2008 Secondary Discussion

[Tresselbeliever]

Dienhart conveniently forgot that we have two all big ten caliber corners...in addition to Jenkins. He is smoking some good stuff indeed.

[craigblitz]

In Fairness to scUM fans most of them were saying this has to be his shuttle time and not way his 40 time. They then compare to the one time he raced Teddy Ginn and he won, etc. As far as national ranking of our secondary... Not sure.. Jenkins is gold, Washington has potential to be gold, Chimidi might be good, was a good sign (maybe) he got reps as a frosh. Amos... who knows could step up and be solid. Coleman I am personally VERY high on, but still has to produce to prove it. Rusell pre injury was the next big thing at Saftey but post injury has not been the same. There is potential for this unit to be crazy good, but would not rank them number one in the nation.

[OregonBuckeye]

ESPN - Ranking the Big Ten secondaries - Big Ten

The Wolverines might feature the league's best cornerback tandem in senior Morgan Trent and sophomore Donovan Warren, who combined for 93 tackles and 13 pass breakups last season.

[Oh8ch]

The Wolverines might feature the league's best cornerback tandem in senior Morgan Trent and sophomore Donovan Warren, who combined for 93 tackles and 13 pass breakups last season.

A great CB tandem doesn't get the chance to break up 13 passes.

[Dryden]

More rankings from Rittenberg, this time just the corners ...

ESPN - Ranking the Big Ten cornerbacks - Big Ten

1. Malcolm Jenkins, Sr., Ohio State -- It's a tight race with Davis for the top spot, but Jenkins gets the nod. He enters the fall as the Thorpe Award frontrunner after passing up NFL millions. The back-to-back first-team All-Big Ten selection had four interceptions last season and can shut down one side of the field.

...

4. Donald Washington, Jr., Ohio State -- His two-game suspension at the start of the season could hurt, but Washington has plenty of experience to readjust. Often overshadowed by Jenkins, Washington has big-play potential, as he showed by returning his lone interception last fall 70 yards for a touchdown.

[WyoBuckeye]

Originally Posted by Oh8ch

A great CB tandem doesn't get the chance to break up 13 passes.

Or making lots of tackles for that matter. Generally speaking, I would think that if the corners are getting lots of tackles, that would be a bad thing, not a good thing.

[cincibuck]

The Wolverines might feature the league's best cornerback tandem in senior Morgan Trent and sophomore Donovan Warren, who combined for 93 tackles and 13 pass breakups last season.

Quite a comment on the quality of Michigan linebackers if you ask me.

[Dryden]

... and the safeties ...

ESPN - Ranking the Big Ten safeties - Big Ten

1. Anderson Russell, Jr., Ohio State -- To stay on top, Russell must increase his interceptions total. A strong tackler with NFL potential, he ranked fourth on the team in tackles last season (63) and broke up five passes but failed to record a pick.

...

4. Kurt Coleman, Jr., Ohio State -- A carbon copy of Russell in productivity, Coleman collected one more tackle and had one fewer pass breakup. Like Russell, interceptions are the next step for the talented junior.

[BB73]

CFN's unit rankings. They still haven't updated their info for Clifford's departure.

cfn

1. tOSU
2. USC
3. Vanderbilt
11. Cincy
12. TSUN
26. Wiscy
39. Penn St.

1. Ohio State
There's a lot to be excited about as the nation's best pass defense brings everyone back. As long as there isn't a long suspension problem with Donald Washington, Jamario O'Neal, and Eugene Clifford in the doghouse this off-season, everything should be fine. Jenkins should be in the NFL right now, but he'll be an All-America shut-down performer no one will want to throw at. There are strong backups, next-level starters, and for so much returning experience, enough youth to build around for next year, too. More interceptions would be nice, and everyone will have to do more with the pass rush to likely be a little bit weaker, but there's no reason to worry.

2. USC
SC has had the Pac-10's best pass defense two years running. There?s more than enough returning talent and former prep All-Americans to run that streak to three, although a few more interceptions would be nice. In Kevin Ellison and Taylor Mays, USC is home to a couple of hard-hitting enforcers with All-America potential. If Josh Pinkard is even close to where he was a couple of years ago, no program in the country will be able to match them at the position. Sure to get picked on early, Shareece Wright needs to give opposing quarterbacks a reason to not look to his side.


Cont'd ...

[osugrad21]

Scout$--OSU Secondary Remains United Despite Losses

The DBs discuss the off-season issues and losses but how that only opens up the opportunities for other talented players to step up.

[osugrad21]

CPD

Ohio State Buckeyes tease each other about dropping possible interceptions

Wednesday, September 03, 2008 Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter

Columbus- Despite posting a shutout, Ohio State's defense once again didn't win the turnover battle for the Buckeyes in Saturday's 43-0 win over Youngstown State, with each team getting one.
Ohio State's biggest missed opportunity came when cornerback Shaun Lane jumped a route and dropped what might have been an interception return for a touchdown. Safety Anderson Russell, who earned a reputation last season for dropping interceptions, was there to share the grief with Lane.
"Oh man, I let him have it," Russell said. "Because everybody is making fun of me based off last year.

Cont...

[Dryden]

Laurinaitis grilled Russell about his comments two years ago, when Laurinaitis had five interceptions.

"You kept saying over and over, I think week by week, 'James, they throw the ball right to you, no wonder you get interceptions,' " Laurinaitis said, TV microphone in hand. "Having experienced the same things, yet having dropped those, what goes through your mind in situations like that?"

"You got lucky," Russell said. "All the ones they threw you were lollipops. I got bullets."

[osugrad21]

Scout$--OSU Secondary To Regain Two Members

JamO and DWash coming back into a crowded depth chart.

[martinss01]

Originally Posted by WyoBuckeye

Or making lots of tackles for that matter. Generally speaking, I would think that if the corners are getting lots of tackles, that would be a bad thing, not a good thing.

:cough:winfield:cough:

[akronbuck]

these guys been playing great and by far, the best part of the defense. I would love to see them play with some serious pressure on the QB by the D-LINE but, that won't happen. I wonder how many points OSU would be giving up without them. 35,,,,,,