Ohio State Football: Now will Urban Meyer play more true freshmen?
Will more Ohio State freshmen see significant playing time next season?
After watching the National Championship Game between Alabama and Georgia, will Urban Meyer insert more true freshmen into his lineup? It worked well for these two schools, why couldn’t it be the same for Ohio State?
Both Alabama and Georgia had first year quarterbacks leading their offenses and freshmen at other positions as well. As it turned out, the reason Nick Saban won his 6th national title was because of the performance of his first year players.
Alabama’s offense was stagnant until Tua Tagovailoa replaced Jalen Hurts and threw darts all over the field. And he made big plays running the football as well.
The Alabama running backs were held in check until freshman Najee Harris entered the game. He only rushed six times but they were for 64 big yards when the Crimson Tide needed them.
Freshmen wide receivers for Alabama made their marks. Henry Ruggs III had four receptions, and Jerry Jeudy and Devonta Smith one apiece. And boy was Smith’s catch a big one. His 41 yard reception for the game winning touchdown from Tagovailoa will be played over and over again for years.
Because Alabama is having success using first year players, will we see the same thing happen at Ohio State going forward?
Coach Meyer has often said he doesn’t like to redshirt freshmen and he wants them to play right away. But the fact of the matter is, most are redshirted.
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Michael Jordan started at guard as a true freshman, JK Dobbins had a terrific 2017 season and anyone named Bosa plays immediately. But most first year players sit or play on special teams.
Why not at least use them in certain situations, there isn’t any reason to redshirt them.
They will probably leave early for the NFL anyway so it doesn’t make sense to save a year of eligibility.
Urban Meyer is adamant that a player make a special teams unit before he sees playing time on offense or defense, and that’s commendable. But what if a freshman can’t beat out a third year player on the kickoff team but might be able to get by defensive backs like Devonta Smith did in a crucial situation?
Like Nick Saban, Urban Meyer brings many of the top recruits in the country into his program every year. Some play a key role for the Buckeyes right away but not very many. Could that be about to change?
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Coach Meyer is always looking for ways to improve his Ohio State football program and I’m sure he took notice of how well the young Alabama players performed against Georgia, So I just wonder if we may see more true freshmen making an impact for the Buckeyes next season.