Ohio State Football: 7 Players the Buckeyes Will Miss Most

Another football season means another senior class is about to graduate from Ohio State.

The Buckeye senior class of the 2011 season has been very up and down, with a combination of success and scandal along the way. Four seniors have had their legacies tarnished by the scandal that led to Ohio State's postseason ban for next year.

But even with their transgressions, some of these players will be missed.

Here are the seven seniors that will be missed the most after they are gone.

RB Dan Herron

Give Dan Herron credit for not folding on his senior season when he had a second suspension for his connections with booster Bobby DiGeronimo.

The senior back who had been a fixture of the offense for the past two seasons came back and averaged just under 100 yards per game in the final six games of the season.

It's amazing to think of what he could've done if he had the full season instead of just the six games he had this year.

His leadership was invaluable; he helped will OSU to big wins at Illinois and Wisconsin, which helped the Buckeyes become bowl eligible.

DB Tyler Moeller

Tyler Moeller's career has been one of struggle and hard work, but the frustration with him has been with the after-effects of that incident in Florida two years ago.

Moeller was a dynamic playmaker that was a safety/LB hybrid that OSU created a special position for. He had some big moments in 2008.

In 2009 and 2010, he suffered major season-ending injuries, and at times, it was hard to imagine him playing football again.

He came back for his senior year this year and showed some flashes of who he used to be.

It's just been so hard to see his career at OSU hampered by bad injuries through two years.

OT Mike Adams

Mike Adams, like Dan Herron, came on strong after returning from his five-game suspension and had a solid finish to his OSU career.

Adams' presence on the left side of the line has been stable though rarely spectacular.

He seemed to come along during the course of his junior season when he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors.

Like the rest of the suspended players, Adams' draft stock is going to suffer immensely; he had an outside shot to earn first-round status if he had played a full season.

C Mike Brewster

Brewster has been one of the better centers that Ohio State has had in the modern era.

Although he won't likely be mentioned in the same class as LeCharles Bentley or Nick Mangold, Brewster has been very solid and strong as a four-year starter.

He has been a great presence on the offensive line for a long time and has been a great leader for this team.

Unfortunately, he really struggled this year with uncharacteristically poor snaps and inconsistent line calls.

But it's hard to replace a guy who has been starting for almost four full seasons.

OT JB Shugarts

JB Shugarts has not exactly lived up to the hype of being a 5-star recruit coming out of high school in Texas.

He has been a solid player—not really making too many big plays but never screwing up all that much.

But fans obviously won't miss his tendency to draw a false start almost every single game.

That alone makes him a potentially un-draftable player to go with his rigidness and unspectacular play.

But he has done enough to be a solid player with flashes of being better than that in his three years as a starter.

WR DeVier Posey

Other than Terrelle Pryor, DeVier Posey has been the player with the biggest rap sheet of anyone in the scandal.

Missing 10 games due to suspension, Posey came back and played very well in the two losses to Penn State and Michigan.

He was a good receiver that could have been a special player if, like Pryor, he had ever gotten his head on straight.

But more than anything, the way the offense looked at Michigan with Posey active in the gameplan should have been what OSU fans saw from the offense all season long.

With him gone, that leaves the Buckeyes with a receiving corps that still has players that have not risen up to be the top guy every game.

LB Andrew Sweat

In a very small graduating senior class, the only player on the starting defense expected to leave is Andrew Sweat.

DE Nathan Williams has received a medical redshirt, meaning he can return next season after missing most of this past season due to injury. 

Sweat has been a steady presence on Ohio State's defense as a contributor in each of his four seasons.

He has never been overly spectacular, but he was always very solid. He was a good tackler and was able to get some turnovers from time to time.

His presence will be missed, but on a defense that returns 10 starters, things might not be so bad.

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