One of our readers – Dave in NY – posted this link to a great article from the O-Zone.net that explains which players will likely be starting for the Buckeyes on defense in 2006.
Like Dave, I feel much better about next season’s defense after reading this article.
This sucks. Junior CB Ashton Youboty announced his intention to leave Ohio State and enter the 2006 NFL draft. Junior safety Donte Witner has not made it official yet, but he’s also expected to leave early. Ohio State will be losing nine starters from this season’s dominating defense.
With Vince Young leaving for the NFL, the Buckeyes might have been the pre-season #1 team in the country. That ranking will be harder to justify now that they’re losing two more defensive starters. That said, neither guy was a dominating players, and the Buckeyes are often loaded at this position. We might even see Ted Ginn getting some time at DB.
Both guys are making a mistake. Neither player will be picked in the first round. They might even drop to the thrid round. They could have come back for their senior season on a Buckeye team that has a great chance to play for the national championship. They could have improved their draft status. They should have stayed.
ESPN’s Pat Forde is already out with his pre-season top 25, and he has the Buckeyes ranked #2 behind Texas. His reasoning is pretty simple – “Did you see Troy Smith, Ted Ginn and Antonio Pittman carve up Notre Dame in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl?” If Vince Young leaves for the NFL, we might see the Buckeyes ranked #1 to start the season.
Todd McShay of Scouts, Inc. (via ESPN Insider – subscription required) has already published his first mock draft for 2006. He has the Browns taking Boston College DE Mathias Kiwanuka. He’s 6′ 7″, 262 pounds and he’s known for his pass-rushing ability:
First-team All-America selection…enters the bowl game with 243 career tackles (156 solos), a school-record 37.5 quarterback sacks, 64.5 tackles for loss, 13 pass breakups, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions in 48 games over four seasons…earned all-ACC first-team honors at defensive end in 2005…the 2004 Big East Defensive Player of the Year, he was a consensus 2005 preseason All-America selection…has sacked the quarterback more than once nine times in his career; BC has a 9-0 record in those contests…ranked as the number one defensive end in the nation and as the ACC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year by The Sporting News
This draft seems to be loaded with linebackers, defenseive linemen and offensive linemen in the first round, which matches the Browns’ needs very well. Linebacker Chad Greenway of Iowa is projected to the Falcons with the 15th pick. Either of these guys would help the Browns.
McShay has A. J. Hawk going to the Packers with the 5th pick and he has Santonio Holmes going to the Eagles with the 14th pick. He doesn’t have Bobby Carpenter going in the first round.
He also has USC tailback LenDale White going to the Steelers. Let’s hope he’s wrong on that one. I think White will go higher after his performance in the Rose Bowl (assuming he declares for the draft).
If Vince Young and Reggie Bush decide to come out early, this will be one of the most anticipated drafts in history. Should be fun.
Probably the first smart thing he’s done in 4 years.
The 22-year-old former Buckeye star, who helped the team win the national championship in 2002, turned himself in around 9 p.m. Monday at the county jail, Columbus Detective Art Hughes said. Around the same time Monday, fourth-ranked Ohio State was finishing a 34-20 win over No. 5 Notre Dame at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.
I wonder if he watched the game first.
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