SB Nation - Brian Hartline

Bucknotes is getting healthy

Sam @ WWAHT — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:00:12 -0000

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3 months ago: Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel yells out instructions to his players during an NCAA college football practice Monday, Aug. 24, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Terry Gilliam)

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Impressions from the open practice (Blogging the Buckeyes)
Tressel thinks: Heyward will be healthy, Boren will be ready for Sept. 5th and, Spitler's injury is of no concern. Other notes:

- Hines is rotating with Russell as both a deep safety and a nickelback

- Adams is now rotating with the third team. All hope of him being the guy on 5th is essentially lost. I'm starting to think this is some of Tressel's mind games at work; Adams can't possibly be bad enough to really be playing with the third team, can he? Could it be that Tressel is punishing Adams for the same lack of focus and inconsistency we saw in Alex Boone?

- Gordon thinks either Hall or Berry will redshirt, as Berry is hobbled and behind due to his recovery from offseason surgery

- Remember that post about Adam Homan and the future of the fullback in the Terrelle Pryor offense? His main competition, Zach Boren, is turning heads at LB.

The Buckeye Battle Cry | Diaries From The Trenches: Defensive Tackle
Excellent look at the situation at defensive tackle.

Scouting Report: Ex Buckeye Brian Hartline started Saturday night for the Dolphins | BucksInsider.com - Ohio State Buckeyes News, Videos, Schedules & More
B-Hart showed a much more veteran (and much more likable) Buckeye what's what in his preseason start:

On the TD pass from Pennington to Brown, Hartline forced Panther CB Chris Gamble to push him into the LB that was supposed to cover Brown. As a result, Brown was wide open and got the TD. This is just one example of how Hartline and the other Buckeye rookies bring a sophisticated knowledge of the game to their new teams far beyond their years.

Well, okay. Still a loudmouth.

College basketball ShootAround: Big Ten - Men's College Basketball - ESPN
Quoth Andy Katz:

All the Buckeyes need is for someone like Lauderdale to rebound and start the break.

A little bit of perimeter defense wouldn't be too shabby, either. Oh, and please beat UNC this time around. Kthx. Katz expects the Buckeyes to make some noise atop the Big Ten standings this year.

Buckeye Fans Plan Tribute for Navy Game; Spread the Word | The Buckeye Blog
This is actually a really, really cool idea. We Buckeye fans get a lot of crap throughout the sports world for our classlessness, and to an extent, I think it's justified. But this is a good way to start turning some of that around: cheer for the Middies when they hit the field. As someone with at least one friend and family member in each branch of the armed services, I fully support this.

The Buckeye Battle Cry | The changing mood of a douchebag
Watch Ralph G. Decker transform from a grinning jackass to a meathead who has realized he made a big, big mistake, watching what had been a misdemeanor get moved up to a felony.

Better Know A Buckeye: Kenny Guiton | Our Honor Defend
Quite simply: he's rough around the edges, he probably won't start soon, and he's not nearly as slow as the reported 4.9 forty indicates. He's the definition of a project player. If he sees the field before his (Redshirt?) junior year, your wails of agony will probably be fitting. He's a good kid and all, but planets will have to align for him to see the field any time soon.

AP: Everybody Panic! Internet: Eh, Not So Much, Probably | mgoblog
Unfortunately, Nick Sheridan probably won't start the season for the Wolverines. Michigan: you're the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to lulz, why don't you see this? Embrace it. Start Sheridan. Watch him go down in a blaze of fumbled snaps and pick sixes. Just this one last time. For great justice.

Koroma to Transfer to Western Illinois | NittanyWhiteOut
Penn State DT Abe Koroma has left the team; he contributed some quality time last year (here's a picture of him getting held by Cordle), but he was already going to spend the season "away from the football team" in 2009. He has instead opted to leave the program altogether. Penn State isn't quite thin at DT, but behind Jared Odrick, there's not a lot of quality experience. Expect Ollie Ogbu to step up for the Nits.

Why Does Ohio State Get A Pass?

BSD — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:00:20 -0000

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Terrelle Pryor: Looking Spectacular in the Spring Game.

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It's only June, and I'm already getting tired of the Penn State haters. Our offensive line is inexperienced. Our secondary got shredded like coleslaw in the Rose Bowl, and this year we have to play with the coleslaw's backups. We'll miss those great wide receivers. You know, the ones that were supposedly overrated as well as uninspiring and hard to tell apart. But just to cover their bases in case Penn State does put it all together and do well, people are already starting to rip the schedule: a drum beat we're sure to hear from now until next January.

I'm not here to say Penn State is going undefeated. I'm an experienced blogger who has learned to not make crazy predictions like that because some Pitt troll out there is going to bookmark the page and send me the link when we choke in some late October road game. I can deal with the fact Penn State has holes to fill. That's the nature of college football. Every team has holes to fill. But what I don't understand is, why does Ohio State always get a pass?

Every single crackpot preseason poll I've looked at so far ranks the Buckeyes in the top ten and the favorite to win the conference. And what is the general reasoning for this believe? Simply the fact that Terrelle Pryor has improved. For the life of me I can't understand how the Bucknuts have come to this conclusion. Is it because of his performance in the Fiesta Bowl against Texas? My God, he completed five passes for 66 yards against a pass defense that ranked No. 104 in the country. Let's retroactively give him the Heisman. If anyone tries to say he looked great in the spring game I'll just laugh. I can remember a few years ago Knowledge Timmons had two interceptions and Chris Rogers had three sacks. Neither guy sniffed the starting lineup. Spring games mean nothing.

The Ohio State offense was far from a juggernaut last season. They ranked 76th in total offense and 45th in scoring offense. Now they don't have Beanie Wells to carry them. Their offensive line situation is very similar to ours. They have to replace the left side and some guys on the right are switching around. And while we have to replace our top three receivers, they have to replace their top two, Brian Robiske and Brian Hartline. But hey, everything will be fine, because, you know, Terrelle Pryor will be better. I mean, he has to be, right?

Oh defense the Buckeyes are also very similar to Penn State. They return a scary defensive line, but they also have to replace James "Pile-jumper" Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman. And they lose all Big Ten cornerback Malcolm Jenkins so there are holes to fill there. It's not like their pass defense was all that special last year. They ranked 25th in pass defense and 13th in pass efficiency defense. Penn State ranked 27th and 19th, respectively, despite the Rose Bowl debacle.

Now, Ohio State recruits well and I'm sure they'll fill the holes with very good players. But how can anyone assume they will play as a cohesive unit from the get go? Why are they getting a complete pass on all of this and a top ten ranking while people are lining up to tear down Penn State before the season even starts?

I'm not saying Penn State deserves a top ten ranking. Long time BSD followers will remember my stance on preseason polls. I hate them, and I don't think there should be any poll released until week four or five in the season. But I just don't understand why Ohio State is getting a free pass on all of the talent they have to replace.

Early thoughts about draft weekend

Matty I — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:00:15 -0000

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If you can't trust those three guys, who can you trust?

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Over the coming days and weeks, we're going to really break down what the Dolphins did in the draft. But one thing you won't see here are "draft grades." Why? Because it's impossible to grade a draft class that hasn't even ptaken the field in a practice yet. Most agree it takes 2 or 3 seasons to really evaluate if a draft was good or bad. So why do so many insist on trying to determine how good a draft was just days (or sometimes hours) after the draft is over?

I'm not going to do that. Instead, let's just talk about some of this weekend's developments.

WHAT IS A "REACH"?
This is something I don't understand. Why are so many Dolphin fans saying that Pat White was a reach in round two? Or saying Patrick Turner was a reach in round three? Here's the thing. We think they are reaches because guys like Mel Kiper tell us they are based on how they graded out the player. But I think this draft was a perfect example of how inaccurate all of these pre-draft mock drafts are and how we really don't know at all what teams are thinking. If you listen to the draft experts of the world, you would think that there were a ton of "reaches" in this draft by many teams.

But these teams have information we don't. Maybe Pat White would have been drafted by the Patriots or Cowboys in round two if we didn't take him at #44. Maybe another team was seriously considering Patrick Turner or Brian Hartline until we selected them. It's unfair to call any of these picks "reaches" because we simply don't know how far that player would have fallen if we had passed on them. And doing so is basically displaying ignorance because none of us have the information that our front office had.

Do I think we could have gotten Pat White or Patrick Turner a round later than we did? Maybe. It's certainly possible. But if Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland liked the player a lot, why take the risk on missing out? To me, our front office showed that they have the guts to stick to their gut and make the selection they feel is best - regardless of how others might feel.

I don't know about all of you, but I'm going to trust this regime until they give me a reason not to.

But it was GM Jeff Ireland who said it best on Sunday, when asked about the draft critics and their criticism of some picks:

“I would say that the ones that are projecting them and are not in the draft room and aren’t in the business, really don’t know what we go through. We keep it highly secretive, its highly confidential information, our scouts don’t talk and so I don’t know where some people would get their information. Unless they have been on the road scouting, like myself and our other scouts who do a tremendous job, they would not know the needs of the teams are, sometimes they don’t know the character of the player, they are just kind of going out there and I don’t know where they are getting their information. So I don’t pay much attention to it to be honest with you and don’t really care to be honest with you.”

WHAT THE DRAFT TELLS US ABOUT OUR VETERANS
Lost in all of the picks that were made is what the picks might reveal about how Miami's front office feels about the players currently on the roster. The Dolphins didn't address the supposed need at outside linebacker. I think this says a lot about Cameron Wake, the CFL star Miami signed this offseason. It could also say a lot about Erik Walden - a special teams standout who is also a pass-rushing OLB. And don't sleep on Charlie Anderson. This regime was high on him when they signed him last offseason and he began to make some plays during the second half of last season in his limited playing time.

The Dolphins didn't draft any interior offensive line help, either. This has to be a sign that both Donald Thomas and Justin Smiley are progressing very well from their injuries last season.

On the flip side, the Dolphins spent two day one picks on cornerbacks - Vontae Davis and Sean Smith. Personally I'm thrilled and I think what this tells me is that Jason Allen better show something during training camp or else the JA experiment could be over and he could go down as one of Miami's biggest draft busts.

And the selection of two big wide receivers - Patrick Turner and Brian Hartline - could be a sign that the Ernest Wilford debacle could be coming to a close. His cap hit will no longer be a reason to keep him around - as the Dolphins do have the room to send him packing.

WHY PATRICK TURNER AND BRIAN HARTLINE?
Without a doubt, taking these two big wide receivers back-to-back in the 3rd and 4th rounds today created a stir among Dolphin fans. But I'm actually excited to see these two take the field because I think that hitting on at least one of these big receivers will go a long way towards improving Miami's offense.

Here's what Jeff Ireland said about Turner:

"We feel real good about this young man. He is a big, tall receiver; I think he runs excellent routes. He scored ten touchdowns last year, he’s a playmaker, he’s played inside, he’s played outside, he’s smart. I think he’s got some versatility and some very good hands. A highly recruited player coming out of high school, played at a very successful program. They know how to develop receivers there (USC), who usually go on to get drafted. I feel really good about this young man."

Turner himself compares himself to a Marques Colston type of player - which to me reads as a big, physical possession receiver who runs good routes.

Hartline seems like the kind of kid that we're all going to enjoy rooting for. He comes off as a kid who will do whatever it takes to get on the field and be successful. Hartline compares himself to fellow Buckeye WR Anthony Gonzalez, saying:

"I like what he does. I like what he brings to the table. But I'm my own player. I don't know what Miami has in mind, but whatever they have in mind I'll get the job done."

Hartline added:

"I'm a big kickoff coverage guy. I love cracking heads."

If nothing else, the selections of Turner and Hartline will add to the number of things we have to watch for when camp opens.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM IRELAND'S PRESS CONFERENCE ON SUNDAY
-Says Chris Clemons is a big, aggressive safety with good cover skills and will "contribute to the roster very well."

-Says Andrew Gardner will be a left tackle - he's got "left tackle feet" and is very smart.

-Says J.D. Folsom is a "developmental candidate" who is a smart kid and a "real good core special teams player."

-Says the Dolphins haven't discussed the idea of bringing Jason Taylor back in any detail yet.

-Says Miami plans to bring in 8 to 10 undrafted free agents.

-Says he and Bill Parcells are more comfortable drafting from bigger schools they start a lot of games and there's a lot of film on them - meaning you don't have to guess as much.

Dolphins select Brian Hartline in fourth round

Matty I — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:44:38 -0000

Rd.	#	Player	Pos.	College
4	108	Brian Hartline	WR	Ohio St.

With their fourth round pick, the Dolphins have selected another wide receiver - Brian Hartline. Hartline checks in at 6'1 5/8" and 195 pounds. He ran a 4.53 40 yard dash at the Combine back in February.

At Ohio State, Hartline caught just 90 balls in 3 years for 1,429 yards and 12 touchdowns. Below is his scouting report from Draft Countdown:

Strengths: Good athlete...Adequate height and decent bulk...Big, soft hands...Is smart with good awareness...Nice ball skills...Tough and physical...A great special teamer...Excellent blocker...Competitive...Hard worker.

Weaknesses: Just average speed...Doesn't get a lot of separation...Isn't a vertical threat...Will drop some catchable balls...Has a tough time beating the jam..Not overly productive...Never a featured target...Limited upside.

This pick I don't really understand. Perhaps it says something about their confidence in Brandon London? Or maybe Greg Camarillo is still a ways off from recovering from his ACL tear? I think there were other needs here to be addressed and another WR wasn't a priority at this point.

Discuss below...

SB Nation - Brian Hartline

Bucknotes is getting healthy

Why Does Ohio State Get A Pass?

Early thoughts about draft weekend

**Dolphins select Brian Hartline in fourth round**

Dolphins select Brian Hartline in fourth round