Ohio State football had nine underclassmen declare for the NFL Draft! Nine! That’s almost the ten underclassmen that we saw leave early at LSU two years ago.
So, if this 2016 NFL mock draft is heavy on the Buckeyes, that’s why. This is where their 2014 National Title team goes pro. You could say that Columbus is the new Tuscaloosa in that regard. To see where we have all these Buckeyes slotted in our 2016 NFL mock draft, go here. 2016 brings a lot of turnover, A LOT. Almost everybody that mattered on the 2014 National Championship team, with the exception of J.T. Barrett, is now gone. However, this is Urban Meyer, and this is Ohio State football.
That means another elite recruiting class is set to step up, and there’s another class after that, and another one coming in. In other words, they’re not rebuilding, they’re reloading, like the Scarlet and Grey always does.
2015 Ohio State football the highs- Once their national title hopes were extinguished by MSU, one could have expected OSU to possibly pack it in. They did not! The Sparty game was essentially the season opener for 2015, but the Buckeyes responded well by CRUSHING their hated rival, and then decisively beating a good Notre Dame team in a marquee New Year’s Day bowl.
That Ohio State football team, at least offensively, who dominated an elite Michigan defense and a decent ND defense, where were they most of the year?
2015 Ohio State football the lows- The Michigan St. Spartans pretty much eliminated the Buckeyes from playoff contention, by virtue of winning the de facto Big Ten East Division Title Game; which of course was the real Big Ten Championship Game/a “Sweet 16” playoff game. Both teams had been winning ugly and living on a thin margin of error for much of the season. You knew eventually the bubble had to burst for one of the two teams.
Key Losses- DL Joey Bosa, CB Eli Apple, OL Taylor Decker, RB Ezekiel Eliott, QB/WR Braxton Miller, QB Cardale Jones, S Vonn Bell, WR Michael Thomas, S Tyvis Powell, WR Jalin Marshall, DT Tommy Schutt, LB Darron Lee, LB Joshua Perry, DT Adolphus Washington
Key Returnees- QB J.T. Barrett, DL Sam Hubbard and uhhhhmmmmm…….uhhhhmmmm……..Defensive Coordinators Luke Fickell and Greg Schiano? I’m really stretching it here.
I think Land-Grant Holy Land, SB Nation’s home for Ohio State football, said it best:
The wide receiving corps, which wasn’t as great in 2015 as it was in 2014, is gutted. How gutted? Take another look at the projected offense. Some of those guys don’t even have player profiles in the SB Nation database yet. And it’s a good database! One reaction to this projected offense could be best summed up by some typical Cleveland Indians fans of movie fame
Bonus points to LGHL for embedding a YouTube from the greatest sports comedy of all time, 1988’s “Major League.” We’ll never forget you Lou Brown (one of the greatest movie characters ever)
Bottom Line-
The Buckeyes 2016 draft early-entry class is the largest in school history by a very wide margin. Previously, the most Ohio State football players to leave early in the same offseason was three- 1995 (Korey Stringer, Craig Powell, Lorenzo Styles) and 2006 (Donte Whitner, Santonio Holmes and Ashton Youboty).
Prior to the 2016 exodus, only three young Bucks had declared for the draft early under the Urban Meyer regime. Although Ohio State could win double digit games again next season, you just can’t expect them to have the same kind of astronomical success again next fall. Ohio State football won 50 games in four years- that’s insanely good!
This year, they’ll come back to Earth, because of all the inexperience. Ohio State football always has national championship aspirations, and they very well could be in that mix, but I wouldn’t bet on it. 10-2 to 9-3ish sounds about right, so Ohio State football fans might have to just settle for conference supremacy contention, instead of national.
National Champs.net have released their 2016 early bird rankings and they have Ohio State #14. Sounds about right.
As Land Grant-Holy Land said about the defense: “Pretty much the best known quantity coming back is Cameron Johnston. That statement isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds, either.” And as they pointed out, the offense will be even less seasoned.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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