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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Brian Hartline Has ‘Hands Full’ Finding KJ Hill’s Replacement
Since Urban Meyer’s arrival, the H-back/slot receiver has been the focal point of the Ohio State passing game.
The role of the position changes depending on the receiver manning it, and it has fluctuated from the likes of Philly Brown to Dontre Wilson to Jalin Marshall, then to Braxton Miller and Curtis Samuel, then most recently to Parris Campbell and KJ Hill.
It has been the position that has produced the most receptions each year, save for 2015 when Michael Thomas was a fourth-year junior.
As the Buckeye passing game grew and improved, so did the numbers.
In 2013, Brown and Wilson combined for 85 receptions. In 2016, it was Samuel and Wilson combining for 101 catches.
Things then went a bit crazy in 2018 when Campbell (90) and Hill (68) posted a combined 158 catches for 1,928 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Heading into last season, with Campbell’s departure to the NFL, finding somebody to pair with Hill was a huge priority, but it never quite materialized. Head coach Ryan Day went into last season planning to play more two tight end sets, which was going to cut into the snaps for the H-backs. Instead, it just cut into the snaps for the second H-back because they didn’t have anybody else they were comfortable enough to play.
Now with Hill gone to the NFL, no amount of tight ends will be able to cover OSU’s lack of a viable H-back or two.
Which is one of the reasons the Buckeyes have started out freshman receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the inside. It’s also why incoming freshman Cameron Martinez will get a look on both offense and defense.
Together, Smith-Njigba and Martinez were arguably the most productive playmakers in OSU’s 2020 signing class. Martinez rushed for 2,124 yards as a senior quarterback for Muskegon High School in Michigan, and Smith-Njigba put up over 2,000 yards receiving at Rockwall High School in Rockwall, Texas.
Missouri freshman Mookie Cooper is already enrolled after missing his senior season of high school due to transfer rules. He is unlike anybody else Ohio State has at the position. At 5-foot-9 and 195 pounds, there are hopeful comparisons to Purdue’s Rondale Moore.
But there are veterans around as well. The Buckeyes are still hopeful they will get a sixth year out of CJ Saunders, who missed last season with an injury. Saunders caught 10 passes in 2018, which came after a surprising 2017 where he posted 17 catches for 221 yards and a touchdown.
The other veteran is Jaelen Gill, who now heads into his redshirt sophomore season with seven career catches. There was a very bright glimmer of hope last season at Rutgers, however, when he scored his first career touchdown on a catch and run featuring so much of what Gill had shown in spring ball prior to the season.
Entire article: https://theozone.net/2020/02/brian-hartline-hands-full/
Since Urban Meyer’s arrival, the H-back/slot receiver has been the focal point of the Ohio State passing game.
The role of the position changes depending on the receiver manning it, and it has fluctuated from the likes of Philly Brown to Dontre Wilson to Jalin Marshall, then to Braxton Miller and Curtis Samuel, then most recently to Parris Campbell and KJ Hill.
It has been the position that has produced the most receptions each year, save for 2015 when Michael Thomas was a fourth-year junior.
As the Buckeye passing game grew and improved, so did the numbers.
In 2013, Brown and Wilson combined for 85 receptions. In 2016, it was Samuel and Wilson combining for 101 catches.
Things then went a bit crazy in 2018 when Campbell (90) and Hill (68) posted a combined 158 catches for 1,928 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Heading into last season, with Campbell’s departure to the NFL, finding somebody to pair with Hill was a huge priority, but it never quite materialized. Head coach Ryan Day went into last season planning to play more two tight end sets, which was going to cut into the snaps for the H-backs. Instead, it just cut into the snaps for the second H-back because they didn’t have anybody else they were comfortable enough to play.
Now with Hill gone to the NFL, no amount of tight ends will be able to cover OSU’s lack of a viable H-back or two.
Which is one of the reasons the Buckeyes have started out freshman receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the inside. It’s also why incoming freshman Cameron Martinez will get a look on both offense and defense.
Together, Smith-Njigba and Martinez were arguably the most productive playmakers in OSU’s 2020 signing class. Martinez rushed for 2,124 yards as a senior quarterback for Muskegon High School in Michigan, and Smith-Njigba put up over 2,000 yards receiving at Rockwall High School in Rockwall, Texas.
Missouri freshman Mookie Cooper is already enrolled after missing his senior season of high school due to transfer rules. He is unlike anybody else Ohio State has at the position. At 5-foot-9 and 195 pounds, there are hopeful comparisons to Purdue’s Rondale Moore.
But there are veterans around as well. The Buckeyes are still hopeful they will get a sixth year out of CJ Saunders, who missed last season with an injury. Saunders caught 10 passes in 2018, which came after a surprising 2017 where he posted 17 catches for 221 yards and a touchdown.
The other veteran is Jaelen Gill, who now heads into his redshirt sophomore season with seven career catches. There was a very bright glimmer of hope last season at Rutgers, however, when he scored his first career touchdown on a catch and run featuring so much of what Gill had shown in spring ball prior to the season.
Entire article: https://theozone.net/2020/02/brian-hartline-hands-full/
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Running Game Returning for Buckeye H-Backs?
Remember that play in the fourth quarter against Michigan in 2018 when Dwayne Haskins dropped back, looked left to deceive the safety, and then went back to the right for a 78-yard touchdown pass deep down the seam to Parris Campbell?
Of course you don’t, because it didn’t happen.
Oh, there was definitely a 78-yard touchdown pass from Haskins to Campbell, but don’t let the box score fool you — it was just a speed sweep with a toss forward to Campbell as he raced past Haskins. Campbell then followed his run blocks and beat Michigan’s defense to the edge and outran anybody who wanted to get in the picture.
That play was a staple of the Buckeyes’ offense that season and continued the practice of involving the H-backs in the Ohio State running game. Past examples of such also included Braxton Miller and Curtis Samuel.
In other words, if there’s an H-back who can excel in this role, then plans will be made.
The Buckeyes didn’t have that last year following Campbell’s departure. KJ Hill has always been more of a receiver than a hybrid, as evidenced by the fact that he is now Ohio State’s all-time leader in receptions.
Replacing Hill will be a tall order, but the players left behind to pick up the pieces also appear as though they’ll be able to pick up a few carries along the way as well.
Redshirt sophomore Jaelen Gill carried the ball plenty in high school, so he is accustomed to the closer quarters that the H-back can sometimes require.
True freshman Mookie Cooper is also another player in that slot role who was as much a ball carrier as a pass catcher in high school and is looking forward to getting involved in the running game once again.
“Getting sweeps and quick stuff to get the ball in my hands, kinda like Rondale Moore-type stuff. I love it,” Cooper said. “That’s what I’ve been doing since high school, so I feel like I’m just stepping into the same thing, just on a bigger platform.”
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day saw that skill set in Cooper, which is why he wanted him in this offense.
“He’s very versatile, an inside receiver who can operate in short areas, has that good burst,” Day said. “And really good with the ball in his hands. Hoping he can do some returning for us and those type of things. But, yeah, there has to be a toughness inside.”
Generally, the need for “toughness inside” refers to catching the ball between the hashes where the linebackers are patrolling, but when the Buckeyes have an H-back who can run the ball, sometimes that can also lead to some stuff between the tackles.
Be it between the tackles or in front of the linebackers, the H-back has to be tough, which is something that has been passed down by Hill, Campbell, and those who came before them.
“We look at the best slot receivers, there’s an edge and toughness in there,” Day said. “They have to catch the ball in the middle. Most of their work is inside the hashes dealing with safeties and linebackers. And you’ll take hits in there. You have to be tough.
“If he’s going to motion in the backfield, do some of those things we have with Parris and those guys, we toss it to them on speed sweeps or hand it to them on different things, he’s going to have to be a little bit like a running back as well.”
Entire article: https://theozone.net/2020/02/running-game-returning-buckeye-h-backs/
Remember that play in the fourth quarter against Michigan in 2018 when Dwayne Haskins dropped back, looked left to deceive the safety, and then went back to the right for a 78-yard touchdown pass deep down the seam to Parris Campbell?
Of course you don’t, because it didn’t happen.
Oh, there was definitely a 78-yard touchdown pass from Haskins to Campbell, but don’t let the box score fool you — it was just a speed sweep with a toss forward to Campbell as he raced past Haskins. Campbell then followed his run blocks and beat Michigan’s defense to the edge and outran anybody who wanted to get in the picture.
That play was a staple of the Buckeyes’ offense that season and continued the practice of involving the H-backs in the Ohio State running game. Past examples of such also included Braxton Miller and Curtis Samuel.
In other words, if there’s an H-back who can excel in this role, then plans will be made.
The Buckeyes didn’t have that last year following Campbell’s departure. KJ Hill has always been more of a receiver than a hybrid, as evidenced by the fact that he is now Ohio State’s all-time leader in receptions.
Replacing Hill will be a tall order, but the players left behind to pick up the pieces also appear as though they’ll be able to pick up a few carries along the way as well.
Redshirt sophomore Jaelen Gill carried the ball plenty in high school, so he is accustomed to the closer quarters that the H-back can sometimes require.
True freshman Mookie Cooper is also another player in that slot role who was as much a ball carrier as a pass catcher in high school and is looking forward to getting involved in the running game once again.
“Getting sweeps and quick stuff to get the ball in my hands, kinda like Rondale Moore-type stuff. I love it,” Cooper said. “That’s what I’ve been doing since high school, so I feel like I’m just stepping into the same thing, just on a bigger platform.”
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day saw that skill set in Cooper, which is why he wanted him in this offense.
“He’s very versatile, an inside receiver who can operate in short areas, has that good burst,” Day said. “And really good with the ball in his hands. Hoping he can do some returning for us and those type of things. But, yeah, there has to be a toughness inside.”
Generally, the need for “toughness inside” refers to catching the ball between the hashes where the linebackers are patrolling, but when the Buckeyes have an H-back who can run the ball, sometimes that can also lead to some stuff between the tackles.
Be it between the tackles or in front of the linebackers, the H-back has to be tough, which is something that has been passed down by Hill, Campbell, and those who came before them.
“We look at the best slot receivers, there’s an edge and toughness in there,” Day said. “They have to catch the ball in the middle. Most of their work is inside the hashes dealing with safeties and linebackers. And you’ll take hits in there. You have to be tough.
“If he’s going to motion in the backfield, do some of those things we have with Parris and those guys, we toss it to them on speed sweeps or hand it to them on different things, he’s going to have to be a little bit like a running back as well.”
Entire article: https://theozone.net/2020/02/running-game-returning-buckeye-h-backs/
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Games are not won on paper, but a comparison to Clemson's 2010/11 trio came up, and I thought I'd share the numbers here
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Been watching a lot of the 2019 games lately.
man are we going to miss KJ Hill and JK Dobbins.
man are we going to miss KJ Hill and JK Dobbins.
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I think one of the young pup WRs will step up and fill in admirably for Hill (I'm not saying, though, they'll "replace" Ohio State's all-time leading receiver). While Teague will improve from last year and be very productive, I do agree we will indeed miss Dobbins' presence and production.
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No doubt that the WR talent is there but I think it's assuming quite a bit to think that's enough. The last two years running KJ Hill has been the QB's security blanket on 3rd down. His experience is what made him be able to read the defenses and run the proper route. We saw in the Fiesta Bowl that even the reasonably seasoned Olave had a problem with with.
IMO, I think the reason we shouldn't be too worried about it is more Ryan Day's ability to adjust the offense than the inexperienced talent we have. As the off season wears on though, the inevitable "best offense ever!!" hype train is going to get rolling and I'd seriously pump the brakes on that one. Yes we get a second year for Fields, yes the OL should be dominant and yes there is talent at all the receiver spots but we just don't know how much impact the loss of the second most productive running back and most prolific WR in OSU history, off the same team, is going to have.
As an aside to all that, it might not be completely crazy to see Ruckert used as a "big slot" kind of position. He's got the mismatch skill and experience if none of the younger WR's can pick up the position quick enough.
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