ColsBlue

January 5th, 2010 at 2:00 PM ^

Chekwa was targeted by Oregon regularly and frequently burned and/or penalized. Wouldn't mind if he stuck around. Heyward, on the other hand, is a beast and would be missed with the losses of Worthington and Rose to graduation and Gibson to early entry. The defense will face a significant rebuild, also losing Russell, Coleman, and Spitler. Hopefully, they struggle mightily and are taken advantage of all season, especially in November.

Joined: 11/09/2008

MGoPoints: 862

ish

January 5th, 2010 at 2:38 PM ^

the problem - and the largest difference btwn our program and osu's, currently - is that they CAN rebuild. many of our current backups are walkons or have performed poorly in limited duty. that not only hurts our ability to rebuild but at times makes our starters look worse because they can't rest as much during games as they need to. osu is just going to trot out another 4 or 5 star to replace these guys. our equivalent guys have been pressed into duty earlier than normal (see craig roh) or haven't panned out (see mike williams) and we have no other options. osu has benefited from the ability to sit underclassmen and having depth so that if someone is a bust, there are other choices. we need that kind of depth but won't have it for at least another year.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 17404

Blueisgood

January 5th, 2010 at 2:05 PM ^

It wouldn't surprise me to see a lot of juniors going this year and next. A rookie salary cap is going to end up happening, these guys are looking to get paid. And "the one who gets paid, is the one who gets laid" Reese Bobby

Joined: 09/21/2009

MGoPoints: 2905

markusr2007

January 5th, 2010 at 2:38 PM ^

OSU had a No. 1 ranked recruiting class in 2009. While it might be fun to watch UM's chief competitor shed it's top junior guys, unlike Michigan today, Ohio State and Penn State have done a very good and consistent job of reloading position players every year, particularly on defense. At DT Ohio State returns with Denlinger (Sr. in 2010) and Larimore return (Jr. in 2010), and have a 5-star RS freshman Johnny Simon. At DE they've got Nathan Williams, Garrett Goebel and 4-star RS Freshman Jonathan Newsome. If the starting line all left, OSU is going to be in more than decent shape from a talent perspective. Michigan will get back to that status too, but after 4 years of a major recruiting flame outs and a never before witnessed player attrition apocalypse (2005-2006-2007-2008), it will apparently take Rich Rodriguez and Michigan considerably more time to build itself back up into the Reloading 357 Magnum team it used to be in the 1970s, 1980s and 90s. This is especially true after back-to-back losing seasons in 2008 and 2009 and the suggestions that 2010 is the make or break year for Rodriguez and his staff.

Joined: 10/21/2008

MGoPoints: 19372

Not a Blue Fan

January 5th, 2010 at 3:03 PM ^

John Simon didn't redshirt. The fact that he didn't should be more scary than the prospect of facing him for 4 more years. Also, you didn't mention Cameron Heyward, who is coming back. In fact, Gibson and Torrence are the only two that are expected to leave early. So yeah, Gibson will be missed, but you're right that there's plenty of talent left. The only guy for whom I don't see an immediate replacement is Coleman; losing him hurts.

Joined: 08/03/2009

MGoPoints: 2574

the_enemy

January 5th, 2010 at 3:19 PM ^

... on the details of the personnel denlinger is gone. solomon thomas would figure to slot in the 2-deep behind nate williams. goebel is a DT. simon got significant reps this year as a true frosh. http://www.mililanibuckeye.net/class_breakdown_by_position.php gibson was very productive but they are up to their ears in depth at rush end/LB types. heyward would be the much bigger blow - his ability to play both the tackle and end positions, and play them well, allowed them to do so many different things with their fronts this year.

Joined: 07/21/2008

MGoPoints: 9

Bronco648

January 5th, 2010 at 2:41 PM ^

I've heard (on the WW Leader) that the 'rookie salary cap' won't be immediately implemented, it'll be phased in. So, players that stick around for their senior year won't be affected. Why the rush to declare for the draft?

Joined: 08/20/2008

MGoPoints: 2643

Blueisgood

January 5th, 2010 at 3:12 PM ^

You can say myth all you want, It will happen. It may not be until 2012,2013 but it'll happen. You know the owners and players want it. They may not come out and say it, but you know they do. When the next agreement happens I bet it'll have some sort of rookie cap.

Joined: 09/21/2009

MGoPoints: 2905

jbibiza

January 5th, 2010 at 2:56 PM ^

Tressel knows how to build great defensive teams and he always gets the job done despite what may be the largest junior departure rate in the country over the past few years. He may be boring and his fans are ____________ (choose your expletive), but they are a very good football team year in and year out. This is good news for us. I do not want to start beating tOSU because they suck; I want to beat them because we are great, and consistently defeating such a worthy rival is part of that road to greatness. Keep your powder dry Wolverine Nation; our days of redemption are just over the horizon........ GO BLUE!

Joined: 10/08/2009

MGoPoints: 7385

jbibiza

January 5th, 2010 at 3:03 PM ^

Check out the top Diary about how the 2010 draft will affect the Big Ten; he has an excellent summary of the various reasons why someone like Warren (#@%£!#$!) would make the jump to NFL speed this particular year.

Joined: 10/08/2009

MGoPoints: 7385

KennyGfanLMAO

January 5th, 2010 at 3:06 PM ^

It kind of hurts (for me at least) to see more players from OSU that are able to say "I'm undefeated against Michigan". I think they realise that this is the last year they will be able to say that.

Joined: 11/04/2009

MGoPoints: 3818

Wolv77

January 6th, 2010 at 3:19 PM ^

OSU lost M. Jenkins, Lauranitis, Freeman, Beanie Wells and everyone said they would struggle in 2009 to fill the voids. They lose Cordle and Ballard on offense. Coleman, Spitler, A. Russell, Worthington, and T.Gibson on defense. They return Stoneburner to replace Ballard, a list of OL depth to replace Cordle, a ton of LB experience and depth, Dline is loaded and deep. Maybe the jury is still out on safeties but they will reload very well. I'd be surprised if they weren't preseason top 5 and could make a NC run. Iowa will be good also and they play all the tough Big Ten teams at home in 2010.

Joined: 11/23/2009

MGoPoints: -1

Hannibal.

January 6th, 2010 at 3:31 PM ^

The whole Big Ten is going to be brutal next year. Besides Michigan, most teams are returning a big core of impact players. Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, and Northwestern could all be significantly better next year than they were this year.

Joined: 09/09/2008

MGoPoints: 9051