DE Jay Richardson (Oakland Raiders)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

4/22/06

Richardson steps to fore

Defensive end wants to fulfill expectations in his senior season

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>NEAL C . LAURON DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Ohio State players take the field for the annual Scarlet and Gray spring game in Ohio Stadium. A crowd of 63,649 enjoyed sunny skies and warm temperatures, quite a contrast to last year, when the game was played in cold and rainy weather. </TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle></IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>LISA MARIE MILLER DISPATCH </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>Jay Richardson loses his helmet but still gets one of his two sacks for the Scarlet team in Ohio State’s spring game as he corrals Justin Zwick in the first half. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


On the sideline, the former Ohio State players prodded Jay Richardson.

They know, as Richardson does, that his career at Ohio State has been more about potential than production. They know that, as a senior, the time for him to become a consistently dominating player has arrived.

"We had a few guys on the sideline getting in my ear a little bit, saying, ‘Whatcha gonna do?’ Are you going to make some plays?" Richardson said with a smile, mentioning Le-Charles Bentley and Will Smith specifically. "I really wanted to go out there and show them I can play."

That he did. Playing only the first half of the Scarlet and Gray game yesterday, the defensive end had two sacks to help the Scarlet to a 12-0 victory. One of them came after his helmet had flown off.

"I got a hand in my face and got my helmet torn off," Richardson said, "but that doesn’t matter. You’ve got to keep playing. On the second one, I came off the edge and I think (the offensive tackle) slipped a little bit. But it counts."

What matters, of course, is what happens in September, not April. But he seems determined to seize the moment.

"Jay has embraced the leadership role that we ask of our older guys," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "He’s very talented.

I’ve seen more consistency from him this spring. Sometimes opportunity creates that. We’re expecting to be good up front, and we need all those older guys to step up and Jay’s been doing that."

Sophomore defensive end Lawrence Wilson said he can sense a change in Richardson from last year.

"Oh, definitely, I see a different Jay," Wilson said. "Jay’s leading us right now. He’s telling me what to do, telling me to keep my head up. I’m learning from Jay a lot. I really appreciate how he’s leading us."

Asked to describe his career so far, Richardson replied, "Solid, up and down.

A lot of promise, but things haven’t gone exactly the way I wanted."

A Dublin native, Richardson has had to hear about that quite a bit from people around town.

"You hear, ‘You’re doing all right, doing all right,’ " he said. "But you don’t want to just be OK. You want to be great."

With both defensive ends among the nine defensive starters the Buckeyes must replace, Richardson knows the opportunity is there.

"If it’s going to happen, it’s got to happen now," he said. "I just really want to get off to a good start to my senior season. I think today was a good start."

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

[bukIpower]

Its great to see Jay finally doing well! I believe he'll put BIG TIME pressure on the other Qb's this year! This was an area of concern for our defense was pressure from the end position but I think we're very solid in that department..

[jimotis4heisman]

http://ohiostatebuckeyes.cstv.com/sp...son_jay00.html

<table bordercolorlight="gray" bordercolordark="black" bgcolor="#990000" border="4" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="430"><tbody><tr><td> <table bgcolor="#990000" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="430"><tbody><tr><td> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="440"> <tbody><tr> <td width="50"> </td><td background="http://graphics.fansonly.com/schools/osu/graphics/osu-mtt-bg.gif" valign="middle"> Jay Richardson</td> </tr></tbody></table> <table valign="top" bgcolor="#990000" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="2" width="430"> <tbody><tr> <td align="left" valign="top" width="105"></td> <td valign="top" width="321">
<table valign="top" bgcolor="#990000" border="0" width="321"> <tbody><tr><td colspan="2" valign="top"> </td></tr> <tr><td valign="top"> <table align="top" bgcolor="#990000" border="0" width="160"> <tbody><tr><td valign="top"></td><td valign="top">Class:
Junior
</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top"></td><td valign="top">Hometown:
Dublin, Ohio
</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top"></td><td valign="top">High School:
Dublin Scioto
</td></tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td valign="top"> <table align="top" bgcolor="#990000" border="0" width="160"> <tbody><tr><td valign="top"></td><td valign="top">Height / Weight:
6-6 / 276
</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top"></td><td valign="top">Position:
Defensive End
</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top"></td><td valign="top">Birthdate:
01/27/1984
</td></tr> <tr><td valign="top"></td><td valign="top">Major:
African American Studies
</td></tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td></tr></tbody></table> </td></tr></tbody></table> </td></tr></tbody></table> Career Notes:
Got off to an impressive start last year as a starter, but then suffered a knee sprain and virtually missed the last half of the season ... really played well before being hurt and appeared to be on the verge of a breakout year ...practiced in the spring and is expected to be 100 percent in the fall ... has excellent size and quickness and can make plays off the edge ... effective, too, when dropping off into coverage ... hard worker who wants to excel ... has played in 14 games during his career ... earned his first letter last year ... an outstanding athlete who is capable of making big plays on a regular basis.
2004 (Sophomore):
Started the first six games before injuring his knee in practice the week of the Indiana game ... only appearances after that were brief stints against Michigan State and Michigan during the regular season and Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl ... finished the season with 15 tackles, including two tackles for loss and a sack ... top game was five tackles at Northwestern ... recorded his first career sack in the win over Marshall.
2003 (Freshman):
Served as a backup to Ohio State's daunted 2003 defensive front at the defensive end position ... played a career-high five minutes in the season opener vs. Washington, which he lists as his favorite memory of his freshman campaign ... also saw action vs. Bowling Green, Indiana, Penn State and Michigan State.
2002 (Redshirt):
Spent the season in the weight room improving his conditioning, strength and knowledge of the OSU defensive schemes.
High School:
Selected for first-team All-Ohio honors as a senior after leading Dublin Scioto to a 10-2 record ... a whopping 43 of his 73 tackles as a senior were tackles for losses ... also played tight end and led the league in touchdown receptions as a senior ... played basketball for three seasons and averaged seven blocks a game as a senior, winning all-district honors.
Personal:
Is the son of Glen and Deborah Johnson ... a prize-winning artist, concentrating mainly with pencil renderings ... his father played college football at Tiffin University while his mother played rugby at Ohio State ... favorite professional athlete is Shaquille O'Neal ... admires Michael Jordan and would like to dine with historical figure Martin Luther King ... regards the pre-game walk from the team hotel to Ohio Stadium as his favorite tradition at Ohio State.

[RB07OSU]

Talked with Richardson at Buckeye camp and he is a beast! He is 6'6 280 right now and says he runs a 4.68 40. I expect big things from Jay this year.

[crazybuckfan40]

Originally Posted by RB07OSU

Talked with Richardson at Buckeye camp and he is a beast! He is 6'6 280 right now and says he runs a 4.68 40. I expect big things from Jay this year.

I have had the same thing, I remember after the season ended all the talk from the players was how much Jay was stepping up and becoming a leader. We also saw in the spring game how dominant that he was. I think that light has finally went on for him.

[buckeyenate1]

He seems to be the one everyone wants someone to start ahead of but after watching the spring game he is a monster. We have some great DE's on this team and I think Jay will be the best this yr.

[bukIpower]

Man he's a big guy in that picture in the first post when he's sacking Zwick... Look at the dude! Hopefully Richardson comes up huge in his final season. I mean if you look at it we actually got 4 returning starters on the defensive front... All three of Patterson/Wilson/Richardson started last year, and I look for the d-line to turn a lot of heads this up coming year. We have the speed on the edges (Wilson/Richardson), and two run stuffers (pitcock/patterson). I'm very excited to see the ends though, and I believe we'll be pleasantly surprised at the amount of pressure we get.

Also does anyone think we'll see a lot of a 3 man front next year like we did last year? Patterson/Richardon/Pitcock would be a pretty damn good line. If I'm not mistaken we played a 3-3-5 a ton right?

[Oh8ch]

Man he's a big guy in that picture in the first post

The fall of 2002 was the last year schools were permitted to bring Freshman in early. They started practice two days ahead of the rest of the squad. I was there for the class of '02s initial practice.

I was blown away overall by how big the kids were - not at all what I remembered kids just out of HS looking like. But I recall Richardson in particular. He was towards the 'lean' side ('lean' like an NBA forward) but he had the perfect frame for a DE. Just needed time to add the weight.


Not to go too far off topic, but the other thing I recall from that practice was JT spending almost the entire time working one-on-one with his prize QB recruit - Justin Zwick. Smith was nowhere in sight.

[scarletngray]

Too be honest, I really wasn't convinced that JR was ever going to make a significant impact. But I too was impressed with his Spring Game performance and hope that it is a small glimpse of what he will bring this year.

If Richardson has a big year, opposing teams better watch out because if he can put pressure on the QB and get 10 sacks this year, it is going to give our young secondary the needed time to develop.

[AnnArborBuck]

Jay looked like a beast in the spring game. His motor was non-stop and i love that. He seems to be very hungry this year, and that is not a good thing for opposing QBs.

[osugrad21]

BN $

8/6

Great read from Dave Biddle where Jay says he is ready for his breakout season. He is slimmer and faster yet stronger.

[Taosman]

I'm unconvinced about Jay being fast enough to play end.
I see him as more of a DT/tweener. But, I didn't see the Spring Game.

[gobucks19]

Originally Posted by Taosman

I'm unconvinced about Jay being fast enough to play end.
I see him as more of a DT/tweener. But, I didn't see the Spring Game.

I think based on his past performance you were correct but he looked sooooo good during the spring game. He was throwing people around and really getting after the QB. The problem I always saw with Richardson was his motor, he just seemed to disappear during stretches with what appeared to be taking plays off.

I think he saw the writing on the wall with the young studs coming on strong. Wilson already had the inside track to the one DE and you had Gholston and Rose coming on for the other. Richardson get my vote for this year's JT senior performer.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

DDN

8/17/06

osu football
Buckeyes' Richardson eager to fulfill potential

By Doug Harris
Staff Writer
COLUMBUS — Defensive end Jay Richardson had always heard seniors talk about the inner transformation that occurs when a player suits up for one final season at Ohio State, but he never quite subscribed to the theory.
Until now, that is.
The senior from Dublin has been known for his largely untapped potential, having recorded just three sacks in 26 career games despite ample physical gifts. But he's determined to make the most of his final fling as a Buckeye.
He's added 15 pounds of bulk to his 6-foot-6 frame and reported to fall camp at 285. And he still gets off the ball faster than an airbag inflating at impact.
"I've heard from seniors how, during their last year, they get really focused, and I've always been like, 'Yeah, whatever,' " Richardson said. "But it's true. It's your last chance to show people how good you can really be.
"I feel I have a lot to prove, and there's a lot I haven't shown. That's why I've been working so hard."
After backing up classmate David Patterson at defensive end last season, Richardson is now listed as the starter, while Patterson has moved inside along with senior stalwart Quinn Pitcock at tackle.
Third-year sophomore Vernon Gholston and true sophomore Lawrence Wilson are fighting for the other defensive end spot, although the Buckeyes will keep other players involved among the front four with their typically deep rotation.
"He's got all the tools," defensive coordinator Jim Heacock said of Richardson. "He's got long arms. He's rangy. He's got good spring and quickness. And he's very competitive."
Richardson is one of 16 fifth-year players (out of the team's 19 seniors) and hasn't been shy about being vocal.
"He's really done a great job with leadership, which is what we really need on the defensive side of the ball," Heacock said. "He's just been focused all through spring and all through the offseason.
"I think he has an opportunity to have a great year. And for us to be a good defense, he's going to have to be a force on the edge."
Patterson, who is likely to end up as one of the team's captains, is constantly in Richardson's ear, telling him how good he can be.
"I feel Jay is a phenomenal athlete and has the potential to be one of the best players in the country," Patterson said. "And he's really been working hard.
"I always try to pump him up, but Jay knows. It's his senior year. And for all of us seniors, it's do or die. I'm looking for big things from Jay."

[akronbuck]

that was a really bad call on him. He hit colby as he was getting rid of the ball.
At first, I thought the home team was going to win because, of the officials.