What this is: Our take on preseason all-Big Ten lists, drafting position-by-position.

Previously: Quarterbacks and Running Backs, Receivers and Tight Ends, Offensive Line, Defensive Line

How things stand:

We're skipping past LBs because we're going to do a four-guy LBs/FLEX round afterwards. And the draft is randomized again.

======CORNERBACKS======

CB #1: Lavert Hill, Michigan (Ace)

One of the best corners in the country two seasons ago. One of the best corners in the country last year, again, and among the leaders in the conference at pretty much any fancystat. A press man specialist who can line up on the outside or in the slot, the latter an increasingly important factor in today’s game—his ability to nerf Penn State’s slot fades helped turn that series around dramatically last year. Has significant NFL Draft interest despite non-ideal NFL size—Kiper has him as the #5 senior corner and a potential riser.

You know all this, but it’s nice to hear again.

[After THE JUMP: Lots of nickels drafted to safety, and we make up a new cornerback stat]

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CB #2 Jeffrey Okudah, Ohio State (Seth)

His name means "let's see it" in Huttese. [Patrick Barron]

This pick's about projection, but a projection just about everyone expects after a sophomore season when he allowed a Big Ten-best 37.5% catch rate and a bowl game when his ELITE range was on full display. MoveTheSticks' Daniel Jeremiah calls Okudah "more talented than any CB in last year's draft class." PFF's Michael Renner has Okudah going 7th overall (with two more of my picks and none of y'all's in the top 10). The Athletic's Dane Brugler also has Okudah the nation's top CB prospect and broke down why:

The two most important traits when scouting the cornerback position are athletic ability and mental processing. And despite not being a full-time starter in his first two seasons in Columbus, Okudah has shown flashes of being special in both areas. His diagnose skills, reaction quickness and sudden burst allow him to close with explosive speed and break up passes.

He was mostly left in single coverage by Schiano and given the Lavert Hill treatment by opponents, but that couldn't stop every draft analyst [WARNING: 2018 M-OSU LINK] from finding his insane closing speed and freaky long arms on tape. Like most of the OSU defense he had a few mental lapses here and there during the sleepwalk to The Game, but the reasons he has every NFL secondary coach salivating were on full display in that and the Rose Bowl, and given Okudah's trajectory, even the coach of last year's worst NFL secondary can't screw this up.

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CB#3: DiCaprio Bootle, Nebraska

Also likes satellite camps [Nebraska Communications]

No, I did not select him solely for his name. Yes, okay, the name played a big part of the selection. Say it with me. DiCaprio Bootle.

Bootle should have been a Michigan State corner five years ago, as his playing style is reminiscent of Darqueze Dennard. He plays in the hip pocket of the receiver, and from the moment the ball goes up, he's hand-fighting and kicking and biting and folding-chairing. When you watch his tape, you find yourself asking "I wonder if they threw a flag on that play" about 60% of the time. Michigan was the victim of this once, though Michigan won by 46 points so complaints were muted. This all resulted in Bootle breaking up a disproportionate number of passes:

Dicaprio Bootle was GOOD at forcing incomplete passes last season pic.twitter.com/Q3IwXXJCBh

— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 16, 2019

Bootle is also (usually) a willing, if undersized, tackler who isn't going to stick many people but will drag them down after a couple of yards. Also—and I cannot emphasize this enough—Dicaprio. Bootle.

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CB #4: Tariq Castro-Fields, PSU (Brian)

A little bit like Oruwariye is a lot of what we like. [John Stinely/The Daily Collegian]

Castro-Fields was PSU's third corner last year but did make three starts in addition to nickel duties. He is set to break out this year as a starter; he's already matched Hill in yards per cover snap:

Lavert Hill and Tariq Castro-Fields both allowed the fewest yards per cover snap among returning B1G CBs. pic.twitter.com/1puB5Gv4WP

— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 21, 2019

That stat has a lot of wobble in it because so much of it depends on your pass rush and what your role in the defense is, but Castro-Fields also graded out as one of the league's best corners:

Watch out for Tariq Castro-Fields pic.twitter.com/0uJeP1ggQ1

— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 17, 2019

I have a cornerback stat I like that's PBUs/downfield tackles. (IE: TFLs don't count.) With 7 PBUs and 20 downfield tackles Castro-Fields's ratio was a lot better than teammate Amani Oruwariye (12 PBUs, 43.5 downfield tackles), who got drafted in the fifth round by the Lions.

Like a lot of PSU corners he's also a good run defender and tough tackler:

Castro-Fields is still under the radar for NFL types because he hasn't started a lot of games, but he'll fly up boards if he gets incrementally better this year.

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Seth: "Got drafted in the 5th round by the Lions" is the worst possible sales pitch of Oruwariye. PFF fave and guy Seth gave an FFFF shield who inexplicably fell to the Lions in the 5th round after dropping game-sealing interceptions against MSU and OSU.

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CB #5: Tino Ellis, Maryland (Brian)

Made things difficult. [Eric Upchurch]

Ellis also fares very well in our PBUs/downfield tackles metric with 12 PBUs and just 20 tackles away from the line of scrimmage. That's only a filter, one that needs to be checked further. PFF thought he was good on critical downs...https://twitter.com/PFF_College/status/1164216346470735872...which is nice even if it seems like a unnecessary data slice.

Ellis's 2018 highlights are useful because they've got the large majority of his interesting events, and they show a guy who isn't getting anything cheap. He's in great position, hip pocket on most of these guys:

Also a fair chunk of his downfield tackles were on hitches against soft coverage or, like, fullbacks who got loose. I'm really surprised he's not drawing more NFL draft talk as a 6'1" guy with a reputed 4.5 40; he was a top 300 composite recruit.

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BiSB: /makes Dantonio-against-Michigan-in-2016 Face

/sighs deeply

Okay, FINE,

CB #6: Josiah Scott, MSU (BiSB)

Scrunchy. [Barron]

Scott is fine. I'd even call him good. And maybe he becomes very good. I would be very pleased if Michigan could get his level of play from Vincent Gray for the first few weeks of the year. But holy hell can we pump the brakes on him being a first team All-Big Ten corner?

Scouting corners can be hard, because (a) most of their work takes place out of frame, and (b) not re-entering the frame is a good thing. It's why David Long's career highlight tape was like 37 seconds long. So it's easy to see that Scott has 4 interceptions in 17 career games, and not look deeper to notice that those interceptions came against WMU, Rutgers, Rutgers, and Rutgers. His highlight tape is what you would call "results-oriented," which is heavy on the following sequence: (i) the receiver gets a step or two; (ii) the ball is underthrown, resulting in a PBU, and (iii) Scott doing the "no sir" incompletion signal.

THAT SAID, Scott showed promise as a true freshman in 2017. He has good closing speed when a receiver gets a step, and he's a solid tackler. He missed most of last year with a knee injury, but played well in the Why Is The FCC Allowing This To Be Shown In Public Bowl, breaking up 4 passes.

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Seth: I know it was unrealistic to expect Castro-Fields to drop to me but I was hopeful Tino Ellis was slipping through the cracks because Maryland.

BiSB: I thought I might have forced Brian into taking Scott, which would have made me much happier.

Seth: At least there will finally be an outlet on the internet who mentions Scott without framing gift picks from the Rutgers Interception Hose as "came back with two picks in his last two games." (Sorry: three games).

BiSB: "Picked off a pass from Isiah Pacheco" does not carry the cachet one would hope.

Seth: I like Brian's idea for using PBUs versus downfield tackles to scrub out the "we're just avoiding this guy" stuff that, e.g., caused PFF to pick a couple of nickelbacks over Lavert Hill.

Since I have Bill C stats handy I decided to slightly alter the formula: PBUs+INTs / Tackles-Run Stuffs. Turn on the machine and let's see if it can spit out a top five that makes sense:

Rk	Player	Team	Tak	Stuff	INT	PBU	PBU/DFTs	Ratio
1	David Long	Michigan	13.5	1	1	8	9/12.5	72%
2	Tino Ellis	Maryland	20	0	1	11	12/20	60%
3	John Reid	PSU	20.5	2	2	8	10/18.5	54%
4	Lavert Hill	Michigan	12	0	1	5	6/12	50%
5	Dicaprio Bootle	Nebraska	32.5	0	0	15	15/32.5	46%

(Minimum 10 tackles)

Captain, I think we've got something. Michigan's pair you know. Bootle is good. Tino Ellis is the guy who most popped when I was writing the HTTV previews last spring; I was seriously hoping he would fall to me. As for the last guy...

CB #7 John Reid, Penn State (Seth)

Little guy plays large [Bryan Fuller]

...apparently he's really into advanced metrics too.

As a freshman, Reid confounded the older players with his approach. Former Penn State safety Jordan Lucas, now with the Miami Dolphins, said last year he had never seen a player arrive on campus wanting to watch game film. After spending time with Reid, Lucas said he found Reid different — "but a good different."

This is not a new thing:

As a ninth-grader, he voluntarily turned in a two-page paper to his coach after watching an instructional DVD on bump-and-run coverage. He is a perfectionist in both fields.

Since arriving on campus, when Reid wasn't stockpiling eligibility with various injuries, PSU has invariably chosen to play him at field corner, even if that meant leaving Tariq Castro-Fields, Amani Oruwariye, or Christian Campbell on the bench, moving Lamont Wade or Jordan Lucas to safety, taking Wally Triplett off the field on defense, shifting young assistant Joe Paterno to linebackers, or leaving Marius a sub-legate for the entirely of the Jugurthine War.

Coming off the 2017-killing injury Reid had a slow start last year that belies a very strong finish. The NFL won't care because he's got less than ideal height and a history of injuries that go back to Craig Ross's childhood. Coaches will keep using him to demonstrate technique. He'll keep devouring film and turning that into data on his enemies' tendencies. And as they've done since the dawn of time, opponents will keep looking for easier yards elsewhere.

The Mathlete: I can get you passing tackles vs total tackles if you like.

Seth: This does a fair enough job I think. If a CB is making a run-stuffing stop it's usually on a screen or a jet sweep. If he's getting a lot of tackles downfield it means he's giving up catches underneath him or across him. Rutgers and MSU cornerbacks came out kind of ugly on this because they both play a Quarters off coverage. The rest of the list I got is pretty sensical.

Not as useful for safeties involved in run stops. Tyree Kinnel was 2/54.5.

Brian: Yeah it's not a safeties metric at all.

Seth: Unless you're just trying to see who plays a cover 1 single-high. Navon Mosley (2/74.5) and Jordan Fuller (5/70.5) are the other two anywhere near that.

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CB #8: Lamar Jackson, Nebraska (Ace)

Jackson is safety-sized but moves like a slot receiver [Upchurch]

I had a pretty good idea I was going to select Jackson before I decided to check my instinct against the metric du jour of this post. Other players included are the remaining PFF preseason All-Big Ten cornerbacks and the other player I thought about selecting:

 

Brents has the shiniest ratio but his sample is quite limited. Jackson, meanwhile, has a top-100 recruit pedigree, great size (6'3", 215), and more of a resume. Even though Jackson’s built like a lot of safeties, he plays his share of press man for the Huskers, and he can flip his hips well for a big guy (https://youtu.be/bJBf9zJef80). He’s plenty adept at reading a quarterback from a zone drop, too.

He also shows up on a ton of PFF’s leaderboards for Big Ten corners from last year: snaps per reception (led the conference), lowest catch rate allowed, forced incompletion rate, and passer rating allowed.

And last year was considered middling for Jackson. He was benched early in the season against Purdue, then got better as the season went along. He’s got potential that the rest of the group down here lacks and he started delivering on it last year. With his early-season play in my head, I expected to go another direction before I dug in on Jackson’s full season, and the trajectory is promising.

Seth: Glad I turned you around. You guys were all "uh, 6'3/215--that's a safety" on (or between takes on—we haven't put the last one together yet) the podcast, but Jackson (NTLM) can play ball.

Ace: I was skeptical he could move but the film suggests otherwise. Also the stats.

======SAFETY======

S #1: Josh Metellus, Michigan (Ace)

Throw on Josh Metellus at your own risk: last season he only allowed a 41.8% completion percentage, nabbed 3 interceptions and held opposing quarterbacks to a 34.3 passer rating pic.twitter.com/oa9rxqp3tB

— PFF College (@PFF_College) July 8, 2019

I was all set to go with OSU’s Jordan Fuller, who carries a stronger reputation, but couldn’t justify picking him over Michigan’s most underrated player. As the graphic above indicates, it was very difficult to complete passes when targeting Metellus, He’s good in man or zone, tackles reliably, and makes plays—he tallied three picks, six additional breakups, and 3.5 TFLs last year. According to Bill Connelly’s numbers, Metellus’s average tackle occurred 9.42 yards downfield, a strong mark for a deep safety; Fuller came in at 11.94 yards downfield with one pick, four PBUs, and 2.5 TFLs.

The general draft consensus has Fuller over Metellus, but it’s not universal. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, whose scouting goes to a depth most don’t reach, has Metellus as the #7 senior safety and Fuller at #16, behind Antoine Brooks Jr. and just ahead of David Dowell (https://theathletic.com/1140198/2019/08/16/nfl-draft-summer-scouting-at…). I’ll take the Wolverine.

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S #2: Jordan Fuller, Ohio State (Seth)

[404 VIDEO NOT FOUND]

Jordan Fuller shouldn't be here. I can't blame Ace for taking Metellus, and doing so certainly worked out for Michigan when the hoped-for final piece of their 2016 New Jersey set chose the Buckeyes instead. What was never in doubt was this high-academic, cornerbackish freak athlete was going to succeed in college, whether he chose the greatest university in the world, or the one with a half-assing-it Greg Schiano.

I just mean he was supposed to go pro. Like, it was a done deal even before Fuller got a second round grade following a second-team all-conference season. But there was something that required a little surgery, Fuller took care of it last spring, and OSU got back the one guy from whom every Buckeye insider seemed to have direct intel otherwise.

Matt Miller and others still see him as the third-best safety in next year's draft, most noting his play rose substantially in their last three games (because every Buckeye's did).

Schiano choices do have consequences, however, and the "please somebody teach this gift to football how to tackle correctly" sentiments come out strongly in those draft reviews. It's overstated; PFF had him tied with Metellus among the conference's best run defenders, top-15 in run stops, and with a top-25 coverage grade nationally, while naming him to their 2018 midseason and 2019 preseason all-Big Ten teams. Ohio State just named him captain. It just seems to work out for those guys, doesn't it?

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S #3: DiCaprio Bootle, Nebraska (BiSB)

DiCaprio. Bootle.

Okay, okay. But DiCAPRIO BOOTLE, y'all...

S #3: Antoine Brooks, Jr., Maryland

Maryland puts their best linebacker at safety and people enable this. [Upchurch]

This one might be controversial, as we are selecting the linebackers and space players and wild cards in the next round, and Brooks wasn't a true safety last year. in fact, according to PFF, Brooks had a very nice season in 2018 at... linebacker? But he's listed on the Maryland roster as a safety, and his is reportedly moving to strong safety this season, so I'm taking him here. With the safeties. Embrace debate and whatnot.

Now, what IS Antoine Brooks? Oh, I have no earthly idea. He's 5'10, 220 pounds, and he lines up everywhere: as an edge rusher, as an overhang defender, over the slot, in the middle. If you watch his every-snap video against Texas, the comparison is easy: he's Mortal Jabrill Peppers. He's fast, quick, and defeats blocks surprisingly well for a guy his size. He arrives at the ball quickly, and with ill-intent. He led Big Ten, uh, linebackers in QB pressures with 27, and he led all DBs in the conference in TFLs with 9.5. He fits the mold of the traditional modern box hybrid safety corner linebacker. And whatever he is, he's the kind of guy you want on your team instead of the other guy's team.

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Seth: If you wanted a Terp safety with a funny name why not take Fofie Bazzie?

Today in Ohio State ruins everything: Brooks, the funnest if not the best hybrid space player thingy in the league has to move to strong safety to make room for Buckeye grad transfer Keandre Jones to play the hybrid role. Why? Because today in former Michigan recruiting targets are forever, former M commit Antwaine Richardson tore his ACL in spring and will apply for a 6th year. And today in Maryland probably won't be good, one of the guys battling to replace 1st round draft pick Darnell Savage at the other safety was the 75th outside linebacker on the composite.

The word for a mortal version of Jabrill Peppers is "Khaleke Hudson" FYI.

Ace: I can’t remember which one of you wizards did this but it’s on my hard drive for this moment.

David: That's phenomenal.

Seth: Smoothitron.

Brian: Okay who's a safety? Shaun Wade? Ball?

Seth: That's a cornerback and a "Husky" #hybridspaceplayerterms

Brian: Wade played nickel and S for OSU last year. So is brad hawkins a corner?

Seth: Everyone played safety for Ohio State last year. They were terrible at the non-Fuller position until that game they weren't.

BiSB: I think Hawkins is a Bandit. Possibly a Spur.

Seth: I believe the Don Brown term is Jaguar.

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S #4: David Dowell, MSU (Brian)

Having passed the prerequisite "See ball" course, Dowell is expected to take "Go to ball" this season. [MSU Athletics]

Dowell had an excellent sophomore year as a slot defender; he made a couple of All Big Ten teams as well, thanks in large part to a shiny INT number. He was also usually the deep safety to the field, which means he has a major hand in the fact that MSU gave up only 13 plays of 30+ yards a year ago. And we know he wasn't responsible for one of those.

While MSU was also very good at preventing 10 yard plays, nobody in the conference even came close to MSU's big play prevention rate. Only 9% of 10 yard plays made it to 30. Northwestern was the only other team within hailing distance of that number.

Dowell's getting a fair amount of talk as a mid-round draftee next April. As long as he avoids gecko consumption I feel good about this pick.

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S #5: JR Pace, Northwestern (Brian)

Pace was great last year when avoiding teams with a Nico Collins. [Fuller]

As a true sophomore Pace had a bunch of tackles (82) for a team that did not give up much long stuff and also chipped in three interceptions and 7 PBUs. All of that is doing work for a deep safety. His 76 grade from PFF was the third highest in the league, and I'm suspicious of Geno Stone's ranking because he fielded 11 targets all season.

Pace has almost that many events where he got his hand on the ball and his sample is likely to be sustainable. He was close to tops in the league when it came to forcing incompletions and gave up just a 55 passer rating when targeted along with 26 tackles at or near the LOS.

Pace is an all-around safety still in the rapid improvement phase on a team that was second to MSU in the league when it came to preventing 30+ yard plays. Good, and not boring!

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S #6: Geno Stone, Iowa (BiSB)

Okay this linebacker is actually probably a safety. [Brian Ray/Hawkeyesports.com]

Behold, the most boring of all creatures: the Iowa free safety. AND YET!

Like DiCaprio Bootle... /pauses to allow those sounds to linger in the air... Stone forces a significant number of incompletions when targeted, which led to quarterbacks accumulating a a passer rating of 58.3 when targeting him. And despite his Boring Iowa Free Safetyness, he did total 4 INTs, including a pick 6 against Penn State. It shouldn't be too much of a surprise, then, that Stone was named one of the PFF All-Big Ten first team safeties last year.

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S #7 Navon Mosley, Purdue (Seth)

That's why I live in this quiet little white-bred mashugana Jewish/Chaldean town

Hi there from West Bloomfield, Michigan. Hometown of Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis. And the guy who wrote The Hangover once and gets to keep re-shooting it at different locations. And a three-star safety so boring he's going into his fourth year as the rangy top of a bad defense nobody bothers to attack over the top. And still you guys slept on him in favor of various hybrid linebackers and a Spartan who comes out for Garrett Miller when it isn't a monsoon. Have we learned nothing?

In 2017, the last time anyone bothered to test him, Mosley was 16th on PFF's list of best players in the Big Ten, with an 85.3, ahead of JK Dobbins, Rashan Gary, and every DB in the conference save Lavert Hill. Most of that was thanks to his coverage, going an average of 23 snaps without giving up a catch. He followed that up last year with PFF's highest run defense grade among Big Ten safeties:

Here are the highest-graded run defenders from the safety position in the B1G. pic.twitter.com/ZgrWfJB4wM

— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 1, 2019

It's easy to understand why he gets forgotten about, since Purdue has taken to just leaving him in single-high coverage to clean up other guys' messes; his non-Markus Bailey teammates were good for plenty of them. His listed 6'0"/200 are two small lies, and that's why the NFL hasn't shown much interest. (He's also buddies with a bunch of Michigan players and works out in the offseason with Jourdan Lewis).

His high school coach Ronald Bellamy rarely misses a chance to remind us how much of a mistake it was for Michigan to take a pass when their safety depth chart of the future was Tyree Kinnel and Devin Bush's unrecruited teammates. Well I know you're going to read this Ron so here's one Wolverine you can stop badgering about it.

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S #8: Antoine Winfield Jr., Minnesota (Ace)

This guy is decidedly not used as a single-high safety who rarely sees a target because he’s in the parking lot. Winfield, son of the great Buckeye and NFL cornerback, has been deployed all over the field by the Gophers the last three seasons—deep safety, box safety, slot defender, and even return man. He’s particularly strong against the run, using his speed to beat blocks and stout frame to wrangle ballcarriers, and he’s capable of making spectacular plays against the pass.

The reason he’s not off the board a lot higher is injuries have limited him to four games in each of the last two seasons. Winfield was named a safety on the star-studded PFF all-freshman team in 2016 before failing to log enough snaps in the last two years to add to the accolades. His ability to play in multiple spots depending on need, scheme, and opponent adds plenty of value.

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Seth: I was really hoping Winfield would be around when we do the FLEX position rounds. Did any of you guys look at Wisconsin's Eric Burrell? He's on several of the PFF tweets we linked. Seems like a good boring safety, and perhaps a better bet than several hybrid space players being asked to move to the back.

Like Iowa fans are understandably excited about Geno Stone, whose slot work was always a waystation to the field side of their cover 2, but Burrell probably has a much higher floor.

Ace: Burrell may not even start, according to Wisconsin’s beat guy at The Athletic. Reggie Pearson is right there with him. Scott Nelson, who I looked at but was too inconsistent, is locked in at one safety spot.

Seth: That's a new development. Nelson yeah, he's actually the guy Michigan was looking at if they didn't get JKP, and from what I saw of him last year I think we probably should have pursued him anyway, but he's just a guy.

I'm also curious why we all skipped Garrett Taylor, whom Penn State fans seem to love, and Penn State's coaches apparently consider untouchable as Lamont "in the portal again" Wade and Jonathan Sutherland battle for the other spot. He made the PFF mid-season all-Big Ten team too.

Ace: I just liked Winfield more. Safety was a sneaky deep position—no big stars but a healthy number of solid options. Someone will probably regret passing on Taylor, though. PSU was great at big-play prevention last year. Significantly better than, say, Purdue.

Seth: I watched a lot of Purdue and couldn't find any of that I could put on Mosley. Maybe one Haskins deep ball that an elite-elite cover 1 corner could get to sooner but it was placed perfectly over a very dead cornerback.

Ace: Rutgers also had better big-play prevention, and to be honest their safeties were probably worth a look too.

Seth: Chris Ash always did that one thing well, but they lost the really good cornerback making life easier. Damon Hayes is the guy. He's kind of a Troy Woolfolk, and like Woolfolk I think they would rather have him at corner if they can find safeties.

BiSB: Saquan Hampton went to the NFL, and the other starter (Damon Hayes) moved to corner.

Ace: I forgot to check Rutger Levels, my bad. Hayes is a good slot corner, though.

BiSB: Their corners might be pretty okay.

Ace: They usually have one half-decent position group and under Ash it tends to be that one.

Seth: He got the job in the first place by fixing the old secondary issues at Ohio State.

Ace: Which have since been somewhat un-fixed, so he’s got that going for him.

BiSB: The secondary is the least on-fire part of the fireworks factory.

Ace: It’s notable that at no point did we consider either Michigan’s or Ohio State’s second safety.

Seth: Unless Ohio State's second safety is playing Michigan, natch.

Ace: (takes long walk off short pier)

Seth: Michigan State is another school going with a new starter at safety they worked in as a nickel last year. Xavier Henderson is replacing Khari Willis and seems to have whatever it is that makes State's safeties effective. He's not a guy I would have drafted over any of the afore-mentioned but he could surprise.

Ace: Yeah, it’s really tough to project safeties that haven’t played.

BiSB: I took a loooooooong look at Dax Hill, because Dax Hill... but I needed a free safety type after going with a hybrid-type box safety.

Ace: I suspect he won’t last too long in the flex round.

BiSB: His upside is considerable. #HotTakes

Seth: How about other cornerbacks? Minnesota's Coney Durr is a miniature version of Tariq Castro-Fields, and the next guy on my board when we got to eight. Decent in coverage, excellent at acceleration from a zone drop. Popped up on several PFF_College tweets.

BiSB: Two thirds of an Ambry Thomas season is still worth a good deal.

Ace: I have a lingering skepticism of Minnesota’s defense, particularly without Blake Cashman.

Otherwise we’re contending with the idea that the Gophers may be legitimately good.

#bringthejugtoindy is now a site tag [Upchurch]

Seth: I'll admit I was intrigued by Shaun Wade only because he made PFF's list of best at everything for the thing that haunts my nightmares.

CROSSING ROUTE

Shaun Wade, Ohio State

Notoriously difficult for defensive backs to contend with, Wade is the only defender in the nation to sport a forced incompletion rate greater than 33.3 percent on crossing patterns this season. He’s been targeted seven times and forced three incompletions as he’s allowed four receptions for just 37 yards on the other targets. A sure tackler, Wade has also made three tackles on his targeted crossers, including two of which were recorded as a defensive stop for an offensive failure.

Ace: Sample size theater. Not saying he won’t be good, that just isn’t enough for me to go on.

BiSB: Minnesota gave up a loooooot of points in conference play.

Ace: 88th in passing downs S&P+.

BiSB: And 12 plays of 50+ yards in conference play. Theory: gophers can't row boats.

Ace: That’s also why I stayed away from OSU guys. That defense gave up a ton of big plays last year. Allowed the most 30+ and 40+ yard plays in the conference.

Seth: Look man, there's everything that occurred in human history before THAT ONE GAME and everything after, and everything that occurred before is clearly meaningless.

Ace: XFL head coach Pep Hamilton.

BiSB: /throws "Opponent Watch" hat and clipboard in the air, storms off.

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How Things Stand