This is my top takeaway from the last preseason interview session at Ohio State this month. I’m looking forward to rolling out the regular in-season features next week, so please share this newsletter if you are enjoying it and think anyone you know might, too!
A funny thing happened during Ohio State tight ends interviews this week.
They all talked about expecting to be a strength of the team, one of its deepest position groups.
A versatile group with some experience that can help win football games in myriad ways.
Yes, that was pretty much the exact opposite of every Ohio State preseason tight ends interview session I have attended over the last 20 years.
Forever, the question was, “Is this the year you guys catch some passes?”
I always thought that was misguided because the main reason they weren’t a bigger focal point of the passing game is Ohio State always has lots of players who are a lot more dangerous with the ball in their hands.
Going back to the Jim Tressel years, there weren’t that many balls to go around anyway given the style of the offense, but the tight ends did catch a lot of passes in 2003.
Guess what? That offense was awful.
Fast forward to the Urban Meyer years, and I’m not sure tight end was even a second thought.
Tight ends don’t tend to be highly ranked guys, so Meyer never devoted enough scholarships to that position, and it showed in the depth chart questions that dogged it many years.
The ironic part of that is his national championship team did have two productive, veteran tight ends in Jeff Heuerman and Nick Vannett (thanks to Tressel).
The 2014 Buckeyes had a lot of success in 12 personnel (two tight ends, one running back, two receivers), something that would be talked about from time to time in the ensuing years but never utilized as much again in the Meyer era.
Part of that was, again, they had a lot of great receivers and putting three on the field made a lot of sense, but the first let alone second tight end was just rarely all that productive or even ready to play legitimate snaps.
Now things are different.
The Buckeyes are seven deep in scholarship players at tight end, which is quite rare.
In fact, I went back and counted again to be sure I had it right because quite frankly it doesn’t seem believable.
But amazing things happen when you devote resources to something: It often improves.
They have brought in a starting-caliber transfer two years in a row — Will Kacmarek from Ohio last year and Max Klare from Purdue this year — and continued adding via the high school ranks every year.
Now they have options, including junior Jelani Thurman.
An imposing presence at 6-6, 250, he is the son of a former NFL player (Bengals linebacker Odell) and WNBA champion (Kara Braxton) so he certainly has the type of pedigree Ohio State has not had at that position in a long time. And yet he had to wait his turn for two years already, and he is likely relegated to third string this fall.
But having all those guys — maybe especially Thurman — makes a big difference in how the coaches game plan. Not only can they mess around with three tight ends, they can also really commit to doing a lot of 12 personnel without fear of having to throw that part of their identity out the window if someone gets hurt.
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