Category: OSU Football (Page 28 of 42)

The Ohio State University and Coach Jim Tressel will have an easy time recruiting next year as the Buckeyes make another strong showing in the 2006 NFL draft. This year they project at least 5 Ohio State players to go in the first round. This is more than both USC and Texas, who played in the Championship game.
Ohio State and Coach Tressel are starting to make this a common theme each year for the NFL. The emphasis put on playing as a team and continuing to work hard is starting to make NFL scouts look to the Buckeyes first when evaluating NFL prospects. Jim Tressel may be conservative in his thought process, but his development of players is very successful.

Over at ESPN.com Insider (subscription required), Mel Kiper is all over the Buckeye players as he discusses the latest rumors on the NFL draft:

Another interesting spot to watch is with the Jets’ second pick in the first round. They could go with Ohio State center Nick Mangold with the 29th pick, but don’t be surprised if they take outside linebacker Bobby Carpenter, also from Ohio State. Carpenter is in the same mold of Mike Vrabel, another Ohio State alum. Vrabel’s defensive coordinator with the Patriots last season was Eric Mangini, now the coach of the Jets. If the Jets don’t take Carpenter, don’t be surprised if the Steelers take him. Remember, before he signed with the Patriots, Vrabel originally was drafted by the Steelers.

I’ll be sick to my stomach if the Steelers get Carpenter. I’d love to see the Browns get him with their pick in the second round, but that might be wishful thinking.

The Ohio State football team had nothing but positive press when discussing their offensive talent and the ability for this team to have a successful season next year. Coach Jim Tressel faced his first off the field challenge, reminding him that youth on a football team doesn’t come without headaches.

This will be the first test for Coach Tressel to implement his belief that talent and a clean program are very important to him as the Buckeye leader. This incident will give Coach the opportunity to show the young players that he will support them through rough times as long as they learn their lesson the first time around.

The college football spring practices are beginning and Ohio State is already getting national attention. The Buckeyes will have to be an offensive minded team and ride the backs of Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. to have success this year. The normally defensive minded Coach Jim Tressel with have to loosen the reigns and take some chances on offense to make a run at the title. The first challenge will be early in Texas, a chance for Ohio State to knock off the National Champions.

Jim Tressel went against the grain with the 2006 recruiting class. The majority of Tressel’s recruits generally reside in the Buckeye State. This year he recruited 10 from Ohio and 10 from out of state. There were only 2 highly rated players that OSU lost. One went to Michigan (his father was a graduate) the other went to Virginia Tech (he will learn that was a mistake). Ohio State was again very heavy in the linebacker area, slowly replacing Penn State as “Linebacker U”. The stats on the class are very impressive and you have to wonder why they didn’t get a higher ranking by the experts. I believe that one thing worth noting is Tressel’s comment that his goal is a team GPA of 3.0 for the year. We need to remember that our National Championship team won with ability and knowledge, a mix that Coach Tressel looks for in all his players.