The All-Tressel Offensive team did generate some controversy and I am fairly certain this team will as well. Let us face it, over 7 years it is easy to probably think one player over another may or may not have been better than another at the same position. The important things that matter during those 7 years, however, are 6-1, 4 Big Ten titles, 1 National Championship, and 6-1.
Defensive End
The Buckeyes have maintained a stable of great defensive ends over the years and none have been greater than Vernon Gholston. Gholston is an obvious choice for this team as he walked away as the all-time season sack leader in Ohio State history. So, who should join him? Ohio State has seen - Simon Fraser, Jay Richardson, Will Smith, and Darrion Scott, all play under Tress, as well as up and comers, Cameron Heyward, Lawrence Wilson, and Robert Rose. Your bookends on the All-Tressel defensive line are:
Vernon Gholston:
Will Smith: There are no videos out to display Will Smith’s defensive prowess off the end, however, Smith did finish with 23 career sacks (10.5 his senior season). His total sacks over his career ranked him fifth in Ohio State history at the time. He was eventually drafted 18th overall in the 2003 NFL Draft.
Defensive Tackle
A position that hasn’t been a strong point for the Buckeyes over the years. The recruiting has changed as of late to recruit faster and stronger interior defensive lineman but that doesn’t mean the Buckeyes haven’t had a couple of tough men on the inside since Tressel’s arrival. Your top two defensive tackles on the All-Tressel team are:
Tim Anderson a stud out of Clyde, Ohio and was actually an Ohio State champion wrestler in high school. This wrestling prowess led to his power on the inside which punished offensive lineman and wound up leading him as a third round draft pick in the NFL.
Quinn Pitcock outside of having an awesome name the Piqua, Ohio native was a force on the inside line for the 2005 and 2006 Buckeyes. His prowess and strength led him to be a third round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.
Linebacker
Forget Penn State and their black shoes and their Dan Connor’s, Paul Posluzny’s, and LaVrar Arrington’s. Nobody has got a thing on Ohio State’s linebacking corps over the past few years. Seriously, who can step on: Bobby Carpenter, Matt Wilhelm, AJ Hawk, Anthony Schlegel, Cie Grant, James Laurinaitis, Marcus Freeman, and up and coming studs, Etienne Sabino, Thad Gibson, and Austin Spitler? The answer … NOBODY. Your All-Tressel linebacker crew is:
AJ Hawk in one word was a stud on the collegiate level. Outside of marrying Brady Quinn’s slacked jawed sister everything this guy did was right. Just watch Hawk and fellow All-Tressel team linebacker Bobby Carpenter own folks in this video:
And your final member of the All-Tressel linebacking crew is …. James Laurinaitis who could simply go down as the most decorated and successful linebacking in all of Ohio State history.
Cornerbacks
Not a slouch of a position for the Bucks over the years either. Since Tressel’s arrival there have been some great corners like - Antonio Smith, Dustin Fox, Chris Gamble, Malcolm Jenkins, and Ashton Youboty. Your All-Tressel team at corner is:
Malcolm Jenkins a man who was a sure fire first round pick in this past years NFL draft and a fella who probably still hasn’t played up to his potential. Wow. Check out Malcolm:
Ashton Youboty undoubtedly left school a year too early but his play was always exceptional. If you remember Ashton was highly involved in what lead to this great meltdown ….
This was certainly not a …….
… but I’ll be darned if it’s still not great.
Safety
I love this position. I never played ‘defense’ in pick up football as a kid … I played safety because I wanted to kick your tail when I had the chance. It’s true. There have been a couple of guys who have done this at Ohio State since Tressel started in 2001 and they were not named - Donnie Nickey, Will Allen, Nate Salley, or Anderson Russell. They were however named:
Mike Doss … need I say more … the very end of this vid says it for me.
Donte Whitner… you know .. I was trying to come up with some words about Donte Whitner so I went looking through highlight videos and then my wife said I was boring her. Then I thought … is this the life of a sports blogger … am I that much of a loser. Good chance, yes. But …
… whoever posted that sucks harder. Thank you random Youtube user for making me feel better about myself. Wow. By the way, wicked pick.
Ok, the All-Tressel Defensive Team is set …. thoughts?
My first is this … it’s 10:15 pm and Michigan still sucks.
One of my favorite blogs, MGoBlog, recently did an All Carr Team in honor of all the great players who have played under Coach Carr. Even though I think most of those guys who played for Lllllloyd are llllllosers I could not stop myself from thinking about the players who have been great under Tressel at Ohio State. So, sorry Brian for stealing your idea but I am going to roll with it. I imagine you’ll either: a) never find out anyway or b) get over it. Besides, isn’t imitation the greatest form of flattery. Ok, time to carry on.
Quarterback
Tress hasn’t had too many QBs take snaps for him. It started with Steve Bellisari (bellasorry) and then went on to Craig Krenzel, Scott McMullen, Justin Zwick, Troy Smith, and Todd Boeckman. The obvious three choices out of this list are:
Craig Krenzel - QB 2002 Big Ten Champs, 2002 National Championship Team
Troy Smith - QB 2005, 2006 Big Ten Champs, Heisman Trophy Winner, 2006 National Runner Up
Todd Boeckman - QB of 2007 Big Ten Champs, 2007 National Runner Up
While Boeckman had a great first year campaign under center for the Buckeyes it is impossible to choose him over a quarterback who brought the Buckeyes a national title or another who brought home the Heisman.
However, Krenzel was just a cog in a very talented team and one whose numbers don’t reflect greatness. Smith was surrounded by some amazing players as well but take Smith away from the 2005 and 2006 Buckeyes and I am not convinced that the Bucks accomplish anything near what they accomplished. The nod for quarterback therefore goes to …. Troy Smith
Running Back
If everything stays the same the Buckeyes could make an argument that they’re Running Back U. Not to say that any running back, sans Keith Byars, has had a tremendous NFL career Trssel has started to bring in some top talent at this position and it all began with Maurice Clarett. I know … I know .. I said the C word but had Maurice stayed on the path of righteousness and not allowed his sense of entitlement to get the best of him we may be talking about the greatest and most decorated back in Buckeye history. However, the Buckeyes now have a guy that may take that honor anyway after setting a record for the number of yards rushing by a Sophomore Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells may have the honor of greatest Buckeye back bestowed upon him. The top three choices for best RBs under Tressel are:
Maurice Clarett
Antonio Pittman
Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells
While Clarett had an impressive year as a freshmen his eventual downward spiral eliminates him immediately. No, it is not because of his off-the-field transgressions but because of his only one year of being on the field. Pittman turned in back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons and Wells proved a great backup his freshmen year and had the most stellar year of any sophomore in the history of Ohio State football. This is why Chris Wellsis the greatest back to play under Tressel.
Wide Receiver
There have been some good receivers to come through under Tressel but the Buckeyes have not had a 1,000 yard receiver since Michael Jenkins did leading up to the national championship of 2002. Chris Gamble was the other deep threat that season as well. Other notables along the way include: Drew Carter, Bam Childress, Santonio Holmes, Roy Hall, Tedd Ginn, Jr., Anthony Gonzalez, and Brian Robiskie. We’ll go four deep at the wide receiver position with the first two listed as the starting receivers and the second two as their backups. And the winners are:
Number one receiver: Michael Jenkins. It is tough to argue against the last 1,000 yard receiver in Ohio State history. Sadly, either highlight films don’t linger around long or Michael Jenkins was the only threat as a receiver that year as the only highlight I have is a punt return … here it is ….
Number two receiver: Ted Ginn, Jr. This man was electric any time he touched the ball. Whether it was returning kickoffs, punts, or lining up at receiver. Ginn had the proclivity of making defenses look stupid. For example:
*** Note, wow I couldn’t stop watching him!!
Number three receiver: Anthony Gonzalez. Anthony gets the nod here simply because of his tenacity, he’s my friend Lesley’s favorite, and … well …. this play.
Wide receiver number four Santonio Holmes. Perhaps in terms of raw wide receiver talent Santonio is the best of the bunch but he isn’t as special as the other guys. He was one heck of a player and a fine duo did he and Ginn make.
Tight End
Considering about the only memorable thing an Ohio State tight end has done under Tressel was drop an important pass against Texas (Ben Hartsock) this position is hard to fill. One can hope that newcomer Jake Stoneburnercan make a speedy difference at the position but I wouldn’t expect Tress to change his philosophy completely. So, I hate to say this, but no tight end on this All-Tressel team.
Offensive Line
Straight up Tressel has had some studs and just brought in three more studs in Mike Adams, JB Shugarts, and Michael Brewster; they can’t make the team yet though! Some of the greats who have come through Tressel’s program are: Rob Sims, Nick Mangold, Kirk Barton, Alex Stepanovich, Shane Olivea, Alex Boone, TJ Downing, Doug Datish, and Steve Rehring. With no real concern for where the played on the line while at Ohio State the offensive line All-Tressel team is:
Rob Sims
Nick Mangold
Alex Stepanovich
Shane Olivea
Alex Boone
So your All-Tressel Offensive Team looks like this:
QB: Troy Smith
RB: Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells
WR: Michael Jenkins
Ted Ginn, Jr.
Anthony Gonzalez
Santonio Holmes
OL: Rob Sims
Nick Mangold
Alex Stepanovich
Shane Olivea
Alex Boone
In the coming days I will share with you the All-Tressel Defensive team as well as the Futures team. There is also a planned All-Hated team of players I have despised over the years. Like I said yesterday … this time of year is rough and I’ve got to do what I gots to do.
After getting in a mini debate over mid-major relevancy earlier today on my blog regarding that subject I have come to a conclusion ……… this time of year sucks for collegiate sports. Baseball and softball are wrapping things up and football doesn’t kick into high gear until the beginning of August. A guy can only come up with enough crap to say about Rich Rodriguez after all. So, some random thoughts.
1) No, mid majors aren’t overwhelmingly relevant into today’s collegiate sporting world. Sure, they can provide entertainment in certain areas … football especially …. like the West where the WAC is alive and well and some Conference USA teams draw well. An argument was made regarding hockey and baseball but in the grand scheme of things those are two different animals and still the absolute majority of those champions come from big time schools.
Listen, I am not trying to knock the athletes that play at these schools; I have known several who have. I am not trying to put these programs down and place them in their graves. After all, collegiate sports is still an entertainment industry and there are plenty of markets available for many teams. But in terms of national championships and truly astonishing teams … the mid major just doesn’t have many .. and that decreases their relevancy.
2) Desmond Howard is an idiot. Disagree with Kirk Herbstreit all day long but to question his integrity openly in public when you’re both employed by ESPN and he is clearly more important to their success. Bad idea. Desmond may still have his job but here is thinking his lips are sealed a little more tightly next time.
3) Jim Leyland is a big admirer of Rich Rodriguez. I wonder if ole Richy has any tips for really old Jimmy and his Tigers. Me thinks Leyland and the Tigers would be open to trying just about anything. Perhaps the Tigers could not worry about playing defense and develop an explosive offense …. oh wait.
4) Can August 30th take an longer to get here already?!?
5) Does anyone have any thoughts on USC-OSU on September 13th?! This is easily the most exciting out of conference game being played. Unless you’re a fan of the school in Ann Arbor. If so, I’d be really interested in Utah. First game under new coach and a team that could surprise some folks this year.
6) I really hope Chris Morris, who played at my high school and at Michigan State, can remain on an NFL roster. It’s a great story and this community ought to be very proud of that young man.
7) It’s 8:16 pm and Michigan still sucks.
Jay Bruce, the Red’s top prospect was just called up today and I watched him get his first hit. Finally something good!
I have settled all debate regarding whether of not the University of Southern California has a durrrrrty athletic department and in honor of the end of this debate Xtina’s hit Durrrrrrrrrty is the new school fight song. I have called school administration and informed them that Ms. Aguilera is now a permanent member of the Song Girls and that it be required that she sing her hit tune each and every time the team hits the field/court/other playing surface.
In case you’re curious what the hell I am talking about … click here. In a nutshell it appears that USC’s OJ Mayo may have been taking durrrrrty money for some time now.
If I were Reggie Bush I’d by hiding behind Kim Kardashian’s tush. Lord knows its large enough.
Ok, not quite but in the SEC this may hold the same significance. Troubled LSU QB Ryan Perrillioux has been dismissed from the team, FINALLY.
Being a Big Ten fan I have grown to despise all things SEC. Yes, the glaringly obvious reason is the past two national championship games but I also hate the fact that they truly believe they are completely dominate over everyone. NO! Just Ohio State.
Perrillioux’ dismissal from the team really leaves a huge void at QB, similar to the one Michigan is facing. Couple this with the losses of Jacob Hester and Early Doucet and the Tigers could become an offensively challenged squad. This isn’t to imply that Les Miles’ cupboard is bare as I fully expect the defending national champions to be a quality team but you have to no longer expect them to win their division. Bleaux Tigers.
I’d look for Florida or Georgia to come out of the SEC this year as champ. Auburn and LSU will be competitive, South Carolina will be overrated as usual, and Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide (and why the heck is their mascot an elephant?) to be medicore again. The surprise team of the year may just be Arkansas; especially if Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett receives a waiver from the NCAA allowing him to play this season under offensive genius Bobby Petrino.
I apologize it has been so long; even if I am only apologizing to the 3 of you who visit the page 10 times daily. A lot has happened since my last post but I am happy to announce that the Michigan State campus has failed to burn to the ground at this moment in time and seeing as how school is letting out it may survive until football season. Yes, Mark Dantonio that is good news.
There is this recent hubbubaloo about the plus one model that was floated around for the BCS. A lot of people, like Matt Hayes from The Sporting News, want to quickly blame the Big Ten and the Pac 10 because they have for the longest time been the loudest opponents to any ‘playoff’ idea. Never mind that 1) the vote to continue discussions was shelved by a 4-2 vote with only the SEC and ACC voting to continue discussions and 2) the actual proposal would not actually solve anything. If anyone remembers last season’s final BCS standings were: 1) Ohio State 2) LSU 3) Virginia Tech 4) Oklahoma. Can someone explain to me how that alleviates those who feel that Georgia, USC, and Hawaii were somehow cheated out of their chance to win a National Championship? Really all a plus one model would accomplish is to open up the level of complaining by more and more teams.
I suppose I can be crucified publicly for being on the side of the argument that is against a playoff in college football at it’s highest level. The game, commerically, is slowly becoming more and more and more like the NFL every season; even the rules are progressively becoming more ‘professional’. I like that fact that essntially one, sometimes two, slip ups and you’re out of the discussion. Sure, it is sometimes fun to get behind a team like Davidson and their run through the most recent NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, or, be proud when Pittsburgh with an 11-5 regular season record (and wild card winner) stormed to vctory in Super Bowl 40. But these instances are few and far between because let us face the music — for the most part the BCS formula generally gets it right.
The other topic I wanted to hit on is Big Ten football coming out of Spring practice. I had previously put out my pre-Spring Big Ten rankings and there has been a slight change. The new order, with estimated records will follow.
Ohio State 12-0 (8-0)
Wisconsin 10-2 (7-1)
Penn State 10-2 (6-2)
Illinois 10-2 (6-2)
Mich State 9-3 (5-3)
Purdue 7-5 (6-2)
Michigan 6-6 (4-4)
Iowa 6-6 (4-4)
N’Western 5-7 (3-5)
Minnesota 3-9 (1-7)
Indiana 2-10 (1-7)
Now Michigan fan before you get all over me understand this … I think Michigan will be competitive but even the best coaches, including yours, have struggled in their first years at a new school - Urban Meyer, Pete Carroll, they both did. There are just too many questions offensively right now and maybe after Fall ball I’ll have a better grasp on things and how Michigan is going to stack up but with how thin they are offensively …. yikes. Of course, keep in mind, Ohio State was going to have to rely on their defense to get by and turned out to be quite good offensively. So maybe there is a surprise in the works.
My guesses for Big Ten Awards:
Offensive POY: Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells, Ohio State
Defensive POY: James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
Freshmen of the Year: Sam McGuffie, Michigan
So, I believe I am somewhat caught up. Time will tell what is in store for this upcoming season and I tell ya, I cannot wait!
Jay Bruce, the Red’s top prospect was just called up today and I watched him get his first hit. Finally something good!