Home > Blogs > Buckeyes Beat > Archives > 2008 > April > 19
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Bottom line, Boeckman is the right QB
Todd Boeckman has acted all spring like a guy who feels secure as Ohio State’s starting quarterback — and he should. The senior-to-be doesn’t have any reason to fear for his job.
The more I watch Boeckman, the more I’m convinced the Buckeyes are going to be just fine at QB next season, and any discussion about Terrelle Pryor coming in and taking over is simply absurd.
I was studying Boeckman while he warmed up before the spring game in some 11-on-11 drills and marveled at how his throws seem to end up perfectly placed on outstretched hands.
Yeah, Pryor will see the field this season and may be a future star, but Boeckman’s still the guy.
Some other final spring observations:
- The Buckeyes will be looking to take some of the tailback load off Chris “Beanie” Wells, given his injury history, and redshirt freshman Daniel “Boom” Herron could provide some depth at running back.
I’m not forgetting about Brandon Saine, but I see him in more of a multi-purpose role. Herron appears to have the power and natural running back instincts to make an impact this season.
I’ve never understood what the OSU coaches see in Maurice Wells, and the senior from Jacksonville, Fla., probably would be phased out if coach Jim Tressel wasn’t so loyal to his seniors. - Sophomore Bryant Browning is the heir apparent at right tackle to quote-machine Kirk Barton, and the Cleveland Glenville product already has earned his teammates’ respect. He was the first lineman taken in the spring-game draft of non-seniors, and I watched him pancake veteran defensive tackle Nader Abdallah on Saturday.
The amiable Barton will be missed by the media, but the OSU offense will hardly notice he’s gone. - The Buckeyes will be much better than they were last season on special teams.
Although Tressel has always emphasized that facet of the game — we wouldn’t be surprised if he has his trademark saying, “The punt is the most important play in football” chiseled on his tombstone — the Buckeyes were horrendous on kickoff returns (117th nationally out of 119 teams) and had four field goals blocked last season.
They simply have too many athletes in uniform to be that bad again, and kicker Ryan Pretorius and the field-goal unit have been nearly flawless this spring. Plus, the Buckeyes have another competent kicker in Aaron Pettrey in case Pretorius falters.
The Buckeyes are a team with few holes and will be worthy of all those top-five preseason ratings they collect this fall.
Permalink | Comments (24) | Post your comment |
An interesting draft class
At a table near the press box elevators, the Ohio State athletic department is handing out a list of past NFL draft picks. Let’s just go over the four years.
2004: Chris Gamble (1st round), Michael Jenkins (1st), Will Smith (1st), Tim Anderson (3rd), Ben Hartsock (3rd), B.J. Sander (3rd), Darion Scott (3rd) Will Allen (4th), Alex Stepanovich (4th), Drew Carter (5th), Craig Krenzel (5th), Robert Reynolds (5th), Adrien Clarke (7th), Shane Olivea (7th).
2005: Mike Nugent (2nd), Dustin Fox (3rd), Maurice Clarett (3rd).
2006: A.J. Hawk (1st), Donte Whitner (1st), Bobby Carpenter (1st), Santonio Holmes (1st), Nick Mangold (1st), Ashton Youboty (3rd), Anthony Schlegel (3rd), Nate Salley (4th), Rob Sims (4th).
2007: Ted Ginn Jr. (1st), Anthony Gonzalez (1st), Quinn Pitcock (3rd), Antonio Pittman (4th), Jay Richardson (5th), Roy Hall (5th), Troy Smith (5th), Doug Datish (6th).
An impressive list. Then, in another section, there’s a box suggesting ways to contact former Buckeyes during draft weekend, because they could potentially be picked or signed by a team. Here’s that list:
Vernon Gholston, Kirk Barton, Larry Grant, Dionte Johnson, Trevor Robinson, Tyler Whaley.
Where did all the good players go? Well, the Buckeyes kept most of their talented underclassmen in school (except for Gholston, but if you had that body pictured above, would you stay in college another year?) Plus, others who would be seniors this year and entering the draft left OSU early.
The combination leads to a scrawny list of potential draftees.
By the way, 10 Buckeyes have been first-round picks since Jim Tressel took over in 2001.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment |
This is gonna be a big one
Tickets to the Ohio State spring game are $5. Still, that didn’t stop scalpers on nearly every corner during the walk to Ohio Stadium carrying their signs that said, “I NEED TICKETS” and hawking them.
Me? I parked out past the Schottenstein Center (it was about a 30-minute walk) to come to the end-of-spring scrimmage. I wasn’t alone by a long shot, as the buses, trailers and tailgaters were already out in force by 10:30 this morning for the 1:30 p.m. game.
Even though it’s April 19, Columbus has the feel of a fall Saturday. We’ve talked a lot recently about why spring games across the country have grown so big. Earlier this week, I had a conversation with Earle Bruce about it.
“When you talk about Buckeyes or Gators or Huskers, they’ve been fanatic fans and they want more,” he said.
They’re getting it. More traffic. More scalpers. More Buckeye beads for sale. More ponchos for $5 on sale next to the scalpers (or, at times, by the scalpers).
There’s a mountain of money to be made around Ohio State football, and there’s no end to the ideas. Just imagine what the price tag was on all of the Buckeyes apparel and merchandise walking up and down Lane Avenue on the way to the stadium.
The OSU athletic department, though, isn’t taking itself too seriously. On the side-stadium screen that usually updates scores, here are some that are scrolling past:
Pirates 17, Ninjas 12
Knight 2, Dragon 50
Pawtucket Pat 6, Duffman 12
Chuck Norris 62.80, The World 0
Shredder 31, Splinter 16
T.V. 73, Reality 0
By the way, OSU lacrosse is up 16-9 after three quarters. Spring game to follow.
