With the NBA Draft less than a week away, I got to thinking who are the best NFL prospects on Ohio State’s 2007 roster?

In the 2006 NFL Draft five Buckeyes were chosen in the first round. In 2007, Ted Ginn Jr., Anthony Gonzalez and Antonio Pittman left early to pursue NFL careers. Those three were among eight Buckeyes that were drafted. Also, a record fourteen Buckeyes were taken in 2004.

The point is, Ohio State’s draft history is rich and we shouldn’t get all worked about a couple of freshmen basketball players.

We all know what is important in the state of Ohio.

FOOTBALL!

Isn’t it fitting that Buckeye fans rooting for Troy Smith to win the Heisman Trophy have to pray that he fails as a Baltimore Raven. Many Buckeye fans high-five each other on Saturdays, but when the day becomes Sunday they turn on one another. However, whether you are a Bengie or a ####, everybody hates Baltimore.

For the most part, all OSU fans root for their own kind in the professional ranks. For instance, it is very hard to find a Buckeye fan that will root against Green Bay Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk. However the Ohio State faithful cringed when the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Santonio Holmes.

Below I have listed the top NFL-ready prospects currently on OSU’s roster.

Malcolm Jenkins CB (Junior)
- Jenkins started all 13 games last season finishing with 55 tackles and four interceptions, including a 61-yarder for a touchdown in the Penn State game. Has good size for a corner at 6-foot-1 and 202 pounds. Should be in the running for the Jim Thorpe award, which is given to the top defensive back in the country. Hopefully for Buckeye fans, Jenkins will stay for his senior season in 2008. However, he could be ready to make the leap to the NFL. If Jenkins has an expected solid ’07 season, I could see him being selected in the mid-to-late first round. He reminds me of Bengals first-round pick Leon Hall of Michigan.
James Laurinaitis ILB (Junior)
- Laurinaitis could be the most marketable linebacker since the days of “The Boz” (Brian Bosworth). His marketability stems from his father Joe, who was a professional wrestler in the ’80s and ‘90s. Vince McMahon, known as the boss of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), has offered the Animal’s son an opportunity to wrestle if professional football doesn’t work out. However, there is no reason to think that it won’t. In 2006, Laurinaitis became the first player from Ohio State to win the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. The Football Writers Association of America gives the award to the best defensive player in nation every year since it started in 1993. He finished the season with 115 tackles, four sacks and five interceptions. Laurinaitis could stay for his senior season. However, with a solid season Laurinaitis should be a first round pick in the 2008 Draft and seems to be a great marketable player for a team like the Oakland Raiders.
Chris "Beanie" Wells RB (Sophomore)
- Fortunately for Buckeye fans, Wells is only two years removed from high school and cannot leave for the NFL after this season. Scout.com ranked Wells as the top recruit in the nation last year. As a true freshman, he rushed for 576 yards on 104 carries (5.5 yards per carry) and rushed for seven touchdowns. Many remember his 52-yard touchdown run against Michigan. Last season, Antonio Pittman gained 1,233 with 14 touchdowns on 242 carries. Since Wells will be getting those carries this season, he is Ohio State’s top candidate to win the Heisman Trophy.
Alex Boone OT (Junior)
-Like Jenkins and Laurinaitis, Boone is another junior that could decide to forgo his senior season next year and become a first round pick. However unlike Jenkins and Laurinaitis, Boone doesn’t need a career year and should be drafted based on size (6-foot-8 325 pounds) and skill (top recruit from Ohio in 2005). Last season, Boone didn’t seem ready for the NFL and could come back for his senior season.
Marcus Freeman OLB (Junior)
-Freeman is one of my favorites and could be the most successful pro from this bunch. Only a junior, Freeman should be a senior this year. In 2005, he was injured in the season opener and lost his starting position, but was redshirted. Last year, Freeman had 71 tackles, broke up six passes and had two interceptions. In the spring game, Freeman scored the first touchdown when he picked off Antonio Henton and returned it 49 yards. Freeman needs a breakout season in ’07 to be drafted in the first day of the 2008 NFL Draft and should be overshadowed by Laurinaitis. However, I believe Freeman has the skill set to be a great outside linebacker in the NFL.
Kirk Barton OT (Senior)
- Barton is the one of only three seniors who will begin the season as a starter. Only Barton has started before while fullback Dionte Johnson and linebacker Larry Grant are the other ’07 starting seniors. Barton will be entertaining his fourth season as the main starter at right tackle and should be an All-American candidate. It’s hard to know where Barton could be drafted, which will depend on the combine.
Vernon Gholston DE (Junior)
- Gholston surprised many last season when he broke out and led the team in tackles for loss (15) and sacks (8.5). When Gholston was recruited as part of the 2004 class, he was considered as a linebacker or a small defensive end. However, Gholston impressed coaches by learning the system and by bulking up. With further development, Gholston could turn out to be a first-round talent. I believe Gholston will stick around for his senior season.

Others to keep an eye on:
Sophomore WR Raymond Small
-Not eligible to go the to the NFL after this season, but could become an OSU fan favorite.
Junior WR Brian Robiskie
-Should stick around after this season. Will be the #1 receiving option this year.
Junior DE Lawrence Wilson and sophomore DE Robert Rose
-Both should split time at defensive end. Both are great prospects (Rose has to stay).
Senior OLB Larry Grant
-I expect Grant to have a breakout season. If he does, he will be a first-day pick.
Junior SS Jamario O’Neal
-Has been a disappointment so far, but you have to expect him to breakout.

(check out further Buckeye Blogs at www.buckeyelane.com)

Previously, I wrote a post when I heard Chad Johnson was going to race a horse on Belmont Saturday at River Downs in Cincinnati.

 It was charity and will affect many lives throughout the world.  Over $7,000 was raised for a program called Feed the Children.  Recently, a post was made by some joke from the University of Florida.  In his post, he expressed how upset the race made him.  Because it was disrespectful to Black America. 

 

I was among the 8,000 that attended the race.  River Downs is a comfortable place to watch and bet on races.  Many people would attend the track on Saturday anyways to bet on the Belmont Stakes.  No one in Cincinnati or at River Downs that day laughed at Chad Johnson for being a black man racing a horse.  Everyone laughed, because Chad Johnson is funny and many of the people are huge Bengals fans.

Also, most Bengal fans remember when Chris Collinsworth raced at River Downs.  Collinsworth is white.  (this point goes back to the Blog about how the this race set back Black America for 70s- i think that how long the guy said) 

Some guy watched ESPN and was upset that he saw a black man racing horse.  Please, read (especially the end, which I put in bold for you) the following story and re-write your post.

By Tom Archdeacon

Staff Writer- Dayton Daily News

Sunday, June 10, 2007

CINCINNATI — Ocho Cinco — presto chango.

Chad Johnson is a magician.

In a carnival-like atmosphere Saturday at sold-out River Downs, the stretch-your-imagination wide receiver of the Cincinnati Bengals turned a big, strapping thoroughbred — a race horse named Restore the Roar — into Denver's Champ Bailey and the New Orleans Saints' Fred Thomas:

Just another guy who tried to go one-on-one and got torched.

But what happened here was more improbable than any of those acrobatic touchdown catches, more fun than the signature celebrations that came after and — once you know the story behind the story — more heartwarming than about anything that went on in sports this weekend.

In a handicapped race billed as "Man versus Beast" and done for a special charity, Johnson — starting from the 16th pole (110 yards) while the P.J. Cooksey-ridden colt broke from the gate at eighth pole (220 yards) — won by a whopping 12 lengths.

"Floyd Mayweather you're next," the still huffing Johnson said afterward. "I want to fight you, then Kobe and LeBron, I want you one-on-one. Jeff Gordon, I'll take a couple laps against you, too.

"Kayaking, mountain climbing, you name it. ... Me and Adam Dunn, we could go to the stadium for a home run derby."

This was Johnson at his braggadocio best, and even Cooksey admitted that he earned the right.

She was the jock 14 years ago on Sir Trace who beat Bengals' receiver Cris Collinsworth by a nose here at River Downs. Ten years earlier, Collinsworth lost a similar race at the old Latonia Park.

Restore the Roar — owned by Patty Genn, who runs Rheinland Farm in Lebanon — had raced just four times, but never on turf, and has shown himself to be a distance horse, not a sprinter.

Still — as Cooksey pointed out — a horse can go from 0 to 35 mph in "six hops."

Johnson didn't care about any of that beforehand: "I won't lose. I'll trip (the horse) or grab onto him, whatever I got to do."

Followed by Restore the Roar, he entered the track for the post parade and waved his arms to pump up the crowd of some 10,000, many wearing his orange "Ocho Cinco" No. 85 jerseys.

"The way the crowd was roaring, it sounded like I was in the Kentucky Derby," said Cooksey, who in 1984, was the second woman ever to ride in the Derby and ended her career with 2,137 victories.

But this race — and the silent auction that followed — was not really about victory for her or Johnson, she said: "It's for raising money for Feed the Children."

In March, Johnson went to Kenya with Larry Jones, president of Feed The Children, an international Christian relief organization that brings food, medicine and clothes to needy families.

Jones said his organization feeds 92,000 children a daily school lunch. For many it's the only meal they get. He said Johnson is going to start sponsoring a school that feeds 1,000 kids daily.

"We took Chad to the abandoned baby center, too," Jones said. "Like anybody who goes there, he got a real education."

And one of those lessons — 5-year-old Daniel Wachira, one side of his face scarred, his left ear missing — was at River Downs.

"When he was born, dogs ate the left side of his face off because he had been abandoned in a garbage dump," said Jones, who with his wife, has taken the boy into their Oklahoma City home. "Now he's going to get six surgeries in 10 years. He's quite a little boy."

That little boy was wearing a No. 85 jersey Saturday, and when Johnson came over to him, Daniel challenged him to a race.

Johnson teased him in return and the little boy, who has had so much misfortune, started laughing and reached out warmly.

Presto chango — Chad Johnson was a magician again.

 

The race is being billed as "Man vs. Beast." Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson will take on the Ohio-bred thoroughbred Restore the Roar on Belmont Stakes Day at River Downs in Cincinnati.

"Oh yeah, I'll talk trash to (it). You know how they wear those blinders? I want them to take them off so he can see me," Johnson told the Bengals website.

Restore the Roar will run a furlong (220 yards) while Johnson will run about half that distance.

The race will be the track's feature race of the day and will be simulcasted to over 400 outlets across the country and in South America. It will take place on the rarely used turf track at River Downs.

Patti Cooksey is coming out of retirement to ride Restore the Roar. Cooksey is the second all-time leading female rider in North America with 2,137 career wins.

One victory not counted on that career total came in 1983 (or 1993 depending on source) when the horse she was riding beat former Bengals receiver Cris Collinsworth by a nose.

The race will raise money for the charity Feed the Children. The charity provides food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to children around the world. Also, Johnson is donating sports memorabilia for a silent auction as part of the fund-raiser. River Downs will make a donation to Feed the Children and Patricia Glenn, Restore the Roar's owner, will donate a portion of the horse's earnings this year to the Marvin Lewis Foundation.

Also, Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense backed out of the Belmont Stakes today, leaving Curlin (winner of the Preakness) as the favorite. Personally, as a racing fan I would like the favorites to back out of the Belmont.

Both should take a note from Chad Johnson and race head-to-head like they did in the olden days.

Johnson did say he wanted to face Street Sense, but the thoroughbred was supposed to be in New York.

The race will is scheduled to take place between 4-5 pm and should be available on TVG or HRTV. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if it is aired on ESPN's telecast on June 9th. ESPN has it's Belmont Stakes Special starting at 3 pm while ABC takes over at 5 pm.

All summer we have been bombarded with tales of crimes committed by certain Cincinnati Bengals. Today, MLB Odell Thurman was officially suspended for four games for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy. Go to any sports website and you'll find this story. Turn back the clock, go to any sports website on July 13th and you would find this same story. Ok, the suspension became official today and the failed or missed drug test was made public on the 13th. The point is, the media is slacking on the good NFL crime stories and are picking on the Cincinnati Bengals.

ESPN recaps the on-going Bengals off-season daily and each time the network introduces the segment with the comment that this is "THE BENGALS WORST OFF-SEASON EVER." Obviously, ESPN doesn't remember previous off-seasons where the Bengals were unable to bring in any free agents and all the veteran players wanted the hell out. Also, the network doesn't seem to care about (at the time) past Bengal criminals such as Corey Dillon, David Dunn, Reggie Rembert, Jeff Blake, Carl Pickens, Tremain Mack, James Brooks and David Fulcher just to name a few.

Remember when Ray Lewis was accussed of stabbing two people to death after a post-Super Bowl party in Buckhead (just north of downtown Atlanta). Sure, Lewis didn't get the chair and was cleared of any wrong-doing by his buddies at ESPN. However, Lewis plead guilty of obstruction of justice in the murder case that involved the death of two people. A few months before, Lewis was charged with second-degree assault for punching a woman in the face. I admit at the time of the murder, ESPN was about reporting on it, but as soon as the prosecutor's case died out so did the story. The fact is, Lewis was guilty of something and this a story that should've be followed up by sports' journalists.

Remember Rae Carruth or Renee Thomas and Angela Keathley. Carruth was convicted in the killing of his girlfriend. Prosecutors of the case claimed that Carruth hired a gunman to kill Cherica Adams to avoid paying child support. Carruth was sentenced to a 19 to 24 year term and has numerous other rulings that must have bored ESPN. (That must not be a good story, but Bengal players that commit crime when they're in college- Frostee Rucker- make enough buzz to merit an Outside the Lines Special). Renee Thomas and Angela Keathley provided the sports media with gem of a story. Two Carolina Panthers cheerleaders (they liked to be called TopCats) were accussed of having sex in a Tampa Bay bar restroom just 11 hours before gametime. Thomas and Keathley were both kicked off the team for going to a road game and taking too long in the bathroom. ESPN- come on- thats a story that never gets old.

Okay, I'm getting off track (if I was ever on track), but I have to say Mark Churma's pre-18 year-old girl hot tub parties is always a knee-slapper. What about all the other good ole stories we are missing in the admist of the boring Bengals.

Three days ago, Miami Hurricane safety Willie Cooper was shot in butt and his teammate Brandon Meriweather pulled out a gun and fired three times at the butt-attacker.

Less than a week before that, Dallas Cowboy safety Keith Davis was shot twice during a drive-by shooting on the highway - The shooting took place 5 a.m. when the gunman pulled up to Davis' car and unloaded multiple shots. It seems random, but Davis was shot three time outside a strip club in 2003. We'll never know the real story because of right now Davis doesn't play for the Bengals.

What about a month ago, where someone literally left a Cleveland #### in the hole Phil Mickelson was playing while preparing for the Memorial Tournament near Columbus. Why? This is a story no one heard and I might be confusing the facts a little because ESPN didn't flood my mind with stories about magical #2(s) instead they feel the need to remind me about Bengal players who might not even make the team.

Finally, here's the rundown- Thurman 4-game suspension for probably doing some sort of ill-legal drug (may have missed the test)- Rucker is accussed of wrong-doing during his college career at Colorado State and USC. Ahmad Brooks is slapped on the Bad Bengals list by failing a drug-test while at the University of Virginia- A.J. Nicholson is charged with robbing his teammate (Lorenzo Booker) at Florida State- who else- oh yeah

Chris Henry- isn't this what it's all about- Henry was arrested four times in six months. Henry is the only reason ESPN rips on guys like Rucker, Thurman, Brooks and Nicholson. Imagine if the Bengals just drafted Corey Dillon- Does anybody remember that? Dillon was honored in the January 2002 edition of Maxim magazine in its Sports Felon Hall of Fame. Let me list his arrests according to the magazine- DUI, theft (twice), intent to sell cocaine, obstructing a police officer (thrice), resisting arrest (twice), assault (five times), criminal trespass, malicious mischief (twice), reckless endangerment (twice)- not to mention Dillon was arrested 11 times before the age of 17. Sure, there was a question mark that made him fall to the 43rd pick of the 2nd round in the 1997 NFL draft, but it didn't make the buzz of the trouble-some Bengals of 2006. You know why? The Bengals sucked. No one cared about a team that was being compared to the LA Clippers, but since winning the AFC North title everyone seems to care about the team being compared to the Portland Jail Blazers.

Recently, another Bengal made the news for all the wrong reasons- Matthias Askew a disappointing defensive tackle from Michigan State was charged with obstruction of police business, resisting arrest and two parking violations in which he has plead not guilty. Furthermore, police tased the 6-6 310-pound Askew for a parking ticket. Askew has reported that may sue the Cincinnati Police after his checkup at an area hospital to check his heart. Askew's story was that the police asked him to move his car, but when entering his car in attempts to move it the police ordered Askew out of his car with his hands up. That's when the tasering began- was it because he's huge and police were scared- Who knows? But one thing is for sure- ESPN- and whole world knows another Bengal was arrested.