Buckeyes primed for title run in '08

After that somewhat disappointing performance by the young Buckeyes in last night's BCS Championship game against LSU, as a Buckeyes fan one could be depressed about the ass beating that lasted the final 3 quarters of the game. Any knowledgeable OSU fan can admit that these Buckeyes overachieved this year considering we all thought this would be a great rebuilding year with all the underclassmen playing. It was nice to see some of the young guys getting some quality playing time last night so they will be better prepared to handle the excitement and adrenaline if they make it to the championship game again next season.

There have been rumors that LB James Laurinaitis, DE Vernon Gholston, and CB Malcolm Jenkins may leave school early and declare eligible for the NFL Draft this year.

Personally, I was not that impressed with Laurinaitis this season when OSU actually played decent competition, especially in last nights game vs LSU. He had a ton of tackles, but he also was made the bitch of LSU linemen on several occasions in the second half and failed to cover (or assign anyone to be accountable for) the TE on at least 2 huge plays. He needs to stick around for one more year and fine tune his decision making, leadership skills, and overall size. If he is able to do that, he should be a top 5 pick in the '09 draft and will be able to be an instant impact player in the NFL just like AJ Hawk was last year for the Packers.

Gholston is a beast and should just go to the pro's as he would be an instant starter for whoever drafts him in the first round this year. OSU seems to replace big DL every year with quality players, so I am not too worried about his departure.

Jenkins could also benefit from another season in college, but cover corners in the NFL are tough to find, so I am sure advisors will convince him to go pro. He would no doubt be one of the top 3 CB's drafted, along with Aqib Talib from Kansas and Mike Jenkins from South Florida.

Everyone else should be back and better due to the great experiences they have had this season, especially in the championship game.