Welcome to the Skull Session.
We've made it to the end of the week. As friend of the program Anthony Rothman of 97.1 The Fan says, it's time to twerk our way into the weekend.
Let's have a good Friday, shall we?
THE NFL DRAFT IS FUN. Man, the NFL draft is fun. No matter who is picked – where they were born, what college they played for, etc. – it always makes me smile when I watch a man's life change forever at the draft. But I must admit, it means a little more when than player represents The Ohio State University.
On Thursday, that honor belonged to C.J. Stroud, Paris Johnson Jr. and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, three members of Ohio State's class of 2021.
QB1. Forever and Always. pic.twitter.com/ZGwbn4DG2z
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) April 28, 2023
Buckeye Nation is proud of you, Paris. pic.twitter.com/JJuhrqpQcz
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) April 28, 2023
JSN. OSU. WRU. pic.twitter.com/Ze8XNzj6L6
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) April 28, 2023
That's pure joy.
Thanks for all the memories, lads. Now, it's time for Zach Harrison, Dawand Jones, Luke Wypler, Ronnie Hickman and the rest of Ohio State's draft class to share those same feelings across the next two days.
THE BEST OF THE BEST. Who will be the best players in college football next season? A panel of four national analysts from 247Sports – Blake Brockermeyer, Brad Crawford, Carl Reed and Chris Hummer – settled the debate with a 32-pick draft in honor of the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday.
First off the board was USC quarterback and defending Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Wiliams, who Crawford selected with the notion that Lincoln Riley's Trojans would have the most explosive offense in college football next season, mainly due to Williams' excellence as leader of the unit.
Hard to argue that.
With the No. 2 pick, Marvin Harrison Jr. went to Brockermeyer, who called the Ohio State wide receiver the best prospect "in recent memory in a position group that's loaded every year." Brockermeyer added that Harrison is "WR1 by a mile and will absolutely dominate the 2023 season."
Yes, Blake. Yes, he will.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is unreal. pic.twitter.com/suwsFMY2Km
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 12, 2022
Reed and Hummer picked third and fourth, and then the rotation went back to Crawford and Brockermeyer. Their picks were as follows: Georgia TE Brock Bowers, North Carolina QB Drake Maye, LSU LB Harold Perkins, Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry, Penn State OL Olu Fashanu, Notre Dame OL Joe Alt, Florida State DE Jared Verse, Michigan RB Blake Corum, Colorado CB Travis Hunter and Illinois DT Jer'Zhan Newton.
With the No. 13 pick, Crawford selected the second Ohio State player in the draft, Emeka Egbuka. Crawford detailed his underrated performance in 2022 – a season in which Egbuka collected 74 catches for 1,151 yards and 10 touchdowns opposite Harrison in the Buckeyes' offense. In 2023, Crawford expects Egbuka, "a crisp route runner with great hands," to excel for a second consecutive year.
I concur, Brad.
Did we mention that Emeka Egbuka can do it all?pic.twitter.com/LGmXcT9IJK
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 18, 2022
Eight picks later, the Buckeyes' third and final player, JT Tuimoloau, came off the board at No. 21 overall. Despite the late selection, Crawford bestowed lofty expectations on the Edgewood, Washington, native in 2023, writing that he expects Tuimoloau to be a first-team All-American next fall after he "showed flashes last season," especially in Ohio State's road win over Penn State.
Boy, I hope so, Brad. While I don't expect Tuimoloau to put up the video-game numbers he recorded in the Buckeyes' 44-31 defeat of the Nittany Lions next season, I think it's fair for Ohio State fans to believe a more consistently disruptive version of Tuimoloau can (and should) emerge in 2023.
J.T. Tuimoloau has been unbelievable today.pic.twitter.com/kKj2pAHWZY
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 29, 2022
Maybe not six tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble, two interceptions and a touchdown in every contest, but those numbers spread out among two or three matchups. Is that too much to ask?
MARVIN FOR HEISMAN? Of the three Buckeyes mentioned in the 247Sports college football draft, Marvin Harrison Jr. stands head and shoulders above Egbuka and Tuimoloau in terms of both proven talent and potential. That's not a knock on the latter two players. Harrison is nicknamed Marvelous Marv and Super Marv, after all.
You see, if Egbuka and Tuimoloau are good, Harrison is great. If Egbuka and Tuimoloau are great, Harrison is grand. If Egbuka and Tuimoloau are grand, Harrison is wonderful. Does that make sense? For you uncultured swine, That was an homage to comedian and actor Chris Farley, may he rest in peace.
Harrison is just on another level. That's how I see it. That's how many see it, including The Athletic's Stewart Mandel, who named Harrison as one of a few non-quarterbacks who could win the Heisman Trophy in 2023. Some of the other players were Michigan running back Blake Corum and Penn State running back Nick Singleton.
Here is what Mandel wrote about them:
Marvin Harrison Jr.
Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Like (DeVonta) Smith in 2020, Harrison is poised to establish himself as the clear-cut best receiver in college football. He’d need to up his production a good bit from last year’s 77 catches for 1,263 yards and 14 TDs (Smith had 98 receptions for 1,511 yards and 17 TDs at the time he won his), and the Buckeyes will need to beat Michigan and win the Big Ten.
Blake Corum
Michigan running back Blake Corum. Though it’s become next to impossible for running backs to win this thing, Corum is a household name after running for 1,463 yards and 18 TDs last season. He finished seventh in the voting last year despite missing most of the all-important Ohio State game. He should be in the mix again if he stays healthy and the Wolverines contend, though Donovan Edwards will get his fair share of carries as well.
Nick Singleton
Penn State running back Nick Singleton. I don’t feel great about having two running backs and three players from the same division, but the Big Ten East’s Big 3 are going to get a lot of attention this season. If Penn State manages to finally break through and topple Ohio State and Michigan, Singleton, who ran for 1,061 yards and averaged 6.8 yards per carry as a freshman, will likely be a focal point.
In a season where USC's Caleb Williams, Washington's Michael Penix Jr., LSU's Jayden Daniels, North Carolina's Drake Maye, Florida State's Jordan Travis and Oregon's Bo Nix all return for another year at their respective schools, do any of these players have a legitimate shot at winning the Heisman? No, probably not. But I'm sayin' there's a chance.
At the very least, Ohio State fans will witness exceptional talents on the other side when their team faces off with Penn State and Michigan this fall. Is that something all Buckeye supporters want their Not a Rival and Archrival to have? No, probably not. But it makes for an entertaining spectacle, nonetheless. First, when Penn State comes to Columbus on Oct. 21 and, second, when Ohio State travels to Ann Arbor on Nov. 25.
And, for those interested, Corum and Singleton will face off in the Battle of the Ball Carriers in Happy Valley on Nov. 11, when Michigan will battle Penn State in a hostile late-season environment for the Wolverines two weeks before their showdown with the Buckeyes.
"IT REALLY DIFFERENTIATED US." On3 conducted a voluntary NIL survey that received responses from 23 collectives and found that those organizations worked with an average of 17 female athletes in 2022-23. That number makes up nearly 23% of the total athletes the collectives partnered with in the last academic year.
Of the collectives surveyed, Ohio State's Cohesion Foundation possessed a noteworthy representation of female athletes. According to its founder, Gary Marcinick, that has made Cohesion stand out among other collectives.
... Marcinick said the collective has signed 22 female athletes at Ohio State and there are agreements with 20 more women that are in the works.
Similar to many schools nationally, several collectives support Ohio State, including another nonprofit organization The Foundation and The 1870 Society, which is a for-profit collective that recently launched. The Foundation’s executives market it as the “No. 1 collective for Ohio State football and basketball.”
“It really has differentiated us in a major way,” Marcinick said. “We’ve gotten such great feedback from so many people. You know, so many people appreciate our intentionality around that to make sure we’re trying to do something pretty cool for all athletes across all sports.
“We’ve done a total of like 52 across 17 different sports. We’ll be approaching the remaining women’s sports and doing NILs with each of those remaining sports that we haven’t done at least one NIL (deal) with on those teams but we did do an NIL deal for the entire women’s basketball team that was very well received.”
Whether you contribute to The Foundation, The 1870 Society or don't contribute at all, you must admit it's pretty darn cool what Cohesion has done and plans to do for Ohio State's female athletes.
While football and men's basketball are of the utmost importance to the university, and deservedly so, as the programs are the revenue generators for the athletic department, Ohio State's female athletes – and athletes from the school's other Olympic sports, for that matter – deserve to benefit from their name, image and likeness while they can.
Cheers to Cohesion for their work on this front. They receive my super valuable and well-renowned Gold Star for today (don't look it up, it's real).
SONG OF THE DAY. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" by Journey.
CUT TO THE CHASE. Jerry Springer, politician turned TV ringmaster, dies at 79... Excitement builds for Christopher Nolan’s "Oppenheimer" at CinemaCon... U.S. adult cigarette smoking rate hits new all-time low... Jimmy Butler has a whole kennel of dawg in him... Introducing Roger Federer, sunglasses designer... Southwest is the worst airline in America... Should the NFL enter its one-and-done era?
