The Call of the NFL
One of the frustrating realities about being a championship team is that tough to keep the team together. With the departures of Moss, Siler, Smith (what a prediction!), and Nelson it turns out we’ll start our title defense with nine new starters. This is not the end of the world – OSU had nine new starters on D last year and it worked pretty well until Tressel decided to try to cover our receivers with his linebackers underneath while keeping his defensive backs deep to make sure we didn’t get any big plays and then steadfastly refused to alter the game plan even as we ran up a ton yards with short passes (genius my ass). Anyway I thought I would take a look how much these moves hurt. Oh, but before I do I want to establish that I don’t blame any of them for going pro: football is a brutal sport, if you can make some money you take the chance when you can get it. That said I think Moss might have made more money staying here – a solid season and he could have gotten a big signing bonus as a high pick.
Jarvis Moss – This is the toughest loss. With McDonald (95) graduating that leaves us with only one credible pass rusher in Derrick Harvey (91). While we have a bunch of other bodies, some of whom Meyer is very high on (47 - Brandon Antwine), no are pass rushers. That said, Harvey was an unknown at this time of year last season so who knows.
Brandon Siler – You probably think of this as the biggest loss, especially since it means we’ll have to find three new starters next year. Siler was an emotional leader, but linebackers are less crucial than linemen. Also with Brandon Spikes (51) I feel confident that we’ll have at least one playmaker in the second level. Dustin Doe (32) is also supposedly hot stuff.
Ryan Smith – Despite all his interceptions he is probably the most replaceable. He wasn’t even our #1 corner, Reggie Lewis (22) was. Now Lewis has graduated, as has the nickel back, Tremaine McCollum (18). However the truth be told our safeties were covering for our corners all year, so replacing average guys is easier than replacing stars. Markihe Anderson (37) showed some flashes in spot duty and Avery Atkins – who was suppose to start opposite Lewis this year until he smacked his girlfriend around – is apparently attempting to transfer back from Bethune-Cookman as he is taking class here this semester. As a freshman in 2005 he showed some talent (as #4).
Reggie Nelson – Another tough loss. People throw the phrase “playermaker” around too much, but he really was one. But more than anywhere else we already have solid replacements on the roster. First of all it was the underappreciated Tony Joiner (19) who was directing traffic in our secondary, so he’ll still be there to help the new guys. When he got hurt against Arkansas Dorian Munroe (34) stepped in very well. I was impressed how he played given that he had ridden the bench all year – he will be a solid starter, especially with an off-season to get ready (he was a redshirt freshman). We also have Kyle Jackson (3), a starter for most of 2005 on the roster. He did not make many plays and so lost his job to Nelson, but when you have nine new starters you don’t sneeze at experience. He’ll be a senior next year and maybe ready to move after watching and learning on the bench.
Naturally the only guy really considering going, receiver Andre Caldwell (5), comes back to the deepest position on the roster. That’s not a knock, he’s very good, but the guys we did lose are harder to replace. There was some buzz that Derrick Harvey was thinking about leaving, which would have been deadly given that Moss left, but I not sure if that really had legs.
Jarvis Moss – This is the toughest loss. With McDonald (95) graduating that leaves us with only one credible pass rusher in Derrick Harvey (91). While we have a bunch of other bodies, some of whom Meyer is very high on (47 - Brandon Antwine), no are pass rushers. That said, Harvey was an unknown at this time of year last season so who knows.
Brandon Siler – You probably think of this as the biggest loss, especially since it means we’ll have to find three new starters next year. Siler was an emotional leader, but linebackers are less crucial than linemen. Also with Brandon Spikes (51) I feel confident that we’ll have at least one playmaker in the second level. Dustin Doe (32) is also supposedly hot stuff.
Ryan Smith – Despite all his interceptions he is probably the most replaceable. He wasn’t even our #1 corner, Reggie Lewis (22) was. Now Lewis has graduated, as has the nickel back, Tremaine McCollum (18). However the truth be told our safeties were covering for our corners all year, so replacing average guys is easier than replacing stars. Markihe Anderson (37) showed some flashes in spot duty and Avery Atkins – who was suppose to start opposite Lewis this year until he smacked his girlfriend around – is apparently attempting to transfer back from Bethune-Cookman as he is taking class here this semester. As a freshman in 2005 he showed some talent (as #4).
Reggie Nelson – Another tough loss. People throw the phrase “playermaker” around too much, but he really was one. But more than anywhere else we already have solid replacements on the roster. First of all it was the underappreciated Tony Joiner (19) who was directing traffic in our secondary, so he’ll still be there to help the new guys. When he got hurt against Arkansas Dorian Munroe (34) stepped in very well. I was impressed how he played given that he had ridden the bench all year – he will be a solid starter, especially with an off-season to get ready (he was a redshirt freshman). We also have Kyle Jackson (3), a starter for most of 2005 on the roster. He did not make many plays and so lost his job to Nelson, but when you have nine new starters you don’t sneeze at experience. He’ll be a senior next year and maybe ready to move after watching and learning on the bench.
Naturally the only guy really considering going, receiver Andre Caldwell (5), comes back to the deepest position on the roster. That’s not a knock, he’s very good, but the guys we did lose are harder to replace. There was some buzz that Derrick Harvey was thinking about leaving, which would have been deadly given that Moss left, but I not sure if that really had legs.
posted by El Breto @ 3:27 PM
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