Late-Night Ramblings: ESPN, Number Crunching and Tater Tot

Some ESPN love. Well, typically The World Wide Leader in Sports seems to be out to completely tarnish all things scarlet and gray, but apparently a few of the writers didn't get the memo. In Bruce Feldman's latest piece ranking the best redshirt freshman in the country, Roderick Smith finds himself on top of the list.

"Look out—there is another tall Buckeyes running back talent with a track background set to give Big Ten defenses nightmares. This Smith, no relation to colleague Robert Smith, to whom the young Smith bears resemblance, is a 6-foot-3, 220-pound bruising back who had to wait for a few weeks into fall camp while the NCAA approved his transcript, which made the coaching staff's decision to redshirt him easier.

"However, by the time bowl practices began, Smith had wowed a lot of his teammates with his work at practice. With Brandon Saine graduating and Dan Herron sidelined for five games to open the season, Smith, who some around the program compare in style to Beanie Wells, is a very strong option for Jim Tressel."

Also getting some play on ESPN is Luke Fickell, who made their list of best recruiters in the country.

"Although Ohio State is an easy sell and one of the elite programs in college football, recruiting to the Buckeyes is still a difficult chore in today's college football world. It takes hard work and a daily grind. That's what Fickell had to do in landing Grant as well as a trio of other linebackers to Columbus. He also reeled in South Florida standout Jeremy Cash (Plantation, Fla./Plantation). "

Fickell consistently finds himself on these types of lists, which makes it so surprising that no one has snatched him up to take over the reins of their program. With his work grabbing players outside of the Midwest and Stan Drayton joining the staff, the future looks very bright on the recruiting front.

---

Offensive line number crunching. When Aundrey Walker decided to hit the smog in Los Angeles with Kiffin and company, Buckeye fans started to realize that the future on the offensive line was shaky. This is nothing new though. Tressel has consistently under recruited (in terms of numbers) on the offensive line, leaving the depth a constant concern. I'm not just talking long term issues either, depth is an issue in 2011. Duane Long said it best in his latest piece:

"The Buckeyes have six veteran scholarship offensive linemen for the first five games. That jumps to seven when Mike Adams returns from his suspension. Jim Tressel has been the luckiest coach in college football with the lack of offensive line injuries over the years. They are two injuries from putting a freshman or walk-on in the starting lineup. A program like Ohio State should never be in that situation."

A freshman? With three of the offensive lineman (Brown, Carter and Underwood) being long term projects, that is a nightmare. Long suggests the only other option is to move a guy like Darryl Baldwin or Garrett Goebel over to the offensive line to have more bodies. Still it's an ugly predicament for a powerhouse like Ohio State to be in, and frankly, pretty inexcusable. The staff has only recruited 17 offensive linemen in the last seven years, at times only bringing in one guy in a class. Let's hope 2012 brings a change in strategy. With Kalis and Boren already in the fold in that class, the staff should be looking to sign about 1,000 more...

Two-Deep projections. Brandon Castel over at The Ozone has taken the time to look ahead at what the depth chart might be when the Buckeyes open the season against Akron. Between the 24 seniors that departed and the six suspended players, the roster looks very green, especially on offense.  It will be interesting what spring practice reveals, but as of now the first five games appear to be an adventure.

Taking his talents to South Beach. Tate Forcier has made the decision to transfer to Miami. With Jacory Harris playing his final season for the the Hurricanes and Teddy Bridgewater switching his commitment to Louisville, their seems to be a void at QB for Al Golden. With his history with the Buckeyes, it really is a shame he can't suit up this season when the Buckeyes come to town. Regardless, the legend of Tate and Qbforce.com continues to grow.