Former Ohio State Tackle Mike Adams Drafted By Steelers

Adams is the first Buckeye drafted in 2012

Mike Adams, the first Buckeye drafted this year, is a Pittsburgh Steeler, reuniting with Cameron Heyward whom the team drafted last year. 

The Dublin Coffman graduate, Ohio State criminology major and Block O alumnus is the second member of the heralded Class of 2008 to enter the NFL, following Terrelle Pryor who was taken by the Oakland Raiders in the supplemental draft last summer.

Adams was a first-team All-B1G performer during Ohio State's vacated 2011 championship season and managed to get onto the second team as a senior despite missing five games due to his Tatgate suspension. He started in his final 23 games, after appearing in five as a freshman and six as a sophomore.

He recently made big news by testing positive for marijuana at the NFL combine, despite knowing for months that he would be tested. Adams now has the opportunity to demonstrate what he was able to do in a largely consistent fashion at Ohio State: Perform admirably both as a run and pass-blocker.

Adams is the first Dublin Coffman/Ohio State player to get to the NFL since Vince Workman in 1985. Notre Dame's Brady Quinn and Chinedum Ndukwe and former Buckeye/transfer to Pittsburgh Nick Goings also preceded Adams in making it to the league.

It seems in my eyes that Adams has been given a third chance at this situation and I sincerely hope he doesn't mess this one up. Best of luck to Mike in the NFL.

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest news, updates and opinions on Ohio State athletics.

Heyward Selected 31st, No Other Buckeyes Drafted Yet

With the only surprise in the draft as far as Ohio State players was that Cameron Heyward was selected that low. He was heard to be in serious talks with the Ravens, but they ended up taking another person before him. It seemed chances were grim when they reached toward the end of round 1, but Cameron Heyward was chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31st overall.

Meanwhile, the other Buckeyes in waiting will most likely be there awhile, with the possibility of a couple of them  going in the 2nd and 3rd round. After not having a player selected in the first round of last season's draft, Heyward gives OSU its 17th first round selection since 2000.


Here's the NFL Draft's take on the pick, and Heyward:


 "The Steelers opt to upgrade their defensive line instead of addressing their secondary with the selection of Heyward. He gives them another athletic five-technique to throw into the rotation, and his overall skill set is a perfect fit in their "30" scheme. This pick is another illustration of the Steelers stockpiling young players to groom for huge roles down the road."

Final Sugar Bowl thoughts

Thomas came up big for the Buckeyes

The Sugar Bowl ended in typical Ohio St. fashion on Tuesday night with another white knuckle affair. It really didn’t have to be that exciting though. The Buckeyes stormed out of the gate to a 28-7 lead in the first half and held a 31-13 advantage late into the 3rd quarter before Mallet and the hogs mounted a furious comeback. Only Soloman Thomas dropping in to coverage to pick off an errant Mallet throw with under a minute to play saved the Buckeyes from another season of “SEC this and SEC that”. I think the big guy was just as surprised as the rest of us when the throw found its’ way into Thomas’s bread basket but he held on and the rest is history.

This performance does not cure all of the ill will that the Big Ten has endured over the past decade but it was a step in the right direction. Michigan St., Michigan and Penn St. did the conference no favors by dropping all of their respective games to SEC foes on New Year’s Day and Wisconsins’ loss to TCU was shocking considering the Badgers were one of the hottest teams heading into the bowl season. Thankfully, Iowa and Illinois handled their business in mid December and the Buckeyes finally got that 8000lb SEC monkey off their back with a Sugar Bowl for the ages. It pushed the conference record to 3-5 on the bowl season. The mark for this year isn’t great but the end result would have been much worse had the Buckeyes blown it in New Orleans.

After digesting this recent bowl game, I wanted to touch on a few points and wrap up the successful 2010 season.