Spring Game Thoughts

[fairvis]

Anyone else watch the spring game? Wasn't necessarily a fan of the jersey scrimmage format watching on TV, and most likely it would've translated better if you were actually there. Plus, since the offense didn't screw up, it was kind of hard for them to lose.

What I liked:

Rod Smith had a couple of really nice runs, Berry looked good, but Hall looked like he'll be the #1 guy until Herron comes back. Shifty, good hands, and quick.

That pass by Taylor Graham was a thing of beauty. Pryor still can't hit that pass, and it's been open seeral times this year.

Braxton looked really good, and did a great job leading that drive, and had a nice pass to Philly Brown right on the money.

D-line will be nasty and disruptive. Liked the additional CB and LB blitzes as well.

What I didn't like:

The wide recievers dropped too many balls. Way too many.

DBs looked like they had some issues, but most likely some second-teamers were involved.

Too many sacks on Bauserman. He looks like he'll get left behind by either Kenny Guiton or Braxton the first few games. I've never been comfortable with him in the pocket...

Let me know what you guys thought...

[furls]

Here are my observations:

-Braxton Miller is the best of the rest. Right now he is basically the equal of the other 3 with better mobility with about 3 months in the program and 15 practices under his belt. While he has not distanced himself from the rest, the fact that he is so close right now tells you where his ceiling will be, or more accurately.... the rest of the QBs ceilings appear to be very close to Miller's floor.

-Rod Smith looked strong and quick and is probably the best of the 3 competing for Boom Herron's job. Sadly, Boom Herron is still the best RB on the team. He really did look like a guy that could play on Sunday's while playing against the 1's. I would say that he is basically Antonio Pittman's equal which is pretty good.

-The 1st team DLine was DISRUPTIVE, now that said, a lot of that came as John Simon abused the guys filling in for Shugarts and I am more than a little concerned over the piecemeal OL. Adam's suspension is disrupting the entire line and pushing a lot of guys out of their natural position. For that reason, Miller is probably the best option at QB for the same reason Pryor was the best option over Boeckman, his ability to keep himself upright with an OL that leaks like a sieve.

-More on the DLine, this is my favorite DLine yet, I really wish we had a better rush end (then it would be all world). Last year, I used to get pissed when the Bucks would move Simon from 3 tech DT to 5 tech SSDE because I thought his speed on the inside was the teams advantage, he is just too fast for guards. Now, with Hankins (OSU's first real NT in a decade) and Goebel playing tackle and Simon outside, holy shit is that line strong upfront. None of those guys are going to MAKE a ton of plays, but they are going to tie up the OLine and provide great push. The LBs are going to reap those benefits. I really wish they had a Gholston/Vrabel/Kudla WDE. Nate Williams is more of a Bobby Carpenter style oversized LB. My biggest problem with Williams is that he plays himself out of position.... alot and while he does get to the QB he doesn't get there enough to justify the loose play. The cupboards are kind of bare right now at the LEO so we have what we have at this point.

-It is sad how badly this team lacks offensive playmakers. Quick, name the second best wR on the team right now? The drop of behind Posey is ridiculous and frankly Sanz was actually better than Posey. I guess OSU's best hope is Stoneburner, but his real advantage as a receiver is in abusing LBs. If you split him out, well, you take away what makes him really effective. TY Williams is an intriguing prospect and he was not quite as raw yesterday as I had heard. James Louis is the equivalent of Albert Dukes (please just transfer already and open up the schollie), Philly Brown still can't catch, Chris Fields is just average at this point, I really think that the #2/#3 WR on this team will report to camp in August, my guess is Devin Smith although with Spencer's lineage; I wouldn't be surprised if he came in ready to contribute immediately. In short, there is no Terry Glenn, Galloway, Ginn, Gonzo etc. on this roster right now.

-The LBs this year are going to be great. I really like Sabino's size in the Middle, Sweat's cerebral play and Bell's athleticism. We didn't even see Moeller yesterday and if you saw the beginning of the season last year you know what a force that kid can be. The future looks bright too, with Sabino returning next year, Bell sliding over to Will and Curtis Grant, Price or Crowell reporting this fall. The embarassment of riches continues.

-Don't let the final score of the spring game fool you. This game is pretty biased toward the offense and a lot of the aerial damage was done on the walkons and guys that are buried on the depth chart (Ross's TD reception on Howard as the obvious exception). The defense is still pretty far ahead of the offense, and this has the makings of a difficult first 5 games. They still look good enough to beat the MAC, but @ Miami and MSU look pretty tough based on what I saw. I don't think they will necessarily lose them both (or one), but the offense looks as pedestrian as it did in 2004 without Pryor, Herron and Posey.

[danwismar]

I'm with Furls on nearly all of his observations, except that I'm a bit more bullish on the offensive line as long as the top seven can stay healthy. Norwell and Hall have both looked very good all spring, and it really doesn't matter if Mewhort or Norwell starts the season in Adams' LT spot, the other will be a starting guard either way. (I prefer Norwell at LT...he's going to be an all-conference type player at OT)

Remember too that yesterday, four of the top five safeties were sitting it out. Moeller, Barnett, Bryant and Jamie Wood. Helps explain some of the passing success (unfortunately).

Agree too that Herron is still the top tailback...though I'm not sure that's necessarily bad news. I love Smith...he didn't get lots of chances to show his stuff yesterday, but he will. My recap goes up later today, so I won't continue repeating myself.

[furls]

Yeah, that kind of came off as disrespecting Boom, and that really is not what I meant to do. I was just hoping that we had another all world back out there in Smith or Berry, but I really didn't see that yesterday. Granted neither really got a ton of carries; I was just hoping one or both would lead me to believe that Boom would actually lose his starting job over the first five games and right now I really don't believe it.

As for the OL, I too prefer Norwell at LT. I just hope that they start firming up the positions on these guys soon/early in fall. The most important thing is that these guys become a cohesive unit and they really can't do that as much as they are moving around.

The secondary was clearly not at full strength and as I watched the spring game progessed I kept finding myself saying, "who gave up that reception? I have never seen that guy before." As you all know, I know the roster 2-3 (at least) deep at every position by number, but yesterday I was struggling with the secondary.

[danwismar]

I felt for some of the fans trying to identify players...especially in the secondary. (It didn't help that the BTN announcers didn't bother to identify many defenders beyond Simon.) Two incoming freshmen were playing a lot...safeties Ron Tanner (#28) and Jeremy Cash (#17), and then two guys most people had never seen before...Bradley Roby (#25) and for some reason, another #25, walk-on Vince Petrella. On top of that, both Travis Howard (#7) and Dominic Clarke (#5)are wearing new numbers for 2011. CB Dionte Allen (#8) is another new face, but he didn't play.