The NFL Draft may not be starting until this weekend, but the senior members of the Ohio State football team got a first-hand look at what it’s like to be in a draft-day war room yesterday when the team held its annual draft to divide players for Saturday’s spring game.
However, while professional teams get about 15 minutes to make their picks, OSU coach Jim Tressel, who did his best NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue impression, limited his players to 30 seconds for each selection.
The Gray team, led by special teams coach Luke Fickell, won the coin toss to open up the first position. It didn’t take long for the Gray to decide to open up cornerback first, as it quickly chose Chris Gamble for the first pick. Gamble will join Will Allen, E.J. Underwood, Steven Moore and Mike Roberts at corner for the Gray.
“He’s going to do everything on the field for us,” Gray tight end Ben Hartsock said. “He was an easy first pick.”
But while Gamble may have been the consensus No. 1 pick, Scarlet wide receiver Michael Jenkins isn’t worried about the two-way star.
“He may be out there covering one guy, but we have four or five other good receivers,” Jenkins said. “He can’t do it all.”
Scarlet coach Tim Spencer had a more simplistic approach to stopping the talented junior.
“We’ve got some shackles that can keep him in the locker room,” he said with a smile.
While the Gray’s philosophy may have followed the “Gamble-and-fill-in-the-rest” strategy, the Scarlet and Spencer seemed to have a clear-cut plan coming into the draft.
After shoring up their offensive line with guard Rob Sims and tackle Doug Datish, the Scarlet went to the linebackers and scooped up both A.J. Hawk and Mike D’Andrea, who will join Fred Pagac Jr.
“I think we got the guys we wanted to get,” Spencer said. “We’re all looking forward to the game and hoping us ‘seasoned veterans’ can beat those young guys on the Gray.”
Top pick last year and the Buckeyes’ leading rusher Maurice Clarett was taken as the third running back, but that was expected because he has not seen contact this spring while rehabilitating his injured shoulder. Maurice Hall was the first tailback taken by the Gray, followed by Lydell Ross (Scarlet) and Clarett (Gray).
Clarett made his presence known during the draft by continually walking between the two teams as they mulled different strategies.
“He’s pretty much a gamer,” Fickell said. “We think we can get a few series out of him.”
Like its pro counterpart, the draft yesterday was filled with various trade proposals and hopes of wheeling and dealing. At one point, Spencer and the Scarlet squad proposed trading all of their injured players for Gamble, which was quickly shot down by the Gray.
One proposal that was seriously thought about – albeit for no more than a minute – was a possible swap of linebackers. However, a deal which would have sent the Scarlet’s D’Andrea to the Gray for Air Force transfer Anthony Schlegel could not be reached.
As for predicitions on the game, Fickell summed up both team’s expectations.
“We’re going to win, of course,” Fickell said.
