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24th Oct 2014 from TwitLonger
Todd McShay’s review of #OhioState’s skill position; believes #Buckeyes offense “more complete” w/ J.T. Barrett
If you have ESPN Insider, I would recommend checking out Todd McShay’s review of Ohio State’s skill position players this week. For starters, McShay believes the OSU offense has been “more complete” with J.T. Barrett distributing the ball these last few games than it was a year ago with Braxton Miller. That wasn’t designed to be a knock on Miller, but McShay believes Barrett is more effective reading defenses, and more consistently accurate with his passes, despite lacking the same “high-level arm strength” as Miller.
McShay also acknowledged that while Barrett does not have Braxton’s dynamic running ability, he is “mobile enough to make plays with his legs.” That’s not exactly the kind of insider information NFL teams would pay for, but I have to agree with McShay that the OSU offense has been more complete with Barrett running the trigger-point these last four games. We saw Miller put up some big numbers in games that were a lot bigger stage and tougher opponent than what Barrett has faced over the last month, but the offense just seems to run more smoothly with Barrett. I don’t know if that gives them a better chance to win against Michigan State or some of the other national powers, but it has helped them find and develop some playmakers who may not have gotten as many opportunities if Braxton was in there.
Here are a few other notes from McShay’s breakdown:
•McShay believes wideout Michael Thomas “has a chance to be an elite player.” That’s something I’ve been preaching for two years, so it’s good to see someone like this confirm my thoughts on Thomas.
•McShay says running back Ezekiel Elliott has “a bit more juice” as an outside runner, and is a more natural pass-catcher than Carlos Hyde was a year ago. I think we can all agree with that. I still wouldn’t take him over Carlos, but he’s a young kid with a lot of potential.
•McShay says Dontre Wilson is “a notch below” Percy Harvin in terms of his explosiveness, and doesn’t have the same sudden movement to his running style as Harvin did at Florida. No disagreement from me there. He also believes Wilson will get more touches as his route-running improves. Again, no disagreement.
•McShay sees Jalin Marshall as a “silky-smooth athlete” with good top-end speed. He isn’t as sudden as Wilson, but McShay believes he has better body control and is more explosive in the return game. I think we have all been wanting to see more of Marshall in that capacity this season.
•The rest of his analysis was pretty lack-luster, but McShay did compare tight end Jeff Heuerman to former Stanford standout Zach Ertz. A second round pick in 2012, Ertz is now the primary pass-catching tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles. I’m not sure Heuerman is on that level, but I think he’s well-rounded enough to be a mid-round pick in the NFL Draft next year.
October 24, 2014
Source: The Ozone
Read more link: http://theozone.net/Ohio-State/All-Sports/All-Seasons/News/Thinking-Out-Loud-Pryor-at-WR-McShay-Talks-Buckeyes-Barrett-for-Heisman