OSU Stacks Talent at Receiver Position

Woody Hayes once said, “You don't get hurt running straight ahead...three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense. I will pound you and pound you until you quit.” Well, Woody, that’s all well and good, but you didn’t have these receivers to throw to.

By Eric Geier

    The Ohio State receiving corps is as deep as it has ever been. Currently, Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline are the starting receivers, but waiting in their shadows are a slew of talented young receivers just waiting for the opportunity to showcase their abilities.

The Veterans

    The returning receivers like what they see in the new receivers and offer their own advice to the new guys. “You've got to be able to run routes and catch the ball, and you've got to be willing to block all day if that's what it takes,” Robiskie said.

    "It puts a little pressure on everybody to perform, but you've got to learn to deal with that," sophomore Dane Sanzenbacher said. “Everybody should have to show up in practice every day and earn their spot.” In regards to new receivers DeVier Posey and Lamaar Thomas he said, “They've both played very well, even during the summer doing the drills, they are very athletic, and for the most part they are picking up the offense well for what little time they've been here.”

The Freshmen

    Though they have only been practicing for a couple of months now, the rookie receivers are turning some heads, but they still need some work when it comes to competing with OSU starters.

    DeVier Posey was asked what he thought about the veteran receivers at Ohio State. “Those two are professionals; they are NFL receivers,” he said. “You can really tell that those two know what they're doing, with the way they carry themselves, and the way they are in meetings-just the whole swagger about them. They are professionals, and that's how I want to be one day.”

    Lamaar Thomas was asked about the differences between high school football and college football. Linebacker James Laurinaitis immediately came to mind. “We run and stuff, (but) it seems like he never gets tired, like he could run for days," Thomas said. “During our gasser tests, the linebackers had to come in at a certain time, the DBs and receivers had to come in at a (faster) time. Well, James was coming in at our times, sometimes faster than our times. It's not like that in high school."