Ohio State football issues availability report for Rutgers game, notable names missing #GoBucks
The Ohio State football program has issued the availability report for the game against Rutgers, and there are a few notable names that will not be taking part in game No. 4.
With the game under Wisconsin under its belt, Ohio State has a few guys that were bumped and bruised against the Badgers, but most of the names on the list just transitioned over from the previous week. The most notable name on this list is star wide receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is listed as unavailable for today.
At this point it is getting concerning that Jaxon Smith-Njigba is still not active, but this may have less to do with his injury and more to do with Rutgers being inferior.
A look at what could be the three most draft-eligible cornerbacks in the Big Ten heading into 2022. #B1G
It is never too early to talk about the NFL Draft, and one of the most polarizing and fun positions to discuss is the cornerback position. The Ohio State football program makes a solid argument as DBU (or BIA as it may), but Penn State also has an extremely impressive resume with names like Rich Gardner, David Macklin, and Paul Lankford.
Obviously, we have to have one Buckeye stud on this list and he will be hoping to land at the top of the NFL draft like other former Ohio State legends like Jeff Okudah, Damon Arnette, and Denzel Ward. We also have a rare Rutgers appearance on this list, but let’s dive in.
Cameron Brown was a four-star recruit in the 2018 class for Ohio State. During his time in Columbus, Brown has unfortunately faced a series of injuries including an Achilles tear last year. But when he’s been healthy, the cornerback has shown flashes of brilliance that could lead to NFL riches.
However, Brown made it clear that a career in professional football is going to have to wait as he shared he’ll be heading back to OSU for another year. The defensive back battled injuries again this year but was able to see action in eight games this season tallying 22 total tackles and an interception.
After seeing Terrance Brooks flip his commitment to Texas on signing day, having another experienced corner in the fold makes a world of difference. Brown will be looking to stay healthy and help build the Buckeye secondary back into the solid unit fans are used to seeing.
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Cameron Brown’s injury forces Ohio State to turn to its inexperienced depth at corner. Time for some accelerated development in Columbus.
Early in the fourth quarter against Penn State, one of Ohio State’s rotating corners, Cameron Brown, was carted off with a non-contact injury. The worst fears have been confirmed by Lettermen Row. Brown is now out for the season with an Achilles injury and the Buckeyes must find someone to replace him. Luckily, they have two players that can step in and provide some help. With Shaun Wade, Sevyn Banks, and Marcus Williamson already inked as the starting corners, and with Brown out, the depth has taken a hit.
An intriguing option to grab playing time is a third-year sophomore Tyreke Johnson. Johnson has the height to play outside but has played even less than Williamson. In fact, he received no playing time against Penn State. He now figures to get some time to rotate in and out against bigger receivers and will most likely be next in line should anything happen to Wade, Banks, or Williamson.
The coaching staff talked up Johnson all offseason and seem to think he is ready to make a leap. Getting him some playing time will help when Wade moves to the NFL next season. The good news here is that — though inexperienced — the Buckeyes do have some depth behind Johnson.
Ohio State cornerback Cameron Brown tore his Achilles on Saturday and is expected to have surgery on Tuesday and miss the rest of the season, sources confirm to @LettermenRow. Tough blow for a great kid and a test of the depth in the Buckeyes secondary. https://t.co/aV6aCB4w69
As far as that goes, former high school quarterback Cameron Martinez and safety/corner recruit Lejond Cavazos may also figure in. Both are expected to be answers for the future of the program, but they may be needed for depth now. Former Oklahoma commit Ryan Watts could also factor in should duty call. Still though, for a position group that was already green, having to go deeper into that well isn’t the most ideal situation.
There’s no way around it. Brown going down hurts, but there’s still talent in the program, it might just need some accelerated development to add depth to an already thin and inexperienced position group.
Shaun Wade’s return instantly improves the Buckeyes, what looked like a question yesterday, was answered today with Wade returning.
Yesterday, there were questions about whether Shaun Wade was going to return to the Ohio State Buckeyes. We here at Buckeyes Wire went into the depth of this team and one of the things we touched upon was what the secondary would look like if Wade did not return. However, today news broke that Wade was going to return to the Buckeyes, and what a huge boost it is.
Before we get into what it means for Ohio State, the decision means a lot for Shaun Wade himself. Wade was already considered one of the best corners for the 2021 NFL Draft, but there were some questions as to whether he was just a slot corner, or would he be able to take his skills and convert them to the outside. By Wade coming back he can help his draft stock and lock in being a first-rounder by showing he can be an outside corner.
For the Buckeyes, getting Wade back will boost a secondary that had questions. Now, Wade and Cameron Brown will be one of the best corner duos in college. Sevyn Banks will be a great third corner with others vying for time behind them. But make no mistake, it all starts with Wade.
Brown and Banks will fight it out for the second corner spot and will be able to give rest to Wade if he should need it without much drop-off. Having the three of them will allow Ryan Day to work match-ups better. Wade can follow the best receiver or Day can put him in a position to make plays with Brown or Banks on the top receiver.
Wade now gives the Buckeyes a much more formidable defense. He should be able to lock down receivers enough to help a young pass rush get to the quarterback. Wade coming back greatly improves the Buckeyes, now they just have to play the games.
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Ohio State corner Cameron Brown took to Twitter last week to lay claim to being the “fastest DB in college football.” We can’t wait to see.
It’s no secret the Ohio State football program has is a football factory and has churned out defensive back widgets better than any other program over the last few years. There have been great cover corners, and impact safeties because of a happy marriage between talent and development in Columbus.
Obviously technique and heart has something to do with all the talent heading to the NFL at the defensive-back position, but there have also been some fast-twitch burners on the team that jump out.
The next in line might just be cornerback Cameron Brown, and perhaps at a historical clip if his confidence and rumors are accurate.
Brown showed off some of that confidence when he posted a comment to his Twitter profile last week, calling himself the “fastest DB in college football.”
Everybody keep asking me what my 40 is… Just know I’m the fastest DB in college football
There’s of course no way to prove that without hard and fast numbers. If you believe what Brown says, he unofficially ran a 4.3 forty-yard dash back in May but that was coming off of a hamstring injury.
“I just came off a torn hamstring, so I think I was faster than that,” Brown told Eleven Warriors after the Big Ten championship game last December. “I tripped in it too, so you never know. I think I can run a 4.2.”
A 4.2 would be historic if Brown could pull it off officially at the NFL combine. The fastest by a Buckeye is Parris Campbell and Curtis Samuel with 4.31 times, but the fastest of all-time was a 4.22 turned in by Washington’s John Ross back in 2017.
We’ll see if these claims hold water. Either way, there are plenty of reports from within the team that confirm Brown’s ability to burn, and if he earns enough playing time on the field in 2020, you’ll see it for yourself.
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We know Isaiah Simmons is at the top, but what about the rest? How do the linebackers stack for a modern NFL as we look to the NFL Draft?
To paraphrase an idea from the world of politics, do not tell me what you value at a position. Show me your top prospects at a position and I’ll tell you what you value at the position.
We can apply that idea to this list of top linebacker prospects. Look through these names and you will see what I value at the position: Athleticism, the ability to play in space, the fit in the modern NFL, the potential to defend the pass, and the likelihood of being a three-down player.
The players we grew up immortalizing, such as the Mike Singletarys of the world, are a throwback to a different time. An era when “three yards and a cloud of dust” was the rule, not the exception. To be a complete linebacker in today’s NFL you have to be able to stop the run on first down, and run with a seam route on third down. If you cannot do both, you are not going early in the draft. As such, the players with that ability – or at least potential – are getting the nod on lists like this.
Bio: Isaiah Simmons was a two-sport athlete for Olathe North High School in Olathe, Kansas. Simmons was a wide receiver and a defensive back on the football team, and a long jumper for the track-and-field team. Simmons was the state champion in the long jump in both 2014 and 2015, and his career-bests jump was 23’8″. But as a three-star prospect on the gridiron, he committed to Clemson over Michigan, Nebraska and Missouri. He started his career for the Tigers in 2017, playing primarily as a safety. In 2018 Simmons spent most of his time in the slot, and according to Pro Football Focus he fared well, as they graded him with an overall grade of 88.9 playing as a slot cornerback.
Last year, Simmons did it all. He played 100 or more snaps at edge defender, linebacker, strong safety, free safety and slot cornerback. On film, he excelled at every single position.
Stat to Know: Simmons is extremely disruptive at the catch point. He forced eight incompletions, tying him for the top number among linebackers last season.
Strengths: Where to begin? Simmons has the athleticism to cover wide receivers both out of the slot and on the outside. He has the awareness to make plays in space at all levels of the field. He has the size and length to erase tight ends in the passing game. Simmons was built to play defense in the modern NFL. It does not take long to see how he can impact a game. Take the National Championship Game against LSU. Right at the outset, he blitzes off edge on the first play of the game, chases Joe Burrow all over the field and keeps him (as best as he can) in the pocket. Second play of the game, covers Thaddeus Moss on a stick route, plays off him, breaks perfectly on the route for a pass breakup, and he reads the route concept perfectly. He plays sideline-to-sideline against the pass and the run. If you are running a route near him and he can get to you, he is going to put you on your backside with a jam (ask Moss about that). He can play as a half-field safety and break downhill on plays in front of him. He can run stride-for-stride with Justin Jefferson on a crossing route in the red zone.
Simmons can do everything asked of him on the football field.
Some might wonder about his ability to defend the run as a more traditional linebacker. The film shows a player who handles his responsibilities and assignments the right way. For example against Wofford he was tasked with handling the pitch man on speed option plays, and he did that assignment perfectly. So if you ask him to align at middle linebacker and fit into a gap against the run, he will do that too.
Where he does truly stand out is what he can do against the passing game. Given his experience at both safety and slot cornerback, everything feels natural for him. He can play off coverage over receivers, tight ends and running backs and click-and-close to the catch point like a cornerback. When in zone coverage he knows just how long to stick on a route before passing it off to the next defender. While he can play a single- or two-deep safety role, he can also play in the middle of a Tampa 2 in that underneath hole spot and erase tight ends.
Perhaps my favorite play of his is this one from the National Championship Game:
Simmons aligns along the boundary across from running back Clyde Edward-Helarie. He backpedals off the snap and recognizes the route concept, a smash-fade design with the running back running a hitch route and the slot receiver releasing vertically on a fade route. Simmons, despite the rub element to this concept, does not panic. Instead he slides down over the hitch while keeping an eye on Burrow, and when the QB throws the hitch route the defender is in perfect position to break up the throw at the catch point.
Weaknesses: For a player like this, we need to handle the weaknesses section a little differently.
The fear with Simmons is that an NFL team tries to pigeon-hole into a specific role. Whether as a “linebacker” or a “safety,” and by doing so eliminates the versatility and athleticism that Simmons offers on the defensive side of the football. If he is artifically hamstrung by old school minds on his NFL coaching staff, that will reduce much of what he offers. So the hope is that Simmons lands with a forward-thinking defensive mind who employs him more as a matchup weapon than anything else.
Now yes, there are parts of what he has done over the past few years that require a bit of projection. He played in a defense that was predominantly a 3-1-7 defense, and it is unlikely his NFL home is going to copy what Brent Venables put together for Clemson. So projecting him as an off-ball player fitting gaps against the run is a bit of an unknown. But again, asking him to be that kind of player is just overthinking what he can be in the NFL.
So the weakness is really just a lack of imagination from his NFL coaching staff.
Conclusion: The bottom line is that Isaiah Simmons is a defensive specialist that you can employ virtually anywhere on the field. You can see him rush the passer off the edge on first down, lock down a tight end on second down, and run with a slot receiver on third down. He can play a single-high safety look, or as a half-field safety, or even at boundary corner if necessary. His best “traditional” NFL role might be as a middle linebacker in a heavy Tampa-2 defense. He could be the modern version of Derrick Brooks in that role, running with tight ends and slot receivers, but in today’s game there is so much more that he can do. Draft him and just start dreaming of different ways to employ him.
Comparision: Captain America. Iron Man. Superman. Black Panther. Thor. Basically pick a superhero and that is Isaiah Simmons. Except Batman. He was a rich guy who bought a ton of toys. That is my hot take for the day.
The Los Angeles Chargers will be in the market for linebackers.
After the departure of Thomas Davis and Jatavis Brown, as well as noting that Denzel Perryman has one more year remaining on his contract and knowing that there could be durability concerns with Kyzir White, the linebacker group needs some attention.
Coach Anthony Lynn also made the point at the combine that he was looking to add more depth. Given his remarks and the question marks that have yet to be answered, the Chargers could address the position as early as Round 1 or on Day 3.
With that being said, here is a linebacker from each round that could fit in Los Angeles:
Round 1 | Isaiah Simmons, Clemson
A Swiss-Army Knife for the Tigers, Simmons lined up all over the field, posting 299 reps at inside linebacker, 262 at slot cornerback, 132 at free safety, 116 at outside linebacker, and 100 at strong safety, according to Pro Football Focus.
In three seasons, Simmons had 238 tackles, 28.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 20 passes defensed, six forced fumbles, four interceptions and one fumble recovery.
Similar to safety Derwin James, Simmons is a do-it-all defender who can defend the run, turn-and-run with positional players in coverage and blitz off the edge. His multi-dimensional and rare skillset would give the Chargers one of the best defenses in the league.
My Top NFL Draft LB Prospect:
Isaiah Simmons – Clemson rsJR
Awards: Butkus – Best LB (19’) ACC DPOY (19’)
Accomplishments: National Champion (18’) All-American (19’) First-team All-ACC (19’) pic.twitter.com/JWqjiJV2It
— Boom, It’s Football! (@BoomItsFBALL) April 8, 2020