High School Notebook: He's not done yet: Pryor will hit the track for the 200
Six days away from the start of the 2008 season, here's a word of advice for Ohio State fans. Enjoy this season while you can.
Anyone up for replacing 16 of 24 starters next season?
It's the ebb and flow of the college game - a team is young then it's experienced, then young again. There will be a price to be paid next year for the 27 seniors on the roster this year. That's no surprise.
But junior receiver Brian Hartline, out of the blue, made an interesting point on Friday that should leave the Buckeyes even more depleted next year than you might think.
Long story short, get your fill of Brian Hartline now.
The theme of the '08 season for the Buckeyes centers on the seniors like James Laurinaitis and Malcolm Jenkins who turned down the NFL to return for their final seasons, and the tightness of OSU's 2005 class played no small part in that.
Hartline, a member of that class, expects that friendship to play the same role in reverse after this season. The guys who redshirted and have a year of eligibility left may not want to feel like leftovers when their friends who are four-year seniors are heading out. For anyone on the edge, the urge will be to leave, not stay. That '05 group, which provided a backbone for the team the last two years, is very close.
"There are probably going to be situations at the end of the this year, that since [the seniors] are leaving, the [redshirt juniors] are going to want to leave, too,"
Hartline said. "It works both ways."
At this point I dropped a large, "Hmmmm,"
on Hartline, wondering to whom exactly he was referring - himself - but he didn't bite.
"There are a lot of guys, there's some camaraderie, and it's probably going to be hard to see a lot of the guys they played next to the last four years leave, and they're still here,"
Hartline said. "So it works both ways. Those guys came back, but you might lose some guys early."
Who could fall into this category? There are 10 redshirt juniors on scholarship, seven of them starters or major contributors. Let's rank them in order of our guesses on who is most likely to go:
1. CB Donald Washington - Great cover guy with off-field issues, makes sense to get out
2. WR Brian Hartline - Could be in for huge year with a quarterback he knows, won't be the same without Boeckman
3. DE Lawrence Wilson - If he hadn't broken his leg and had played as well as many expected, he may have been a candidate to go after last season
4. FS Anderson Russell - Has been growing into his position, could be another guy in line for a huge leap this season
5. DT Doug Worthington - NFL body, dealing with a DUI, but would be a reach to leave
6. C Jim Cordle - Centers don't leave early
7. DT Todd Denlinger - Not going anywhere
8. K Aaron Pettrey - Not even the field goal guy
9. CB Andre Amos - Lost too much time to knee injury
10. LB Austin Spitler - Has been waiting three years as James Laurinaitis' backup, won't give up a chance to play
Betting now, I'd count on Washington, Hartline and Wilson going, and watch to see what Russell's stock does after this season.
Let's add those three names to the seniors starters who won't be back: DL Nader Abdallah; LBs Laurinaitis and Freeman; CB Jenkins; OL Alex Boone, Steve Rehring and Ben Person; TE Rory Nicol; WR Brian Robiskie; QB Todd Boeckman; K Ryan Pretorius; and P A.J. Trapasso. Now throw in the true junior who should be a top five NFL pick, TB Beanie Wells.
The only other true juniors who might have any kind of decisions to make are safety Kurt Coleman and receiver Ray Small (if he plays well but doesn't completely satisfy Jim Tressel with his off-field dedication).
And now let's project the starting lineup for 2009:
DEFENSE
DE Thaddeus Gibson (Rob Rose still around)
DT Dexter Larimore (Worthington and Garrett Goebel in rotation)
DT Todd Denlinger
DE Cameron Heyward
SLB Brian Rolle
MLB Austin Spitler (pushed by Etienne Sabino)
WLB Ross Homan
CB Chimdi Chekwa
CB Andre Amos (though this competition, with Devon Torrence involved, would be wide open)
SS Kurt Coleman (Jermale Hines ready if either safety leaves)
FS Anderson Russell
P Ben Buchanan (Jon Thoma)
OFFENSE
LT Mike Adams
LG Justin Boren (Connor Smith in the mix)
C Jim Cordle
RG Bryant Browning (Mike Brewster pushing hard for a job somewhere)
RT J.B. Shugarts
TE Jake Ballard
WR Ray Small (Taurian Washington)
WR Dane Sanzenbacher (Jake Stoneburner)
WR DeVier Posey (Lamaar Thomas)
RB Brandon Saine (Dan Herron with a lot of carries, too)
FB Convert from another position
QB Terrelle Pryor
K Aaron Pettrey (Ben Buchanan)
There would be a clear line in the sand.
The 2002 recruiting class - A.J. Hawk, Santonio Holmes, Nick Mangold, Bobby Carpenter, Troy Smith, Quinn Pitcock - was the first defining class for Jim Tressel.
Then came the 2005 class - James Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins, Alex Boone, Brian Robiskie, Brian Hartline, Jim Cordle, Donald Washington, Lawrence Wilson, Anderson Russell.
Now comes the 2008 class, the current freshmen - Terrelle Pryor, Mike Adams, Mike Brewster, J.B Shugarts, DeVier Posey, Etienne Sabino, Lamaar Thomas, Andrew Sweat, Garrett Goebel - and it may be time after this season to pass the torch.
ng championships.
