2009 Team Rumblings

[osugrad21]

ABJ

College Football / Ohio State report
Buckeyes look ahead to new season's prospects OSU to be hit hard by graduation. Fans await Wells' decision on whether to leave for NFL
By Rusty Miller
Associated Press

Published on Wednesday, Jan 07, 2009
COLUMBUS: It was still a loss. Yet for some reason this one seemed easier to swallow for Ohio State's players and fans.
The Buckeyes walked glumly off the field, surrounded by Texas players dancing and laughing while celebrating a dramatic Fiesta Bowl victory on Monday night. But for Ohio State, the feeling was different this time ? even though the result was not ? as the Buckeyes closed their season with a bowl loss for the third consecutive year.
''We didn't achieve kind of what we had set out to but, looking back, we did some good things,'' wide receiver Brian Robiskie said.
Ohio State started the season with a stadium full of optimism. It had nine starters back on each side of the ball from a team that went 11-2 and began the season ranked No. 2 in the polls.
The Buckeyes, who have won at least a share of the past four Big Ten titles, face plenty of questions heading into next season.
Not only will Ohio State be hit hard by graduation, but fans also will be waiting to hear whether standout tailback Chris ''Beanie'' Wells gives up his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft. Wells said he will announce his decision later this week.
Wells fought nagging injuries much of his career at Ohio State. After missing three full games, he returned to rush for 1,197 yards.
But he missed much of the second half of the Fiesta Bowl (finishing with 106 yards on 16 carries) due to symptoms of a concussion.

Cont..

[GrizzlyBuck]

I can't remember looking forward to a season as much as I do the 2009 season, unless you include 2008, 2007 etc. While I looked forward to all the returning starters this year, 2009 brings lots of potential and many potential surprises.

TP will have an off season of strength and conditioning and Spring ball and Summer practice as the no 1 guy who will get most of the reps and an offense designed around his talents and abilities. On a side note, I wonder if JT and staff will visit any other programs practices that use a system that TP can excel in.

While the Brians were very solid, the loss of one or possibly both (plus potentially Small) opens up a spot for a hungry youngster (or two or three or four ) who may bring slightly different skill sets. There is size and speed galore from the WR group so it will be very interesting to watch develop. If both Brians leave, will Dane start or remain in the slot, will Posey become the number one guy? Will L Thomas take the next step towards stardom? Will TWash reach some of his immense potential, or Small or Hartline, if they return, and can the Frosh contribute? Duron looks polished enough to help, and if they can bring in M Brown, he may have too much potential to keep of the field. Will the TE's be used more in the passing game, will Stoney find a home here as that pass catching middle of the field stretching hybrid ala Dallas Clark. Will Ballard or Fragel get more opportunities to show off their pass catching abilities?

If Beanie returns, wow, if not, Boom looks ready to carry his share of the load. Can Zoom return to the form with the speed we expected to be such a huge mismatch. How will Berry and Hyde be used, and how much. Will Martin get some carries as a TB or just as the bruising LB busting FB the Bucks have missed the last couple of years or will A Homan or Z Boren bust some chops as blocking backs?

Will the rest of the Brew crew stay healthy and start to put their mark on the O-line like the crews namesake has? Will Boren be as good as we hope after a year off? Will Miller become the next former TE to excel at OT? Will Browning make a standout OG? Will the other returnees be good enough to make this a cohesive talented group that lets JT and the Offensive staff open up the playbook? How many of the Frosh will bring depth next year, or maybe even be good enough to see substantial playing time?

The Bucks lose a lot on D, but man some of those young pups have been trying to knock down the door for a while now.

On the D-line, who is a DT and who is a DE? Where will Cam and Rose find themselves playing, inside or out? The DE's look good, Thad, and Nate plus Solomon, and Keith bring loads of speed off the edge and Dex is a load in the middle, how does the Gladiator contribute next year? Can Wilson return from another injury? Are any of the Frosh good enough to not be redshirted? As Coop used to say, if a dog will bite, he'll bite as a pup

While the loss of JL and Marcus leave a huge void at LB, man the potential of some of the youngsters is so intriguing. Homan has some good experience and brings a stable hand to the group. Will Rolle be the explosive player we see on special teams, will Sabino man the middle or can Spitler hold him off, will Sweat be able to see significant time? Are Bell, Whiting or Klein too good to keep off the field? Where do Hines and Moeller fit in as LB's or nickel/safety hybrids still?

Jenkins will be missed and if Russell or Washington decide to try for the NFL, there will be a lot of slots to fill in the defensive backfield next year. Can Chekwa be the shutdown corner? Can Coleman take his game to the All B10, or even All-American level? Who mans the other CB spot if Washington leaves? If Russell leaves, who fills in at the Safety spot, Hines, Moeller, or one of the other talented youngsters who have waited patiently for their chance. Which of the Frosh end up on this side of the ball? Wood, Clarke and Barnett seemed destined to play D, are any of them good enough to see the field next year? Does the staff decide to try Green, or Brown or even Hall at CB or Safety to get their prodigious skills on the field?

What happens on special teams, who punts the ball, who is next years Layne, or human missile ala Sabino or Rolle. Who returns punts next year, one of the frosh speedsters or one of the returning speedsters. What does the kick return group look like, one back like we saw some with Ginn?

What kind of changes do we see with the staff, even if there are no personnel changes, you have to expect some tweaking like they did this year by going a little smaller and quicker on the D-line. Do they continue using the I formation as their main package or do they use more spread like when Troy was here?

While there may be some growing pains next year with so many new starters and contributors, it will be fun to watch a new bunch of Buckeyes leaving it all on the field in the hope of being the next Buckeye to win the Heisman or Thorpe, Butkus, Outland, Lott or any of the other prestigious trophies represented in the cases at the WHAC, none more valuable than the NC trophies that reside there, next season, we'll see a whole new bunch of Bucks aspiring to add to the trophy case and I can't wait.

[scarletngray]

Yep, lot's of questions and it will be fun seeing how things develop. My biggest concern is the secondary, especially if Washington leaves.

BTW - Terry is a Senior this year and no longer has any eligibility left, iirc.

[GrizzlyBuck]

Originally Posted by scarletngray

Yep, lot's of questions and it will be fun seeing how things develop. My biggest concern is the secondary, especially if Washington leaves.

BTW - Terry is a Senior this year and no longer has any eligibility left, iirc.

Good point about the secondary, if Washington leaves, there will be a lot of talent but very little experience. Those things lead to a lot of big plays, for and against.

I forgot Terry was done, I saw him on the sideline of the Bowl game and was thinking he had a medical redshirt coming.

[OHSportsFan9]

Andre Amos.

Time for big things out of him.

[Zander42]

Originally Posted by GrizzlyBuck

If both Brians leave, will Dane start or remain in the slot, ...?

Yes he will start, and he will be in the slot. I don't believe that the "I" will be our base formation for the next couple of years.

[Bleed S & G]

Originally Posted by Zander42

Yes he will start, and he will be in the slot. I don't believe that the "I" will be our base formation for the next couple of years.

Dane in the slot and Posey as the flanker.. Stoneburner will be fun to watch as well.

[LitlBuck]

Excellent post. However, as I was reading along I came to this

next years Layne

and he immediately thought of Bobby Layne (Detroit Lions QB) they came to my senses and realized you were talking about Shaun Lane. Glad to hear he is doing well and was returning to Columbus today or tomorrow.

[GrizzlyBuck]

Man I hate posting long replies, because there is no way that I can catch all of the misspellings, omissions and just plain mistakes. But thinking about next years team made me overcome my misgivings

I too am glad that Lane (nearly included his first name, which cooincidentally I would have misspelled) is doing well and was not hurt seriously, he was a joy to watch. He knew he did not have the talent/skills to be a starter but he gave everything he had to the team and made himself into a very important member of the squad. Hopefully the youngsters learned from his attitude and effort, and carry it on.

I flat out forgot about Amos, I hope he can stay healthy because he surely has the talent to be not just the number two corner but challenge Chekwa as the number one guy (sorry Petey )

[bukIpower]

Yep, lot's of questions and it will be fun seeing how things develop. My biggest concern is the secondary, especially if Washington leaves.

No worries.. This is were the pass rush of Gibson/Williams can really really help out a young secondary if Washington decides to leave. Even if Washington leaves you still have a secondary of Chikwa, Coleman, and Russel (thats three starters). I think the Secondary is not a concern what so ever IMO.

Only thing that concerns me honestly is can the play calling improve to be diverse enough to include a lot of different talented individuals. Also, can Pryor improve enough through the passing game to make people respect that area of the offense.


The LOS guys should be very strong next year. Oline/Dline should be our strength next year IMO.

[kwade]

I cannot wait to watch the D-line. The talent there is just sick! The LB's should have no problem flying around making plays with all the double teams on the line.

I am anxious to see Spitler step up too. He just seems to have that "nasty" about him that reminds me of Wilhelm. Wilhelm wanted to punish people who came near him.

Our D will be dominant again next year, if the O comes around......Look Out!

[MSURacerDT55]

This is the year the D-Line takes over. I think the staff will put a lot of pressure on them to perform. And watch Rob Rose to be the next Kenny Peterson,they are so similar

[BuckeyeJon2006]

Do you guys really think the D line will be that good next year? There was a lot of talk f how improved the d line would be coming into this year and they were still the weakest part of the d. I'm not to worried about our de's, Gibson will be an absolutel monster next year and a year of lifting/practice will only make Williams, Wells and Thomas better. Hopefully Wilson can come back and stay injury free. I'm still very worried about the dt's, we just don't have the talent there imo. Abdallah was our best dt this year and he is gone. Larimore is solid but nothing special, Rose and Worthington are undersized, Heyward is more of a de than dt, and where was Denglinger this year? I think on third and longs we will be nasty being able to play a combination of Gibson, Williams, Wilson, Rose, Heyward, and Worthington. But I still worry about our dt's in running situations, especially with a new, young, and inexperienced lb crew next year.

Our lb's I'm not really worried about, we simply plug in new guys. Homan will be a monster next year, Spitler has been in the system for four years and has shows a nasty streak on special teams. If Sabino can beat him our for the mlb spot then that shows how talented he is, if not then there are numerous candidates for the last olb spot --> Sabino (if they move him outside), Moeller, Rolle, Sweat, Bell, Whiting, Klein, Hines. Lots of possibilities.

For the db's we are in solid shape if DWash comes back, if not then we are a little thin at cb. Obviously Colerain and Russel both hopefully come back and they will be the leaders on next years d. Chimdi will start at one corner and if DWash is back he will be the other. If hes not though I'm not really sure who else will step in and play cb. Amos? Howard? One of the true freshman? If DWash isn't back our depth at cb will be extremely young and inexperienced.

On offense Pryor will imrpove vastly over the next year imo, and if Beanie is not back the rb situation is in solid hands between Boom, Saine, Berry, and Hyde. The o line will be improved imo with Adams at lt, Boren at one of the guards, Cordle at the other, Brewster back at center, and hopefully Shugarts at rt, Browning is too slow and should be moved inside to guard. Wr's will be dependent on if Hartline and Small are back. If they are then there will be a battle for the third wr spot between Sanzo, Posey, Flash, Washington, and maybe a couple freshman (Carter, hopefully Brown). If Hartline and Posey are not back we will have a very young but very talented wr core.

Overall we will still be very good next year but very young. Being that young we could lose some tough games, or we could win some games we aren't favored to do so. Imo next year is really a tune up for two years fom now, that is the year we will be back in the national title hunt. If we happen to do it next year then we are a year ahead of schedule.

Finally, can someone point me in the direction of the rumor board/mill? I'm trying to find info on who will be leaving us for the pros and I know BP's rule on not posting rumors on the main board, so any help would be great.

[Bestbuck36]

RETURN TO THE SILVER BULLETS! RETURN TO THE SILVER BULLETS!

Please for the love of God, return to the silver bullets. I'm tired of the zone defense. I understand we need to go zone for confusion and safety sometimes but for the most part we have some extremely gifted guys on defense and they need to be turned loose. I'd prefer to give up the occasional big play for more turnovers and disruptive defense. You cant give guys like Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, Mark Sanchez or any spread offense QB worth his salt, time to throw and find an open spot consistently. Put that dude on his back all game long and wreak havoc in the backfield.

Offensively its all on Pryor. How much can he improve? If its a lot then we are in business. I also want to see Bauserman improve a lot. With the way Pryor plays he's going to take hits. I dont want to see us lose our entire offense if Pryor goes down for any reason.

I think our special teams will be in good if not great shape. Ben Buchanan will be an all conference selection before its all said and done and may garner All America honors if he stays consistent.

The coaching staff needs to be more aggressive with play calling on both sides of the ball. You dont consistently recruit thoroughbreds and pull in the reigns and expect them to win anyway. Turn em LOOSE!

[corwinator3407]

The season has only been over for two days and I am already for the spring game to be here.

What do you guys think the starting O-line will look like for week 1?