rainingmaize

December 19th, 2017 at 1:32 AM ^

He's skinny yes, but a lot of guys aren't like Drake Harris and eventually put on weight with a proper strength and conditioning program. 

He's isn't a barn burner, but I don't think he needs to be. He looks like he has just enough speed, pared with great hands, above average athleticism, decent rout running and some mad jumping skills, he reminds me a lot of a Roy Roundtree or Grant Perry. every team would be ok with that type of player. 

Joined: 04/13/2010

MGoPoints: 10458

buckeyejonross

December 18th, 2017 at 9:51 PM ^

Let's fact check: Ben Victor just had 350 yards and 7 TDs as a true sophomore. Austin Mack made the biggest catch of OSU's season (I'm sure you remember it well) and is also just a true sophomore. Weird you nitpick those two guys, who aren't even 20 yet. Dontre Wilson was having a decent enough true sophomore season (300 yards, 3 TDs) until he broke his foot against MSU and literally never was the same again. Didn't play again as a sophomore and played only 4 games as a junior with continued foot problems. Rebounded as a senior who was a shell of himself speed wise, but still put up 350 yards and 5 TDs on one foot. Let's not forget he came to OSU as a running back, not a WR. Noah Brown was a TE/WR/blocking back as a true freshman, broke his leg and missed his entire sophomore season, and then played last year as a full-time WR for the first time, and is now in the NFL. Johnnie Dixon has had multiple knee surgeries in his career (I think 3?), was finally healthy this season, and put up 420 yards and 8 TDs. McLaurin was never great, but finally fot extended PT this year and put up 430 yards and 6 TDs. He's also a terrific blocker. Both McLaurin and Dixon would have easily led Michigan in receiving this year. Jalin Marshall was a high school QB turned WR and made it to the NFL.

Michigan doesn't even have a WR coach. Their leading receiver this year caught three (3!) balls in November. I could make a convincing argument all six OSU starting WRs had better seasons than any Michigan WR, and the 7th, CJ Saunders, a friggin' walk-on, was close (17 catches, 221 yards, 1 TD).

Glass houses, my man.

Joined: 07/27/2010

MGoPoints: 13808

buckeyejonross

December 19th, 2017 at 11:16 AM ^

I think people think Ohio State should score a TD every time they have the ball. And it’s unreasonable.

Like I said above, what should OSU’s WRs be better at? What would coaching fix? Campbell, Victor and McLaurin all struggle with drops. Is that a coachable issue? I don’t think it is. I’d love for them to catch everything, but they don’t. If anyone is to blame it’s them. Not Zach Smith. Not JT. Not Urban.

Joined: 07/27/2010

MGoPoints: 13808

buckeyejonross

December 19th, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^

Why is 500 yards the benchmark for if Zach Smith is good or not? Is 430 yards and 8 TDs worse than picking 500 yards as your arbitrary cutoff? Like I showed you, half the players you picked were injured, and the other half had to learn how to play WR because they played a totally different position in high school. Your boy Jalin Marshall had a 499 yard season, but he needed that one extra yard I guess for it to count.

OSU rotates 6 WRs. They also run for 300 yards a game. Two different OSU WRs had 500 yards this year, and another two had more than 400. How many more yards do you want them to have? Not everyone can have 500 yards.

Our WR coach is fine. If he sucks, idk who you think is good?

Joined: 07/27/2010

MGoPoints: 13808

Big Boutros

December 19th, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^

Michigan's output at the position is better. You want to talk about injuries, you want to cherry-pick an ugly 2017, I wonder why we didn't have bigger numbers this year. Tarik Black was outpacing every OSU guy through 4 games.

who is better -- tons of muthafuckas. Lonnie Galloway, Billy Napier, Tee Martin, Joe Hastings, Dameyune Craig, Jay Norvell, Matt Lubick, Jeff Scott, Josh Gattis, Emmett Jones, Darrin Chiaverini, Dave Nichol, I could go on and on

Joined: 07/08/2008

MGoPoints: 23338

buckeyejonross

December 18th, 2017 at 10:04 PM ^

I don't think he's as bad as everyone thinks he is. OSU's offense struggled in 2015 and 2016 because it was co-coordinated by two woefully unqualified guys. In 2014 under Herman and 2017 under Wilson, the WRs were pretty good. If one thing has hampered OSU's WRs this year, it's their inabilty to catch consistently. NOw is that Smith's fault? Not in my opinion. As a WR coach, you can coach a lot of things: awareness, blocking, route running, footwork, etc., but catching isn't really something you can coach. Either you have good hands or you don't. Parris Campbell, OSU's most drop prone WR, was a RB in high school. He can't catch. It is what it is. 

He's fine. It's fine. He certainly earns his salary in recruting alone, because OSU keeps getting our pick of the litter, and he's a big part of that. 

Joined: 07/27/2010

MGoPoints: 13808

Monkeyknife

December 18th, 2017 at 6:40 PM ^

I'm hearing here in St. Louis that interest dropped way off when he commited to play baseball. They're expecting a lot more interest since he was released from his baseball commit. Sounds like we were in the right place at the right time.

Joined: 01/24/2011

MGoPoints: 3426