• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

LB Ryan Shazier (All B1G, All-American, 2017 Pro Bowl)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Shazier_Ryan_presser_article2.jpg
 
Upvote 0
Cowboys wanted Barr, Donald or Shazier but settled for Martin
The Dallas Morning News reports that the Cowboys wanted to improve their defense in the first round, and they were hoping that pass rusher Anthony Barr, defensive tackle Aaron Donald or linebacker Ryan Shazier would be available. Barr went No. 9 to Minnesota and Donald went No. 13 to St. Louis. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Shazier’s agent was on the phone with the Cowboys and Shazier’s dad was preparing to tell people that he was going to Dallas, right up until the point that the Steelers took Shazier one spot before the Cowboys could grab him.
Entire article: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...arr-donald-or-shazier-but-settled-for-martin/
 
Upvote 0
Ben Roethlisberger praises Ryan Shazier

PITTSBURGH -- Rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier has impressed the Pittsburgh Steelers with his physical ability during offseason practices. The first-round pick drew praise from Ben Roethlisberger on Friday for what the Steelers quarterback said is an overlooked part of Shazier's game.

"He's going to be fun to watch," Roethlisberger said on WDVE 102.5 in Pittsburgh, "and the thing about him that is most underrated that people don't talk about is he's very smart on the field. I think he's going to be a guy that's going to be calling the defense pretty soon."

That assessment will only add to the growing hype surrounding Shazier, who turned in the play of offseason practices on Wednesday when he made a leaping interception of a pass that Bruce Gradkowski threw because he didn't think Shazier would get to it. (cont)

http://espn.go.com/blog/pittsburgh-...n-shazier?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co
 
Upvote 0
Upvote 0
LovelandBuckeye said:
I am happy for him...but...the Steelers? :sad3:
Click to expand...

Well on the positive side I do think the Steelers are owned by one of the best families in the NFL (i.e Rooney). They may not always pay top dollar; but they are a very solid organization. They have always had a consistently good coaching staff. Also. you never hear of the Steelers' owner(s) involved with those "owner meddling issues" that seem to occur with many of the other teams.
 
Upvote 0
ScriptOhio said:
Well on the positive side I do think the Steelers are owned by one of the best families in the NFL (i.e Rooney). They may not always pay top dollar; but they are a very solid organization. They have always had a consistently good coaching staff. Also. you never hear of the Steelers' owner(s) involved with those "owner meddling issues" that seem to occur with many of the other teams.
Click to expand...
...and unlike the Bengals, the Steelers organization has a goal of winning on the field, not just making money.
 
Upvote 0
Responding here to some comments in the Justin Hilliard thread.

Buckeye86 said:
Shazier was..[]... more athleticly gifted than any linebacker in OSU history.
Click to expand...

cincibuck said:
Than Gradisher? What about Spillman? Katzenmoyer? Hawk? Diggs? Cousiano? Tovar?

I really appreciated what Shazier did in his years for the bucks and he had very little in the way of a supporting cast, but he doesn't make my top six list at LB.
Click to expand...
Shazier was not a better college linebacker than most, or arguably any, of those guys. But I think you can make a legitimate case that he was "more athletically gifted" than most or all of them. Depending, as with most of these kinds of arguments, on how you define and measure it.

40-yard dash times at the OSU pro day are always a little fast and probably should be taken with a grain of salt. But they're being watched by NFL scouts and coaches, and I would assume they're considerably more reliable than, say, high school reported 40 times. And the 40 times Shazier posted there were borderline incredible for a linebacker. Similarly, I doubt any OSU linebacker could match the vertical jump and broad jump numbers Shazier posted at the combine.

Does that mean he's more athletically gifted than Katzenmoyer, who was a bigger guy and played a different position, was? I don't know, although I'll note Shazier did two more bench reps than Katzenmoyer did. And I'll take Hawk as my WLB any day, but I think on pure physical measurables Shazier has him beat.

Hell, just stepping back and looking at it from normal person standards, all of these guys are unbelievable athletes. To be able to bench press 225 lbs. 20+ times and run a 4.5ish 40 yard dash? It's mind boggling. But damn, Shazier is unusually fast and explosive.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
IMO it's so hard to place Shazier in my Buckeye linebacker lineage because a) he doesn't seem to fit the physique model I associate with the position. Granted this is a position where the philosophy is changing, but he reminded me of a big corner or a strong safety. b) except for the half year he had Boren, Ryan had so little support around him. The other greats I'd list all had at least one strong partner in the line up with them. Watching him play on one leg against Michigan in 2011 was painful and spoke volumes about the lack of team depth at the position.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top