• 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!

2017 tOSU Offense Discussion

Best Guessing the Ohio State Depth Chart Right Now

17-07-27-FB-0025.jpg


Quarterback

16 J.T. Barrett, rSr
10 Joe Burrow, rSo OR
7 Dwayne Haskins, rFr
18 Tate Martell, Fr

Martell had a long run during the scrimmage, so that impressed some folks. Urban Meyer will speak with the media on Monday, so we’ll find out more about the pecking order between Burrow and Haskins at that point. Nobody was really talking on Saturday after the scrimmage, other than to say both quarterbacks looked good.

Running Back
25 Mike Weber, rSo
2 J.K. Dobbins, Fr
30 Demario McCall, So OR
26 Antonio Williams, So

Weber has been out with his hamstring issue, which has allowed Dobbins to continue impressing. McCall was floating back and forth with the running backs and H-backs when we saw the first few periods of Saturday’s practice. I don’t know if he’ll move to any one spot full time.

X Receiver
9 Binjimen Victor, So OR
11 Austin Mack, So
15 Jaylen Harris, Fr

Receivers coach Zach Smith said he doesn’t have three starters, he has six starters, which would explain why I have placed an OR between the top two guys at each of the three receiver positions.

Z Receiver
83 Terry McLaurin, rJr OR
1 Johnnie Dixon, rJr
8 Trevon Grimes, Fr
87 Ellijah Gardiner, Fr

The Z receiver has to be able to block and get open deep, which is where McLaurin has excelled this offseason. Dixon continues to be a great story. I don’t know if Grimes or Gardiner are Zs or Xs yet. They have X body types, but both can fly. This is known as “a good problem to have.”

Entire article: http://theozone.net/2017/08/guessing-ohio-state-football-depth-chart/
 
Upvote 0
OHIO STATE'S FRESHMAN RECEIVERS MUST DEMONSTRATE CONSISTENCY AND ENDURANCE TO PLAY IN 2017

83992_h.jpg


Ohio State needed reinforcements at the receiver position this offseason, and the Buckeyes got just that with the three freshmen they signed in the 2017 class.

Zone-6 added four-star receivers Trevon Grimes and Jaylen Harris as well as three-star Elijah Gardiner to bolster the unit after the departures of Curtis Samuel, Noah Brown and Dontre Wilson – the team's three most productive receivers in 2016.

It's no doubt a talented group of young receivers, but it will take more than talent for them to see the field in a meaningful way in 2017.

“You better be able to make plays, or you shouldn’t be here," receivers coach Zach Smith said. "If you’re a freshman and can make a play – cool, man. We recruited you, I hope so. It’s not that impressive."

Smith said everybody on the roster at this level is a playmaker – that's a prerequisite to be on the team at all. What he's searching for in his starters is the ability to do it with consistency and even at the brink of exhaustion.

"If you can do it after an hour-and-a-half practice – you’re exhausted, it’s hard to run, and all of the sudden you can kind of grit your teeth and fight through it and go run a good route, get open on a press corner that’s a good player and make a play, you show me ‘alright this kid, he might be ready. He’s almost there,’" Smith said.

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...ate-consistency-and-endurance-to-play-in-2017
 
Upvote 0
Ohio State Football Notebook: ‘There’s a brotherhood on this offense developing right now’

Football.png


Something Special Going On

Everybody who watches college football in a semi-serious manner has some kind of idea of the impact that Kevin Wilson is going to make on the Ohio State offense. Like a quarterback, however, a coach is only as good as the players around him.

Fortunately for Wilson, he is surrounded by talent, and right now that talent is growing into something pretty special.

“The running back room has something special going on right now,” said center Billy Price. “They’ve got something going on right there. I talked to Coach Alford the other day about it and there’s a brotherhood on this offense developing right now, and it’s not just running backs and offensive line. It’s running backs, offensive line, quarterbacks, even our receivers.”

If you would like to offer up a “we’ve heard this before” to Price, feel free.

“You guys will see August 31st,” he reiterated. “There’s a different approach to pass blocking and run blocking all the way down the perimeter to the inside to the outside, so it’s pretty cool.”

Offense Looking Good Despite Weber’s Absence

Last Saturday was the first scrimmage of Ohio State’s fall camp. Starting running back Mike Weber was held out due to a hamstring injury. He has been held back all camp long, but only because OSU is being very cautious with him. Basically, they need him for Game No. 1, not Practice No. 7.

“He practiced today,” Meyer said on Monday. “He didn’t open it up yet today, but we’ll be ready for Game 1. We’re just being cautious. Hamstrings are really just something you’ve got to watch closely.”

Even without Weber, however, it was an impressive showing for the Ohio State offense. This is both a good thing and a bad thing for a head coach.

“There were some big plays,” Meyer said. “You know, that’s a negative for the defense, positive for the offense. I liked the coaching going on across the field, but particularly on offense right now. That tempo and those kinds of things. But once again, first scrimmage, it’s only practice six or seven.”

Entire article: http://theozone.net/2017/08/ohio-state-football-notebook-brotherhood/
 
Upvote 0
Football: Ohio State has big role waiting for receivers Binjimen Victor, Austin Mack in 2017

UO0A9493-530x339.jpg


The time has come for Ohio State’s veteran wide receivers, redshirt juniors Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Johnnie Dixon, to become playmakers.

But the same can be said for sophomores Binjimen Victor and Austin Mack.

In fact, Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith refuses to envision a scenario where the unit can be dominant without Victor and Mack contributing in a significant way.

“Has to happen,” Smith said. “There’s no scenario where it’s not going to happen. They have to be a major part of this offense.”

There’s good reason for Smith’s comments.

The Buckeyes had their two starting receivers — Noah Brown and McLaurin — catch 43 of redshirt senior quarterback J.T. Barrett’s 233 completed passes last season (18.5 percent), compared to 2015’s 45 percent and 2014’s 33.5 percent of total receptions from its starters.

The starting duo combined to have fewer receptions than H-back Curtis Samuel, who finished the year with 74 catches. Campbell, McLaurin and then-redshirt freshman K.J. Hill, along with former Buckeyes Dontre Wilson and Brown, continually struggled to create separation from defenses, which in turn created an often-dysfunctional offense.

It’s simple. Ohio State’s starting receivers can’t have another year in 2017 like they had last season. But in case they do, that’s where Victor’s and Mack’s growths come into play.

“(Austin and I) looked at the film last year and we was like, ‘Man, we look so much better this year compared to last year,’” Victor said. “It’s a big difference and, you know, coming out this year, it’s definitely going to be a change for us.”

Mack, at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, enrolled in Spring 2016 and was the first member of the 2016 class to have his black stripe removed, signifying he officially became part of the team. But Mack said he knew he wasn’t ready and could see it on film that he wasn’t living up to expectation. Once camp is over, his expectation for himself is to be a starter and a receiver who can be a vertical threat.

Time will tell if Mack can be a starter, but his position coach said he’s starting to see the potential he saw in Mack when recruiting him.

“Last year, (Mack) was inconsistent, and so you had good days and bad days,” Smith said. “And we had to get consistency out of him and right now he is very consistent.And he’s just got to keep it up and keep going.”

Entire article: http://www.thelantern.com/2017/08/o...eceivers-binjimen-victor-austin-mack-in-2017/
 
Upvote 0
Didn't know where to put this so I'll leave it here since I heard it from coach Smith last.

Anyone else tired of hearing the coaches say "he's not there yet" when asked how certain players are doing? Like it could be zeke and the coaches will be like " he's got a ways to go but he's on track. He's not there yet"

Victor, Mack, Campbell and McLaurin are there NOW and if they dont show up then thats just a lack of development
 
Upvote 0
Stating the obvious here but still......Wilson has to be licking his chops at the talent he has to work with. Not taking anything at all away from his players at IU (well yeah, of course I am) but it's just a totally different level at tOSU and he has to be loving it.

I fully expect him to get the soulless death train rolling sooner rather than later. I predict the swagger will be back and it will be noticeably in the first few games.
 
Upvote 0
FILM STUDY: HOW KEVIN WILSON IS MAKING LIFE EASIER FOR J.T. BARRETT IN HIS FINAL SEASON

84199_h.jpg


After a phenomenal breakout year in 2014, J.T. Barrett was supposed to be the next great Buckeye star, destined to lead Ohio State to consecutive championships before departing early with a high NFL draft grade. But ever since he emerged from relative anonymity in that initial campaign, Barrett seems to have regressed under the weight of expectations.

While Cardale Jones battled him for the starting job he eventually won in 2015, Barrett was supposed to take 'the leap' last fall, his fourth in Columbus. Yet despite leading the OSU offense to one of the best statistical seasons in school history, the junior QB and his unit failed to consistently move the ball against top-tier competition.

Now entering his fifth and final season of eligibility in an OSU uniform, Barrett is working with the third offensive coordinator and position coach of his career. In place of Ed Warinner and Tim Beck stepped former Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson to run the offense and former San Francisco 49ers QB coach Ryan Day to coach the fifth-year senior, and both are tasked with getting the most of out of the Buckeyes' captain.

While much of the public focus has been on Barrett's ability to connect with receivers downfield, that's not the only place Wilson and Day have looked to easily manufacture yards for the QB. Though the Buckeyes must improve their intermediate and downfield passing on third down, another way to solve that problem is to avoid those situations entirely.

As long as Urban Meyer is in charge, the Ohio State offense will include a foundation of running the ball between the tackles - that's not up for debate. However, opponents in the Big Ten and nationally are also aware of this fact and will continue to cook up new defensive schemes to stop the Buckeye ground game every week. But instead of simply relying on the physicality of a veteran offensive line or the talents of future NFL running backs to pick up yards, Wilson and Day have added a few wrinkles to keep defenses back on their heels.

Though we've discussed the concept of Run-Pass Options here many times over the past few years, Wilson and Day have implemented an evolved philosophy on the subject. Instead of treating the addition of one pass route to a run play as a true RPO, those are simply 'reliefs' that can be added to any run concept as a 'tag' to the play-call, such as screens, hitches, outs, and slants.

This philosophy was on full display during the Spring Game last May, as all four Buckeye quarterbacks were asked to make simple decisions that took advantage of the field's full width.

For example, the 'split-zone' concept has been a central component of the OSU playbook since Meyer's arrival, bringing the tight end back across the formation from a 'Y-off' alignment to kick out the end and create a cutback lane for the back. As the alley defender (the SAM linebacker, in this case) cheats inside to give the defense a seventh player against only six blockers, the QB reads his alignment and decides to throw the bubble screen to the slot receiver, as only one defender is left to cover two players.



Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...ife-easier-for-jt-barrett-in-his-final-season
 
Upvote 0
Know I'm not breaking any news here but it's alarming how thin the depth chart is at RB. I just spent about 15 minutes looking at the different position group depth charts that 24/7 keeps of the recruits & the roster by class (yes I am a loser)

It was absolutely mandatory we got a loaded '18 class. And we did. Also crucial that Weber stays healthy this year.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Upvote 0
Know I'm not breaking any news here but it's alarming how thin the depth chart is at RB. I just spent about 15 minutes looking at the different position group depth charts that 24/7 keeps of the recruits & the roster by class (yes I am a loser)

It was absolutely mandatory we got a loaded '18 class. And we did. Also crucial that Weber stays healthy this year.
Nah we are good.. Weber, Dobbins, Williams, Parris and McCall gives us 5 legit threats
 
Upvote 0
Nah we are good.. Weber, Dobbins, Williams, Parris and McCall gives us 5 legit threats

Not sure about that. Every big time program has guys on the roster who are "threats"

But this group. We have Weber, who, all due respect to him, isn't a star. He's a solid Ohio State running back. And then say he gets hurt---then we have Williams, who seems like he's going backward in the program if he's going anywhere. Dobbins, who, as much potential as he seems to have, is a true freshman coming off an injury. No sure thing there. McCall isn't an every down back. He's tiny. Campbell isn't even a running back, let alone an every down running back.
 
Upvote 0
Not sure about that. Every big time program has guys on the roster who are "threats"

But this group. We have Weber, who, all due respect to him, isn't a star. He's a solid Ohio State running back. And then say he gets hurt---then we have Williams, who seems like he's going backward in the program if he's going anywhere. Dobbins, who, as much potential as he seems to have, is a true freshman coming off an injury. No sure thing there. McCall isn't an every down back. He's tiny. Campbell isn't even a running back, let alone an every down running back.

Eh McCall feels like Samuel's replacement more of the do everything H back role.
 
Upvote 0
Not sure about that. Every big time program has guys on the roster who are "threats"

But this group. We have Weber, who, all due respect to him, isn't a star. He's a solid Ohio State running back. And then say he gets hurt---then we have Williams, who seems like he's going backward in the program if he's going anywhere. Dobbins, who, as much potential as he seems to have, is a true freshman coming off an injury. No sure thing there. McCall isn't an every down back. He's tiny. Campbell isn't even a running back, let alone an every down running back.
Didn't he have something like 6 YPC as a first year starter behind a suspect O Line and running plays called by some OC's who were shown the door....yet you know for certain that he can't be a star?
 
Upvote 0
Back
Top