Tag: Thayer Munford

Five Ohio State football players make ESPN’s ‘Top 100 Players for 2021’

ESPN highlights five Buckeyes in its ‘Top 100 players for 2021.’ Do you think someone is missing?

We’re just a little over a week away from breaking the seal on the 2021 Ohio State football season and the excitement is palpable. It should be another run at a Big Ten championship and a potential spot in the College Football Playoff, but there’s a lot of things that need to fall in place.

One of those puzzle pieces that need to fit nicely is the very best players playing like the very best players on this year’s Buckeye squad. Sure, some will rise up and be household names when it’s all said and done, but you need the stars to make a championship constellation in big-time college football.

Just before the season gets underway with some college football this week, ESPN has produced its “Top 100 Players for 2021” and there is plenty of scarlet and gray represented. Five OSU players in fact appear on the list, and you could probably make the case for more.

Regardless, here are the five players wearing scarlet and gray that ESPN projects to be the best in the college football game for this fall, and what the staff of the worldwide leader in sports programming says about each.

WATCH: Thayer Munford’s mom gets phone call to remember

Watch Thayer Munford’s mom react to some pretty cool news about her son over the phone.

I have to admit, I’m a softy for these sort of things.

In case you missed it, Ohio State named its football captains for the 2021 season. It was just a select six players this time, but all of them were deserving based on what they’ve done for the program in the past. It was a little unusual that none of the six were repeat captains, but that goes with the territory when you lose a lot of seasoned veterans off of a team that went all the way to the College Football Playoff national championship game.

One of those captains was none other than three-year starter, offensive tackle Thayer Munford, who just so happens to be the most experienced offensive lineman in the Big Ten.

When the news was broke to him, we’re sure he was ready to run to the phone and tell his mother. No matter how old you get, and how talented you are in life, there’s nothing quite like making your mom proud. So it was when Munford’s position coach, offensive line coach Greg Studwara and he, gave Munford’s mom a call to inform her of him being selected as captain.

Watch the below shared to the Ohio State Football Twitter account as Melisa is delivered some pretty good news that she won’t soon forget.

This has to be one of the reasons Munford decided to come back for one more year and put off dreams of the NFL. Not only is he a graduate now, but he will forever be known as a captain of one of the most storied programs in all of college football.

It’s okay to shout to the mountaintops mom.

[listicle id=57233]

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.

Ohio State announces six captains for this fall

Ohio State announced its six team captains for the 202 football season on Friday evening.

Being a captain of a historical program like Ohio State is something nobody can ever take away from you. It sets you apart and allows for special things like the captains’ dinner and place among a select few to ever run through the tunnel on the banks of the Olentangy.

The Buckeyes lost all of their seasoned captains from last season and announced six new captains for this fall on Friday evening. These six will hopefully lead the team towards a fifth-straight Big Ten championship run and potential appearance in another College Football Playoff.

Having all new captains snaps a streak of seven consecutive seasons in which there was at least one returning. It’s also the fewest number of captains since the 2015 team. All renditions of The Ohio State Buckeyes have had at least seven named since then. However, just because it’s six new captains doesn’t mean the lot is all a bunch of inexperienced players, far from it.

Here are your six captains of the Ohio State football team in 2021.

Four Ohio State football players make USA TODAY’s Preseason All-American Team

USA TODAY has spoken! Do you agree with these picks? Who might be missing?

We are just a few weeks away from the start of the Ohio State and college football season and all the preseason predictions and watchlists have started to calm down just a wee bit as everyone gets ready to kick off the season.

However, there are still a few of them out there, and the latest comes from USA TODAY, with its Preseason College Football All-American Teams. It’s college football, so you would expect there to be some OSU players mentioned, and that is definitely the case. In fact, all told, there are four Buckeyes across both the First and Second Teams.

But who are they? You can probably guess which players made it on the list based on previous notoriety, but we’ll go through it here for you.

NEXT … A seasoned and skilled wide receiver

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

The Big Ten’s top five offensive tackles heading into 2021

Do the #Buckeyes have two of the top five offensive tackles in the Big Ten?

The college football season kicks off in less than a month and we have been rolling through the best of the Big Ten at each position. We have already completed our list of top five quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.

The Big Ten has multiple offensive tackles that should hear their name called during the first round of the 2022 NFL draft. I wanted to highlight the top five offensive tackles in the Big Ten heading into 2021.

Ohio State has two exceptional tackles that should be considered as some of the best in the league, but did we include both among our top five in the entire conference?

Let’s get to it.

Tracking Ohio State football players on 2021 preseason honors lists

All the Ohio State football players that have been recognized in the preseason of 2021, all in one spot.

If you are like me, you start to really get the feeling that college football is just off on the horizon when the annual preseason college football award watch lists start to hit the news. If you’ve followed us here at Buckeyes Wire, then you clearly know that we’ve traveled along that journey.

When you follow a team like Ohio State, these lists can be hard to keep track of because a player or two from OSU shows up on almost every one of them. It’s a lot. Trust us because we wrote about almost every single one of the mentions that involved a little scarlet and gray.

To make it easy on you, the fan of all things Buckeye related, we’ve decided to organize all of the players that have been named as a part of all of these preseason mentions and accolades all in one spot.

Here is the complete list of OSU players that received some preseason notoriety prior to all the college football shenanigans kicking off in 2021.

Three Ohio State players named to the Outland Trophy preseason watch list

We’ve got a trio of Ohio State interior lineman that have been announced on the Outland preseason watch list. Which one do you think has the best shot to win it?

The Football Writer’s Association of America announced the 2021 Preseason Outland Trophy watch list on Tuesday, and three Ohio State players were included among the 80 names honored. Offensive tackles Thayer Munford and Nicholas Petit-Frere, and defensive tackle Haskell Garrett were all a part of the release.

The Outland Trophy has been around since 1946 and is handed out to the college football player judged to be the best interior lineman annually. The award winner can be on the offensive or defensive side of the ball.

Munford is entering his fifth year as a super senior who decided to come back for the extra year allowed to all players as a part of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has been listed on multiple publications and websites as a preseason All-American and potential high NFL draft pick in April. He should be one of the best anchors on the left side of the offensive line anywhere in America.

Petit-Frere is ready for a breakout year. He is a former 5-star commit that redshirted his first year before landing a starting spot last fall. With an extra year of development and the muscle he has put on, he too has the potential to be one of the best offensive lineman in the country.

Garrett also decided to come back for one more season instead of entering the 2021 NFL draft. His story is an amazing one after somehow recovering from a gunshot wound to the face in time for the 2020 season. Simply being in the lineup wasn’t what he had in mind. Instead, Garrett turned into one of the best interior defensive linemen in the Big Ten and has also received multiple preseason accolades heading into this year.

Ohio State has had four players win the Outland Trophy. Jim Parker (1956), Jim Stillwagon (1970), John Hicks (1973), and Orlando Pace (1996), all were voted as recipients. This year, OSU is one of just five programs (Boston College, Clemson, Georgia, and Oklahoma are the others) with three players on the preseason watch list.

We want to wish good luck to all three. Hopefully, at least one of them will be in attendance when the Outland is announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show on December 9.

[lawrence-related id=54719,54587,54385]

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.

Ohio State’s Olave, Wilson and Munford receive Big Ten football preseason honors

Where have we seen these three before? Oh, that’s right among other preseason accolades on other various sites and publications.

The Big Ten conference released its preseason football honors list on Thursday and a trio of Buckeyes landed on the East division’s five offensive players named.

Offensive tackle Thayer Munford and receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson were three of the five offensive players named Big Ten Preseason honorees. Joining them on the offensive side of the ball were Indiana quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. and Penn State receiver Jahon Dotson.

OSU was the only school with more than one player named. At this point, you know the trio well. All three have shown up on several publications and websites with multiple preseason accolades and honors, and for good reason. All are talented veterans that should be an even bigger force for the Ohio State offense in 2021.

Here’s a look at how the West division shook out, with five players all from separate teams.

WEST
Tyler Linderbaum, C, IOWA
Mohamed Ibrahim, RB, MINN
Brandon Joseph, S, NU
David Bell, WR, PUR
Jack Sanborn, LB, WIS

[listicle id=54382]

[lawrence-related id=54442,54436,54422,54416]

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.

Harrison, Munford and Olave to represent Ohio State at Big Ten media days

How excited are you about the college football season? Get amped up by watching these three and Day at Big Ten media days this week.

We’re about to see the circus that is Big Ten media days next week and that is about as refreshing as a cold drink of water on a hot and humid day. This, after the whole thing was canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And anytime we’re talking about Big Ten media days, we’re keenly interested in which Ohio State players will represent the Buckeye contingent in Indianapolis. Yes, the event is in Indy this year instead of Chicago because of more friendly pandemic restrictions.

Well, the three players representing Ohio State are defensive end Zach Harrison, left tackle Thayer Munford and wide receiver Chris Olave. Of course, head coach Ryan Day will be speaking to the throng of media, but all three players will also be made available on Friday, the second day of the event when OSU is scheduled to appear.

Day’s press conference is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., with the three players scheduled to meet with reporters from 1:15-2:15 p.m. Day will then be available once more from 3:30-4:30 p.m.

You know the football season is just around the corner when media days take place, and that’s exactly where we are. Can you feel it? Stay with us for coverage of Big Ten media days as well. You can get a full list of appearances and times for the event by visiting Bigten.org

[listicle id=49761]

[listicle id=50161]

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.

Four Ohio State players named Sporting News Preseason All-Americans

Another preseason All-American list with a few Ohio State players on it. Here’s to hoping this season shows that these players are worth the hype!

The lists and preseason hype continue for the 2021 Ohio State football team.

We’re only going to see more and more of these preseason lists and notoriety as we get closer to the season, and we’re game. The latest is the Preseason All-American Team team released by Bill Bender of The Sporting News. It dropped on Tuesday and there are four OSU players listed between the first and second-team All-American squads.

Ohio State is expected to be among the best college football teams in the country yet again, even with retooling at quarterback, on the offensive line, and several positions on the defense.

After all, with what we’ve seen from recruiting in Columbus, there’s sure to be the next man up mentality. That, and if the players coming back show up like all of these preseason awards say they will, it could be another fun season at Ohio State.

Anyway, you can probably guess two or more of the players that were tabbed as All-Americans by the Sporting News, but here they are.

NEXT … A Speedy and elusive wide receiver

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4