Let’s Enjoy Em While We’ve Got Em

Despite all the prayers to the football gods that I’m sure every Buckeye fan in the country sent to heaven this week  the results turned out to be not so good for the Buckeyes… Literally not a single game went our way in helping the Buckeyes get a shot to be in the college football playoff. That being said it is nice to know that we are at least going to be in the Fiesta Bowl playing a very talented team in Notre Dame.

The biggest take away that I hope Buckeye fans get from this last game is to really appreciate the talent that is on the field and the winning that they brought along with them. The total amount of talent on this team has been talked about as the most talented team in OSU history, and ,frankly, that would be hard to debate. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and for this team that end is only one game away. The talent that we are so use to watching on the field is going to be gone forever. Hopefully these great recruiting classes that  the coaching staff has been bringing in will be able to fill the void left by our upperclassmen, but we obviously can’t expect the same success right away from such a young team. So as this last game approaches let’s take a look at the players that will for sure be leaving, and even a few that could go either way between staying and going pro.

The major contributors that we know for sure will be gone due to graduation are LT Taylor Decker, WR Braxton Miller, RT Chase Farris, TE Nick Vannett, DT Adolphus Washington, DT Tommy Shutt, DT Joel Hale LB Joshua Perry, LB Cam Williams, WR Jeff Greene. Decker, Washington and Perry have all been talked about as first round picks in the draft and will surely be contributors at the next level along with Miller of course. A few others in this group could have a chance to be signed as free agents as well.

When it comes to underclassmen leaving early, that is when things get interesting. This group of guys would be crazy not to enter in my opinion, DE Joey Bosa, RB Zeke Elliot, WR Michael Thomas and LB Darron Lee. All four of these players have first round draft grades, meaning if they decided to come back to school they could be turning down a lot of money to do so. An argument can be made for both Lee and Thomas to come back for one more year simply to sharpen their skills and become the best prospect at they position in the entire draft, but it is hard to say that to a 20 -year -old who could be a few months away from being a millionaire if they enter the draft.

Finally the guys on the bubble are players that ,in my opinion, should stay one more year to develop but still have a great shot of being drafted this year. Guys like S Vonn Bell, CB Eli Apple, G Pat Elfein, And WR Jalin Marshall. These guys have all been fabulous players for us over the past few years but it just seems to me that it would be more beneficial for them to come back and develop their skills to improve their draft stock for the next year. The one guy that is on the fence here is Vonn Bell. Bell is a first round player, but recently safety’s have not been going very high in the draft so returning could benefit him by getting bigger and stronger to show he deserves to be a high first round selection.

The last guy that has already came out and said that he will not be returning is 12-gauge himself, Cardale Jones. After the Michigan State game Jones came out and said this would be his last year at Ohio State, but he did not say this would be his last year in college. In my opinion, the best thing Jones could do would be transfer to a pro- style offensive school to show off his skills at a better rate than our offense. That being said, even if he decides to enter the draft he will still probably be a 4th or 5th round pick simply because of his incredible upside.

It is impossible to put into words exactly how much these players have given to this program but it is A LOT. Regardless what they decide to do they will always be Buckeyes and Buckeye Nation will always be grateful for what they have done!!

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