| 02 August 2011
Chew86 has raising the alarm about linebacker depth since before Ejuan Price chose to go elsewhere. Now in short order the Buckeyes lose Dorian Bell, not official yet but the odds are heavily in favor of him never wearing a Buckeye uniform again, and Jonathan Newsome. He tweeted that he was transferring out to Ball State after reportedly getting in the doghouse and be asked to redshirt this year. He chose to transfer.
First, on Newsome. I wish him well. This ended up not being a good fit for him or the Buckeyes. He looked like he could be a great edge player. He is a big framed kid. I thought he would end up 245, maybe more. He is a kid who never got any bigger. He does not fit at linebacker. Not mentally or physically. He was a go-go-go player. All you need to do is watch the Wisconsin game when he was forced into action. All he did was stare into the backfield. It
killed us a couple of times. All he needs to do is pick his head up and take a glance around. He was listed on the roster at 219 last year. That is not much bigger than he was in high school. He was all arms, legs and feet as a high school prospect. You just knew he was going to get bigger. He never did. Same thing with Solomon Thomas. He was a projected strong side end. He had the game of a strong side end. He was more physical than athletic. He has not gotten much bigger. He can't play the strong side at his size but does not have the elite athleticism and speed to be a weak side guy.
All these transfers leaves the Buckeyes with four returning linebackers. One, Ettienne Sabino, redshirted last year. Two others, Storm Klein and Jordan Whiting, played sparingly. I am still not worried about it because of the Star position. The fact is I would not be surprised if you added up all of the defensive plays you would find the Buckeye defense is 4-2-5 as much if not more than it is 4-3. You have to consider the four players lined up at the Star in the depth mix at linebacker. Moeller is back. So is Scott McVey, a player I think Buckeye Nation will be very happy to see wearing scarlet and gray. We have heard about Nate Oliver moving down. I love the move. He was never going to be fast enough to be a safety. He is going to be closer to being fast enough as a linebacker. The kid was always such a playmaker in high school. This gives him a chance to play and to help this football team. Chad Hagan is running with the linebackers. I assume he will be a Star but where he will line up has not been determined to my knowledge. He still adds to the depth no matter where he lines up. Curtis Grant was always going to play wherever he went but he might not be the first freshman on the field at linebacker. Ryan Shazier came in here and made a surprisingly easy transition to linebacker. I think he has a real shot at being the starter on the weakside when we see the Buckeyes in a 4-3.
Four returning guys who have not stepped on a football field much at this level. That is the concern. Veteran bodies are few and far between. Depth is fine. Even with three linebackers leaving the program after this year. If Fickell decides to go with more of a base 4-3 I could see the staff looking for another player but I would be surprised to see the staff go on a nation search for linebackers.
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