There is always next year... (/s)

Submitted by BoFlex on

While looking at Ohio State's official depth chart for the Michigan game, I realized how young their team will be next season. They are losing:

9 senior "starters/co-starters"

  1. LT Jamarco Jones
  2. C Billy Price
  3. TE Marcus Baugh
  4. QB JT Barrett
  5. DE Tyquan Lewis
  6. DT Tracy Sprinkle
  7. DE Jalyn Holmes
  8. LB Chris Worley
  9. S Damon Webb

Then they always seem to have a handful of early declarees each year, so potentially:

2-4 early draftees among:

  1. DE Sam Hubbard (RsJr.)
  2. RB Mike Weber (RsSo.) - Might leave because of freshman JK Dobbins
  3. DT Dre'Mont Jones (RsSo.) - Some draft projections have him in the top 2 rounds
  4. LB Jerome Baker (Jr.)
  5. CB Denzel Ward (Jr.)

Urban is potentially having to replace 12+ starters next season while Harbaugh should be rolling out a pretty experienced squad.

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MonkeyMan

November 24th, 2017 at 1:53 PM ^

Given how badly JH teams do on the road vs. decent opponents I wouldn't be jumping up and down about next year

Joined: 10/13/2013

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switch26

November 24th, 2017 at 2:25 PM ^

We have beaten a lot of teams on the road when home couldn't.. the hurdle is beating higher ranked teams on the road.. and that is a result of having mediocre qb play during harbaugh tenure.. if they can develop his guys over the next couple years we should be fine

Joined: 02/04/2010

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Jasper

November 24th, 2017 at 2:02 PM ^

The OP's post gives me some hope, but those #$%^ers are one of the few teams that can realistically reload across the board the way they're recruiting (at an Alabama level).

Joined: 12/30/2010

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yourpaltal

November 24th, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^

I think only Baker should come back. He did not have a great season. I know Hubbard participated in their senior tackle. Weber has proved himself and RBs only have so many miles.

Joined: 01/08/2009

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evenyoubrutus

November 24th, 2017 at 2:20 PM ^

This doesn't strike me as being very significant. They get their top RB back, 3 offensive linemen, all their WR, and they've recruited a couple of 5 star QB's. If this were our team we would not be fretting right now.

Joined: 11/04/2008

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Scarlatina

November 24th, 2017 at 2:30 PM ^

I am actually not sure if all the WRs will come back. Parris Campbell and Johnnie Dixon are leading the team in receiving yards and TDs respectively, but both have dealt with significant injuries during their career. They might make decide to take the jump this year for the paycheck instead of another year of injury risk.

While LG Jordan, RG Knox, and RT Prince come back, OSU is still losing by far their 2 best O-linemen in LT Jones and C Price. OSU has recruited really well among the interior of the OL, but their a definitely a drop-off in young OT talent. If I had to guess, Michael Jordan will be asked to slide out to LT, and they'll fill his LG spot with either Branden Bowen, Wyatt Davis, or Josh Myers.

Joined: 12/22/2011

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Scarlatina

November 24th, 2017 at 2:58 PM ^

Actually on a related-note, a lot of Buckeye fans have been attributing the improvement among the WR group this season to former Buckeye/Dolphins WR Brian Hartline joining the staff as a GA/intern.

A lot of people knock Zach Smith for his lack of actual playing experience as a WR, but maybe the addition of Hartline has remedied that a little bit.

Joined: 12/22/2011

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Scarlatina

November 24th, 2017 at 2:20 PM ^

I think Ohio State's saving grace will be a lot of those "co-starters" mentioned, who have gotten a decent among of experience this season.

Especially on the D-Line that has rotated 6-8 players pretty regularly this year:

  • Tyquan Lewis > Nick Bosa
  • Sam Hubbard/Jalyn Holmes > Chase Young/Jonathon Cooper
  • Tracy Spinkle > Robert Landers

It will honestly compare closely with how Michigan transitioned its D-Line from last season to this season. The talent among the starters won't take a huge hit, but the depth and ability to rotate fresh guys will dip.

Seniors LT Jamarco Jones and C Billy Price will argubly be the most impactful losses because O-Line depth has always been a little shaky during Urban's tenure. Currently, I don't see any standout tackles or centers on the depth chart that can slide in to replace them without growing pains.

Joined: 12/22/2011

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SugarShane

November 24th, 2017 at 2:31 PM ^

Seriously was there one person who said there’s always next year after last years game? We all knew this would be a rough year from day 1 of the harbaugh era

Joined: 10/19/2011

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blue in dc

November 24th, 2017 at 3:57 PM ^

Would include an offensive tackle good enough to start in year three and a qb he’d be comfortable with as #2 at the start of year 3. If both of those things had happened, we’d almost certainly have beaten MSU, would have looked much more respectable against Penn State and Might have beaten Wisconsin. I’d also feel much better about tomorrow’s game. From my perspective, I think my expectations were only off by a year. I think at least one of his year 3 recruits will be ready to start in year 4 and that he’ll be comfortable with at least one of his year 2 or 3 qbs to start.

Joined: 01/22/2011

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BoFlex

November 24th, 2017 at 2:47 PM ^

I honestly felt some hope since it was going to be Year 3 of the Harbaugh era with ~80% of the roster now being "his guys."

Sure, we lost of a lot of "Hoke's guys" to the NFL, but a part of me legitimately believed that Harbaugh was the best talent developer in all of football. A 3* recruit could be regarded as a 4*, and a 5* would be an instant all-timer. I still believe it a little bit, but not as blindly I guess...

At worst, I thought they would be in line for a  9-10 win season. We returned an experienced Harbaugh-trained QB in Speights, re-united Habaugh with his former OC/QB coach in Pep Hamiliton, and addressed the OL coaching by hiring Greg Frey. I imagined that the offense would be the anchor of the season while Don Brown developed a young defense.

Instead, the offense turned out to be the weakness, while the defense continued to ball out. I definitely did not think we'd struggle against Cincinnati, Air Force, Purdue, Indiana... or lose to a previously 3-9 MSU squad. As other have said, the overall record is not that shocking, but moreso how Michigan has looked while getting that record.

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UM Fan from Sydney

November 24th, 2017 at 2:36 PM ^

They had the same problem last year but still found a way to win a lot and beat UM (of course they and Big Ten had the refs in their pockets, but that is another story).

Joined: 09/17/2015

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Perkis-Size Me

November 24th, 2017 at 2:41 PM ^

How many starters did he replace last year and he still went 11-1 and made the playoff?

He and Saban (rightfully so) will always get the benefit of the doubt. They reload every single yeR. Expect them to be in the playoff conversation in November.

Joined: 11/30/2011

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Perkis-Size Me

November 24th, 2017 at 3:12 PM ^

Miami losing only really helps Wisconsin at this point. OSU will still need to win out, absolutely curbstomp Wisconsin, Clemson will need to lose again, Auburn will need to lose again, and Georgia will need to lose again.

Sadly with the exception of Clemson losing again, those other scenarios are very likely. I still think OSU is on the outside looking in when all is said and done. Getting blown out by an awful Iowa team will be hard for the committee to ignore.

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Maynard

November 24th, 2017 at 3:23 PM ^

No. Actually Miami losing helps a lot of teams. It's helps a potential one loss Alabama team. It helps everyone else who may have a shot at the playoff. So I get what you're trying to say, but no, it actually helps several teams because if they lose to Clemson they're done and if they were to stomp Clemson they would be in.

But yeah, I know you were specifically talking about OSU in this instance.

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kevin holt

November 24th, 2017 at 2:53 PM ^

They used to have early entries. Much like Bridges coming back, something convinced their 1st rounders to return (not implying anything---Hurst came back too although he wasn't a nominal starter---but somebody's pitch may have changed).

Joined: 03/16/2010

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uminks

November 24th, 2017 at 3:07 PM ^

That OSU was a young team but they just have a conveyor belt of talent ready to take over for those graduating or leaving early. Harbuagh is trying to do the same here and I think it will start in 2019. I hope we can upset OSU and I think it is possible but the more likely outcome is that they will outscore us and our offense will never catch up and the defense may play well for a half or 3 quarters but they will get worn down and OSU will end up winning by 20 points. Urban will be pouring it on since he wants to look good in the eyes of the playoff commit.

Joined: 11/10/2009

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SeattleWolverine

November 24th, 2017 at 3:09 PM ^

First year QBs do generally suck, so we've got that going for us. Granted that JT Barrett alternates between looking good and sucking pretty frequently. But maybe we'll get lucky and the next guy will be Bellisari 2.0. Hopefully?

Joined: 11/07/2012

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Scarlatina

November 24th, 2017 at 4:32 PM ^

It'll definitely be weird seeing a different starting QB take the field next year.

Early signs point to RsFr. Dwayne Haskins being Barrett's heir-apparent, who has looked decent in limited snaps: 34/50 (68%), 533 total yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT

The other candidate, RsSo. Joe Burrow actually won the offseason battle for backup, but broke his hand a week before the season started: 29/39 (74%), 340 total yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs

Then the X-Factor is freshman Tate Martell who is redshirting this season.

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