Had both the First Wiseman and the Third Wiseman check in with some goods from Saturday’s scrimmage. Here is their observations:
Offensively, you have to take the reports/disappointment of them struggling with a grain of salt. JK DOBBINS is being handled with care due to a lack of depth. He played roughly 25% of the snaps and was a spectator the rest of the day. His burst is noticeably quicker and he is running physically now that he is “the guy”. He is my dark horse for the Heisman this year, as running backs playing for NFL Draft status always tend to “lock in”. Mike Weber having an exceptional combine (made NFL.com’s all combine time with his 4.4 40) and sliding to the 7th round opened his eyes, and he realizes his production had better surpass his freshman year +50% to not realize a similar fate. I expect our running game to take a step forward after last year that's to a very physical offensive line. More on that later…
The quarterback position is settled despite Ryan Day’s proclamation today. JUSTIN FIELDS has the weight of the team on his shoulders and has flashed his gamebreaking ability all of camp. However, scrimmages where he dons the black jersey takes 60% of his production away. Today was one of those days where the defense could tee off on him and know he was no threat to run. Once week 1 rolls around, they both felt we would be fine early learning on the running game, to which Fields will be a huge asset. When I pressed both Wisemen on if this was seriously still a competition (namely with Hoak), one said no and the other laughed and said “we have one quarterback”. That is about what was expected, but the other two transfers have to get it together and be ready to at least give us a Kenny Guiton-effort. One thing FIELDS has been exceptional about is hitting passes in the quick game and avoiding shots. Look for a lot of Day’s route concepts to be shorter this year, as we have the athletes who just need the ball in their hands. When I asked the Wisemen what they expected from FIELDS this year, the 2012 version of Braxton Miller was mentioned. Braxton won a lot of games with his gamebreaking speed, and they expect FIELDS to do the same thing this year (both as 19 year old sophs)…
The biggest competition in camp remains as the change of pace running back, and the leader as of today would be MARCUS CROWLEY. Crowley has taken advantage of his reps and at 6’1 210 he has been a hammer on the inside zone runs. The First Wiseman was emphatic and said he is the next “SUPERSTAR” at running back(also said the same about GARRETT WILSON in the spring). Has been very physical in his first training camp, lowering the boom during the “live” portions. Arrow pointed straight up on him. MASTER TEAGUE has been bitten by the injury bug again, and it is killing his shot. DEMARIO MCCALL is trending more towards being a gadget guy who can help out on returns and on special teams, but we still have two weeks left in camp. The big takeaway is thank god for early enrollment and CROWLEY taking advantage. He knows the system cold and now can let his physicality and speed take over. Given JK's size/injury history, CROWLEY will be a huge part of the success we have this year...
On the offensive line, this group has been fun to watch in camp for the Wisemen. More depth/players with starting experience than any line either of the daily observers can remember. My first position group equals sign is:
BOWEN=====STARTING RIGHT TACKLE
This isn’t as much of a knock on NPF as it is the power Brandon Bowen has been playing with. He and WYATT DAVIS have been the focal point of the running game with their double teams, and they’ve sent some poor guys into orbit during camp. According to the First Wiseman, Wyatt is playing with a chip on his shoulder after not starting last year and his “nastiness has infected the o-line”. JOSH MYERS plays like a veteran despite having zero starts(hello Corey Linsley), and the Third Wiseman things our interior is the most improved area on the ENTIRE team. The Third Wiseman even called MYERS "baby Billy Price", which I will take all day and about 80 times on Saturday). JONAH JACKSON has also brought a great veteran presence to the group. With a 19 year old at QB, a firm middle of the pocket is critical this year. HARRY MILLER is on a different level in terms of maturity and ability and adds stability to the interior backup scene, with JOSH ALIBI working as the swing tackle. MILLER will be All Big Ten sooner than later…
Defensively, the star of the show is GREG MATTISON, and it isn’t even close. He is the voice of the defense, and they are back to being a cohesive unit, which was sorely lacking with Greg Schiano last year. Meyer’s relationship with Schiano kept him employed, period. Mattison has drastically cut the number of fronts and coverages and put a huge focus on EFFORT, which was sorely lacking after he and the new staff watched the 2018 film. The First Wiseman has a great story about Jim Tressel and defense. In his first year as HC, they were getting ready to play a superior Michigan team (ranked 11th) in Ann Arbor. That Michigan team was 8-2 and poised to win the Big Ten and head to the Fiesta Bowl by beating the 4 loss Buckeyes who had just lost to Illinois on Senior Day (Belisari DUI on the Thursday before). Mark Dantonio was really worried about stopping them and had design a bunch of next pressures and blitzes to try and surprise Michigan. When he presented it to Tressel, Tressel told him he was only allowed to call one front and one coverage for the entire game (!). It was the opposite of what Dantonio wanted to do, but they held a superior UM team to like 50 yards in the first half. Michigan rallied in the second, but a 4 loss OSU team won because they let the players play and dictate the game instead of getting too “cute”. The moral of the story from the First Wiseman is that last year, we tried to be too “cute”. Mattison has changed that dramatically, and he is letting the athletes fire and play with effort. I CANNOT wait to see this in action…
In terms of individuals, Davon Hamilton is having a camp that is the epitome of the “contract year” camp. He “doesn’t even seem like he is the same person” in the best of ways. He has been a load at the one technique noseguard. He made a decision that he better step it up if he wants to play football after this year, and it is evident. JASHON CORNELL has been manning the pass rushing 3 technique spot, with Haskell Garrett rotating in. Haskell was launched a few times during the scrimmage in the running game and still plays “light”, but his motor is evident and he will get stronger…
With TERADJA MITCHELL being banged up, TUF BORLAND'S reclamation project has continued, and Greg Mattison has worked with him on angles and how to read offenses pre-snap. The linebacker play has been Mattison's biggest point of emphasis and he has been the duel LB coach along with Al Washington (Washington has more of a DL background). This synergy mimics how Kevin Wilson has been VERY active in coaching the OL as well, so the staff chemistry is much better than it was a year ago...
More to come on the skill guys, but just wanted to pass this along…
Offensively, you have to take the reports/disappointment of them struggling with a grain of salt. JK DOBBINS is being handled with care due to a lack of depth. He played roughly 25% of the snaps and was a spectator the rest of the day. His burst is noticeably quicker and he is running physically now that he is “the guy”. He is my dark horse for the Heisman this year, as running backs playing for NFL Draft status always tend to “lock in”. Mike Weber having an exceptional combine (made NFL.com’s all combine time with his 4.4 40) and sliding to the 7th round opened his eyes, and he realizes his production had better surpass his freshman year +50% to not realize a similar fate. I expect our running game to take a step forward after last year that's to a very physical offensive line. More on that later…
The quarterback position is settled despite Ryan Day’s proclamation today. JUSTIN FIELDS has the weight of the team on his shoulders and has flashed his gamebreaking ability all of camp. However, scrimmages where he dons the black jersey takes 60% of his production away. Today was one of those days where the defense could tee off on him and know he was no threat to run. Once week 1 rolls around, they both felt we would be fine early learning on the running game, to which Fields will be a huge asset. When I pressed both Wisemen on if this was seriously still a competition (namely with Hoak), one said no and the other laughed and said “we have one quarterback”. That is about what was expected, but the other two transfers have to get it together and be ready to at least give us a Kenny Guiton-effort. One thing FIELDS has been exceptional about is hitting passes in the quick game and avoiding shots. Look for a lot of Day’s route concepts to be shorter this year, as we have the athletes who just need the ball in their hands. When I asked the Wisemen what they expected from FIELDS this year, the 2012 version of Braxton Miller was mentioned. Braxton won a lot of games with his gamebreaking speed, and they expect FIELDS to do the same thing this year (both as 19 year old sophs)…
The biggest competition in camp remains as the change of pace running back, and the leader as of today would be MARCUS CROWLEY. Crowley has taken advantage of his reps and at 6’1 210 he has been a hammer on the inside zone runs. The First Wiseman was emphatic and said he is the next “SUPERSTAR” at running back(also said the same about GARRETT WILSON in the spring). Has been very physical in his first training camp, lowering the boom during the “live” portions. Arrow pointed straight up on him. MASTER TEAGUE has been bitten by the injury bug again, and it is killing his shot. DEMARIO MCCALL is trending more towards being a gadget guy who can help out on returns and on special teams, but we still have two weeks left in camp. The big takeaway is thank god for early enrollment and CROWLEY taking advantage. He knows the system cold and now can let his physicality and speed take over. Given JK's size/injury history, CROWLEY will be a huge part of the success we have this year...
On the offensive line, this group has been fun to watch in camp for the Wisemen. More depth/players with starting experience than any line either of the daily observers can remember. My first position group equals sign is:
BOWEN=====STARTING RIGHT TACKLE
This isn’t as much of a knock on NPF as it is the power Brandon Bowen has been playing with. He and WYATT DAVIS have been the focal point of the running game with their double teams, and they’ve sent some poor guys into orbit during camp. According to the First Wiseman, Wyatt is playing with a chip on his shoulder after not starting last year and his “nastiness has infected the o-line”. JOSH MYERS plays like a veteran despite having zero starts(hello Corey Linsley), and the Third Wiseman things our interior is the most improved area on the ENTIRE team. The Third Wiseman even called MYERS "baby Billy Price", which I will take all day and about 80 times on Saturday). JONAH JACKSON has also brought a great veteran presence to the group. With a 19 year old at QB, a firm middle of the pocket is critical this year. HARRY MILLER is on a different level in terms of maturity and ability and adds stability to the interior backup scene, with JOSH ALIBI working as the swing tackle. MILLER will be All Big Ten sooner than later…
Defensively, the star of the show is GREG MATTISON, and it isn’t even close. He is the voice of the defense, and they are back to being a cohesive unit, which was sorely lacking with Greg Schiano last year. Meyer’s relationship with Schiano kept him employed, period. Mattison has drastically cut the number of fronts and coverages and put a huge focus on EFFORT, which was sorely lacking after he and the new staff watched the 2018 film. The First Wiseman has a great story about Jim Tressel and defense. In his first year as HC, they were getting ready to play a superior Michigan team (ranked 11th) in Ann Arbor. That Michigan team was 8-2 and poised to win the Big Ten and head to the Fiesta Bowl by beating the 4 loss Buckeyes who had just lost to Illinois on Senior Day (Belisari DUI on the Thursday before). Mark Dantonio was really worried about stopping them and had design a bunch of next pressures and blitzes to try and surprise Michigan. When he presented it to Tressel, Tressel told him he was only allowed to call one front and one coverage for the entire game (!). It was the opposite of what Dantonio wanted to do, but they held a superior UM team to like 50 yards in the first half. Michigan rallied in the second, but a 4 loss OSU team won because they let the players play and dictate the game instead of getting too “cute”. The moral of the story from the First Wiseman is that last year, we tried to be too “cute”. Mattison has changed that dramatically, and he is letting the athletes fire and play with effort. I CANNOT wait to see this in action…
In terms of individuals, Davon Hamilton is having a camp that is the epitome of the “contract year” camp. He “doesn’t even seem like he is the same person” in the best of ways. He has been a load at the one technique noseguard. He made a decision that he better step it up if he wants to play football after this year, and it is evident. JASHON CORNELL has been manning the pass rushing 3 technique spot, with Haskell Garrett rotating in. Haskell was launched a few times during the scrimmage in the running game and still plays “light”, but his motor is evident and he will get stronger…
With TERADJA MITCHELL being banged up, TUF BORLAND'S reclamation project has continued, and Greg Mattison has worked with him on angles and how to read offenses pre-snap. The linebacker play has been Mattison's biggest point of emphasis and he has been the duel LB coach along with Al Washington (Washington has more of a DL background). This synergy mimics how Kevin Wilson has been VERY active in coaching the OL as well, so the staff chemistry is much better than it was a year ago...
More to come on the skill guys, but just wanted to pass this along…
