Thoughts on Thaddeus

 

 

Feed: Blogging the Buckeyes
Posted on: Monday, April 26, 2010 12:13 PM
Author: Blogging the Buckeyes
Subject: Thoughts on Thaddeus

 

A fact, then a react... First, when Thaddeus Gibson was taken in the fourth round of the NFL draft on Saturday, he added to a recent trend -- guys who leave after their junior years and are not first-round picks. Four of the past 8 Buckeyes to leave early have not been first-rounders: RB Antonio Pittman (4th round, 2007), WR Brian Hartline (4th, 2009), DB Donald Washington (4th, 2009) and now Gibson. Prior to 2007, of the 23 players to leave early, 15 were first-round picks. Every case is individual. Hartline was about to graduate and get married, he was here for 4 years, and though he didn't say it, he probably didn't think he'd help his draft stock any by staying, not after struggling to reach the 20-catch mark in Terrelle Pryor's first year as a starter. Washington had been in disciplinary trouble once or twice and also had been at OSU for 4 years. Pittman had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and had Beanie Wells breathing down his neck. Much of the reaction to Gibson's unexpected fall (he was expected to be a second- or third-round pick) has been negative - "he should have stayed another year." I don't agree. Gibson had been in school for four years. He was a productive starter for two of those years. He was not going to develop a whole lot more, physically or mentally, by staying. His mother has had health issues. It was time for him to "get a job," so to speak. Plus, looking at it from OSU's angle, Gibson staying may have had an unwanted ripple effect. Now you have Cam Heyward at one end and Gibson at the other, and Nathan Williams spends a third season as a part-time player? It's time to find out what he can do with a starting job. Had Gibson returned, guys such as Solomon Thomas, Melvin Fellows and Keith Wells are marginalized, entering their second, third, or fourth years in the system. Maybe they get disgruntled and transfer. This is all hypothetical, I realize. Gibson is going to a system that suits him in Pittsburgh, under the league's most respected coordinator (Dick LeBeau). He'll be fine, OSU will be fine. What's wrong with that?

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News regarding 4 2010 OSU games

Kickoff times for Marshall, Miami (FL), Wisconsin, and Minnesota announced on 04/21/2010.


Big Ten Conference Announces 2010 Prime Time Football Schedule - The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site - OhioStateBuckeyes.com

The Big Ten & Notre Dame: Bob Hunter article

I found this great article on The Columbus Dispatch and thought it articulated how The Big Ten should handle Notre Dame in its probable expansion efforts. Enjoy.

FW: Ohio State knows next step is national title

Saw this via a RSS feed and thought it would be a good read for the blog. Enjoy.

Feed: ESPN.com - Big Ten Blog
Posted on: Friday, April 16, 2010 9:00 AM
Author: Adam Rittenberg
Subject: Ohio State knows next step is national title

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jim Tressel has a belief about this place that his Ohio State Buckeyes players are starting to echo. "Tressel has always thought that if you don't go undefeated," Buckeyes defensive lineman Cameron Heyward said, "the town's against you." Such is life at Ohio State, a program that has achieved so much in the last nine years but is always expected to do more. Since Tressel took control before the 2001 season, the Buckeyes own a 94-21 record, a 59-13 mark in Big Ten play, seven seasons of 10 wins or more, seven BCS bowl appearances, four BCS bowl wins, the program's first Rose Bowl championship since 1997, five consecutive Big Ten championships (six overall) and six consecutive victories against archrival Michigan (eight overall). And only one undefeated season, in 2002. So are the townsfolk gathering outside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, with burning torches in hand? Not exactly. Buckeyes fans are in relatively good spirits this spring, still glowing from Ohio State's win against Oregon in the Rose Bowl. It certainly beats the feeling of the previous three seasons, when the team fell short in bowl games and returned to a cold Columbus. But whether the post-bowl reception is bubbly or bleak, it never lasts long. "Every year, we go through the spring, and when you're in Columbus, Ohio, everybody's expecting you to win a championship," wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher said. "It comes with the territory, and it's something we expect. Win or lose in the bowl game, you're always going to come back and hear, 'OK, this is our year.'" Every year might be regarded as The Year in Columbus, but some Ohio State teams support that claim more than others. The 2010 Buckeyes appear to be one of those teams. The evidence is strong, if not overwhelming. Ohio State returns 16 starters, including nine on the offensive side. The Buckeyes lose a solid group of players and leaders, but only one with first-round draft potential in defensive end Thaddeus Gibson, a rarity around here. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor enters his third season as the starter and comes off of his best career performance in Pasadena. He'll go to work behind a seasoned offensive line and have two veteran targets at his disposal in Sanzenbacher and DeVier Posey. Then there's a machine-line defense, which continues to perform at elite levels year after year. The defense boasts superstars like Heyward and linebacker Ross Homan. But the unit's collective strength once again should be its calling card like it was in 2009. Every team has its warts, but Ohio State's are a little harder to find. The Buckeyes need a resolution at left tackle, more growth from Pryor, some depth on the defensive line and in the secondary, and maybe a featured running back to emerge. But when a shaky situation at place-kicker sparks the most panic in spring practice, you're in pretty good shape. The expectations for 2010 might be Ohio State's biggest source of anxiety, but they're not exactly new. "When [players] come here, they have the expectation that, 'Hey, we want to see if we can become the best team in the country,'" Tressel said. "And I'm not sure if it's simply because of what happened last year or the year before or the year before. That is our general expectation. "We want to see if we can match up with the best. This will be my 10th year, and it doesn't feel any different. I've always thought that we had capable talent." The expectations aren't new for the Buckeyes, but the urgency to take another step certainly is there for players like Heyward, who passed up NFL millions to return for his senior season. The Rose Bowl win adds to it. Besides a national title, there's not much left to accomplish. "You almost feel less pressure with a [bowl] loss, because you're so pissed off during the offseason," Heyward said. "But coming off a win, it's like you can't believe the hype. Coming off a win, everybody expects so much more out of us. "And we have to live up to those expectations." Tressel often talks about each team being distinct, a message his players embrace. But for a group used to each other and the expectations placed upon them, things feel fairly status quo this spring. The end result is the only thing that needs to be tweaked. "We've been through this so many times that we know where we want to be," Sanzenbacher said. "There's always talk about national championships and all this, but since I've been here, every team we've had is capable of winning a national championship. "It's just actually doing it when the season comes."

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Maurice Clarett: Ohio State's Prodigal Son?

Maurice Clarett has been released from the Toledo correctional facility, and will relocate to a "halfway house" facility in the Columbus area. According to this link from The Columbus Dispatch, Clarett has plans to eventually open up a fitness center for geriatric clients.

As disappointed as I was with Clarett's actions, beginning in July 2003, any true Ohio State fan must acknowledge that without Maurice Clarett in 2002, Ohio State would not have even come close to winning the national championship. Another point to consider - recalling the 2003 season, Ohio State had no semblance of a running game, and was close to repeating as national champions. If Clarett had been on the team, perhaps Ohio State would have gone back to back as national champs.

Speaking for myself, I can only hope that Clarett has learned from his previous mistakes, and is now ready to become a productive member of society. I am willing to forgive, and I will certainly not forget Clarett's positive accomplishments to Ohio State football almost eight years ago.