Ashton Youboty: Like Whitner, Youboty has filed with the NFL for an evaluation of his draft possibilities. Also like Whitner, Youboty is not saying that leaving is a sure thing at the moment.
"I'm not in a rush to leave Ohio State, but I know I have an opportunity and I'm going to look into it, but I'm not really in a rush to get out of here," said Youboty.
Youboty had an outstanding sophomore season, capped by a great performance in the Michigan game in which he held up well against Wolverine star receiver Braylon Edwards. This season, however, Youboty has had some moments that were not so memorable, depending on your point of view. He had some coverage problems at Minnesota and in the Texas game as well.
NFL scouts to whom we have spoken evaluate Youboty as a "cheater", not meaning that he breaks the rules, but meaning that he cheats one way or another on certain plays to try to gain leverage. He got away with it in 2004, but it cost him some in 2005 when the opposition had better scouting on him and could take advantage of his technique. That experience seems to have been somewhat of a reality check for Youboty.
"The one thing I've learned is that there's always room to improve. Even when you think you're good enough, the receivers learn a new release to get by you. There's always room to improve," he said.
Youboty will likely use the draft evaluation heavily to make his decision. Chances are that he would be drafted fairly high, but that he would be able to improve his draft stock considerably with one more year of college ball to prove that he doesn't have to "cheat" in coverages. We think there is a better chance that Youboty will be back at
OSU next season rather than in the NFL, but ultimately his draft evaluation will determine that decision.