love that.

I also love that his effort has been rewarded. Had it not, I'm not sure I would have heard about Yost's academic and community pursuits, both of which are incredible.

I took Spanish at Ohio State because I had to and barely made it out alive. Yost takes Spanish because it's his passion, and he has a 3.9 GPA.

I want to spend my time helping others, but I often make excuses that my schedule is too full. Yost is much busier than I am, yet he still finds time to volunteer with Dublin City Schools and ACES Diving.

What a great example Yost is for me and all of us. Cheers to those who selected Yost to win the award and offered him some time to shine.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Traveller” by Chris Stapleton.

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