Scarlet Sunrise: Seven Ohio State players make PFF top-101 rankings for 2022

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Seven Ohio State players make PFF top-101 rankings for 2022

Pro Football Focus released its top 101 players for the 2022 season, and seven Buckeyes playmakers made the list.

No. 6 WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

If Marvin Harrison Jr. didn’t suffer a head injury late in the third quarter of the Peach Bowl, we might be talking about a Buckeyes national title right now. The Biletnikoff Award finalist was that valuable for Ohio State in 2022. He caught 14 touchdowns and turned heads weekly with highlight-reel grabs.

No. 7 QB C.J. Stroud

C.J. Stroud is a top-five projected NFL Draft pick. He’s a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist who swept the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and Quarterback of the Year awards his only two seasons as the Buckeyes’ starting quarterback. Stroud posted an 85:12 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his career.

No. 47 OT Paris Johnson Jr.

Paris Johnson Jr. made the switch from right guard to left tackle this past offseason, and did so beautifully. Johnson didn’t allow a single sack through the first 11 games of the season. He finished the year as the first Ohio State offensive tackle to be crowned a consensus All-American since Orlando Pace got the unanimous tag in not only 1995 but also 1996.

No. 50 WR Emeka Egbuka

While Harrison was in the spotlight, Ohio State’s WR2, Emeka Egbuka, recorded a 1,000-yard receiving season of his own. Egbuka caught four or more passes in all but two games this season. He went over the 100-yard mark six times, including in the College Football Playoff semifinal matchup against Georgia.

No. 63 LB Tommy Eichenberg

Tommy Eichenberg earned second-team All-American honors for the 2022 season, during which he piled up more solo tackles (77) than he had total tackles (64) in 2021. Additionally, Eichenberg was third on the team with 23 pressures generated, according to PFF. He got home for 2.5 sacks and, per Sports Reference, tallied a team-high 12 tackles for loss.

No. 83 C Luke Wypler

Luke Wypler was eighth among centers with 500-plus blocking snaps this season in PFF pass blocking grade (84.1), and he was seventh in that same pool in PFF run blocking grade (80.8). Wypler was the anchor of an Ohio State offensive line covered with NFL talent, and now he’s headed for the league.

No. 86 OT Dawand Jones

Dawand Jones, also a first-team All-American, allowed only five pressures this season, the fewest given up by a tackle with 300-plus pass blocking snaps this season, according to PFF. Plus, Jones’ PFF run blocking grade of 85.0 was 17th nationally among tackles.

Buckeyes adding legendary linebacker James Laurinaitis to staff

Ohio State is bringing on former three-time All-American linebacker James Laurinaitis for the 2023 season. Laurinaitis will join the Buckeyes’ coaching staff as a defensive graduate assistant, the same position he held with Notre Dame last year under former Ohio State teammate Marcus Freeman.

Just as he did at Notre Dame, Laurinaitis will work with the linebacker room in Columbus.

Laurinaitis, also a former teammate of Buckeyes offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Brian Hartline, was a two-time captain during his Ohio State playing days. He was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the year twice. Laurinaitis won the Bronco Nagurski Trophy — given to the nation’s top defensive player — in 2006, and he won the Butkus Award — given to the nation’s top linebacker — in 2007.

After playing in two national title games, Laurinaitis became a second-round pick of the then-St. Louis Rams in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played eight season in the NFL, racking up 869 career tackles, 16.5 sacks, 10 interceptions, 35 passes deflected and two forced fumbles.

Just how bad have the Buckeyes been around the rim?

Ohio State has lost six of its last seven games, and the Buckeyes have shot below 40% in four of their last five outings. Before January, Ohio State had stayed above that 40% mark in every game this season.

The Buckeyes’ offense has taken a significant dip, in large part because of its sudden drop-off in 2-point field goal percentage. As of Friday, Ohio State was last in the Big Ten, and 352nd nationally, in 2-point percentage (42.8%) this month.

Lettermen Row took a deep dive into that number, particularly examining just how bad the Buckeyes have been around the rim lately.

READ: Buckeyes had ‘very honest and real conversations’ about preparation, effort after Illinois loss

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Indiana: 217 days

Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 301 days

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