Here for the Wins

1. When it comes to our pass rush, it is your OTs that will have their hands full. Your most successful pass blocker versus us last year is gone. We have considerable experience and talent there. We’ve lost guys 3 years running on the defensive interior. We coach it well. 2. Our guys have practiced against 1st rounders themselves. Played your guys too. 3. Statistically they are very similar. Mocks. We shall see how that turns out. As to your depth, if they are the typical OSU TEs, then that doesn’t move the needle. 4. Moore has the best single performance outside of Smith. Wingo has multiple 50 yard plus plays. You know somebody is putting up yards. I get it. Limited experience, but they went up against the best secondary daily last year. 5. Here is what you haven’t seen out of our DTs. You haven’t seen them in our environment. You can’t double them because our other units will bury you. We’ve got lots of them. We can mix and match for relative strengths. It’s a bit tbd but to assume you’ll win there is more let’s wait and see from my perspective. Do not be surprised if our offensive gameplan is more focused with more surprises than what you saw in Dallas. If the line holds up, that may create some opportunities.

Exactly why is your Oline one of the best? Wingo likely has the best size/speed combo of any WR your guys have seen this year or last. The wonderful C Tate has 5 career TDs, 2 versus Northwestern. He has 3 games with 6 or more catches at approximately 10 yards per catch there. His numbers will undoubtedly go up, but he’s yet to produce big plays. He versus Moore is a virtual push. I am not sure Klare is markedly different than Endries. Seems as though you are undervaluing the Wngo/Moore/Endries group. It will come down to who wins more often upfront. I believe you will see a different level of pass rush from us this year than you did last. You were not dominant in the run games against our D. I don’t see that differently this year. It certainly could come down to who breaks some unexpected big plays.

Well, sure, in retrospect. From a fans perspective, there are some limiting factors regarding our knowledge. NIL. They had a good grasp on the two deep. So how much cash do you have for that extra guy? It’d also seem a guy like Agbo is a type you could get. Was he flat out told there’s no room or did he not like the options? The past two years we’ve played basically six guys until injuries hit. We’re not willingly reaching into our depth. Outside of QB, we use backups in all places but Oline. We’ve largely operated with 7 guys the past two years. Similar for 3 and 4 years ago. The 3rd Tackle, the 3rd Guard are likely to operate either on the right or left side. In the 4 years, we haven’t gone more than 8 deep to speak of. I’d wager this staff has had few years in which they go deeper and rarely hit that 11th guy. If you’re a transfer and aren’t one of the top 3, you aren’t getting much playing time. If you’re an upperclassman and sitting down the depth chart, you will struggle to ever see the field in future years particularly if we have younger guys in front of you. If you can’t offer playing time or presumably cash, what are you offering to incentivize a guy to provide depth? And you haven’t gotten to the discussion point that your freshman lineman that you believe are the future are slowed from a development standpoint because their reps are more limited. Options are going to be limited. Resources and opportunities limited. And it may impact your roster in a negative sense for guys you believe have a better future. The depth people desire probably hasn’t existed since scholarships became limited.

And if you lose a swing T, there’s a damn good chance the next man up is a first or second year guy (meaning 3rd team guy to 4th T). Or a dude you never expect to see the field.