Former Ohio State Receiver DeVier Posey Drafted By Texans

Posey was the 2nd Buckeye drafted on Friday

Despite only playing three games as a senior due to two five-game suspensions, DeVier Posey was drafted Friday night with the fifth pick in the third round by the Houston Texans. 

The Texans were obviously looking for someone who could really get down the field to help get some pressure off of Andre Johnson.

Posey's draft status doesn't appear to have been too negatively affected by his challenges with Tatgate or the Bobby DiGeronimo scandal that followed. 

He arrived at Ohio State in 2008 and played right away, finishing with 136 catches for almost 2,000 yards despite that abbreviated senior season (in which he almost took the team lead for season receptions in just those three games).

His 18 career touchdowns rank seventh all-time in school history, and his game-sealing touchdown catch in the 2010 Rose Bowl will always be a treasured moment in Buckeye football history.

Posey enters the NFL with a nice opportunity after many thought he might be going much later in the draft. Now he has a chance to really show what he can do as a play maker. 

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

Wednesday's Buckeye Bits

Happy Wednesday, Buckeye fans. It’s only the second day of the offseason and I already miss college football, despite the dud of a national championship game we witnessed on Monday night.  The “Rematch of the Century” may have turned some viewers off, as the game received better TV ratings than only two other national championship games (Miami-Nebraska in 2002 and USC-Oklahoma in 2005).

If you were looking for a sports fix on the first night of the college football offseason, the Buckeye basketball team was on the court last night in Champaign, Ill.  It was a very tough game for the Buckeyes, as the Illini shot the ball extremely well.  Brandon Paul had a career game for Illinois, scoring 43 points on 8-10 shooting from three-point range, leading the Illini to a 79-74 upset of the Buckeyes.

Urban Meyer will be B1G’s highest paid coach.  The Lantern did an excellent job of tracking down the salaries for Ohio State’s coaching staff and it showed that Meyer will be making $4 million next year.  Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz is the second-highest at $3.785 million.  Last year’s head coach, Luke Fickell, will be the highest paid assistant in the Big Ten, sharing that honor with Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison at $750,000. 

On the day he was hired, Urban Meyer said that he wanted to get the best coaches in America to come to Ohio State, and it appears the university is willing to shell out the cash to get them to Columbus.  The Lantern calculated that the average salary of the 10 coaches that have officially been hired at $321,500.

Gator Bowl Preview: Ohio State vs. Florida

The offense relies heavily on Braxton Miller

This was one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory for the Ohio State Buckeyes (6-6, . The lineup changed from week to week due to suspensions and injuries. There was little or no continuity throughout. Against Michigan, though, some things finally clicked for the Buckeye offense in the season-ending loss to the Wolverines as they rolled up 372 yards total offense and 34 points on TTUN.

Quarterback Braxton Miller showed what he could be capable of as he accounted for 335 of those yards (235 passing, 100 rushing) and three touchdowns. Two of those TDs were long touchdown strikes, a 54-yarder to Philly Brown and a 43-yarder to DeVier Posey. That was only the second game the dynamic Posey played during the season because of suspensions. You know Posey will want to go out with a big game and look for Miller to try and find him early and often. Even Fickell and Bollman have admitted to drawing up some plays that feature the senior in some different keyed-in looks. OSU’s passing game ranked 117th (out of 120 teams) at 124.1 yards per game. The good news is that this team has aerial and vertical potential with Posey and Brown at full-go, which they showed against UM.

OSU’s running game was a mixed bag. The Buckeyes ended up 27th nationally at 195.7 yards per game on the ground. Running back Boom Herron was pretty much held in check during the three-game losing streak to end the season, which might explain the disastrous ending for Ohio State. They've relied on the run in November for the past couple of years, and this year it wasn't there to succeed.

Florida boasts an athletic and tough defense, even if there is not a lot of experience – seven of the 12 starters are freshmen or sophomores. The same can be said of the Ohio State offense, though. That youth worked against the Gators as they faltered against top competition in the SEC. Florida was 39th nationally in rushing defense (132.3 ypg), 10th in pass defense (167.3 ypg), ninth in total defense (299.6 ypg) and 25th in scoring defense (20.6 ppg). Key playmakers include MLB Jonathan Bostic and safety Matt Elam, who are all over the field on a consistent basis.

Recap: Ohio State 34 Michigan 40

The last drive wasn't enough

When people remember the 2011 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-6, 3-5), what will come to mind? That this was the first team to lose to Michigan in 7 years? Maybe they'll remember it as Braxton Miller's coming out party, where he led the Buckeyes to a 6-6 record, which would have been much worse without him. 

Perhaps the line of thinking will go towards the team that came after Jim Tressel and before Urban Meyer. Whichever way people remember it, this season was rough for OSU fans, and they most likely will try and forget it.

When OSU took the field, there was some serious energy on offense, before Braxton Miller connected with a wide open Philly Brown for the first score of the game. Better yet, it was a long pass that completed an outstanding drive, that was perhaps one of the best drives this season. The common phrase this game was "Where was this play-calling all season?". 

It seemed as if Fickell, coaching in what may be his first and last Michigan game was pulling out all the stops and kidnapping Jim Bollman's playbook for the day, to allow Braxton to actually be set free. The 18th-ranked Wolverines and first-year head coach Brady Hoke notched their first win over the arch-rival Buckeyes since 2003, prevailing 40-34 in what was by far the most entertaining Ohio State-Michigan game since the one-versus-two game in 2006. The offense's on both sides exploded, but the same could be said about the defense's.

Recap: Ohio State 14, Penn State 20

Posey did his best to try and get a win

The last time Penn State won a game without Joe Paterno as coach was December 1965.

That day, the Nittany Lions used a strong defensive effort to beat Maryland, behind the coach who mentored Paterno, Rip Engle.

On Saturday, No. 21 Penn State earned its first victory since Paterno was fired with a similarly stingy defense.

Stephfon Green ran for two touchdowns and the Nittany Lions held Ohio State (6-5, 3-4) scoreless in the second half of the 20-14 victory on Saturday.

"We talked about the last two teams to win here were `78 and `08," said interim coach Tom Bradley, who was promoted after Paterno was fired 10 days ago. "I said to them, `I want to know: How are you going to be remembered?"

They'll be remembered as at least co-champs of the Big Ten's Leaders Division, while Ohio State falls again.

Braxton Miller: Proving Himself

Miller showed poise in the Purdue game

In an otherwise very ugly game for Ohio State against Purdue, Braxton Miller showed at times what has made him so special.  Miller escaped pressure time and time again to make a play, none seemingly more important than on 4^th down on what should have been the game-winning touchdown.  Miller was pressured, but showed great composure to keep his eyes downfield to find Jordan Hall behind the defense.

Miller definitely was not perfect on Saturday, but at this stage in his career, you cannot expect him to be.  He overthrew several open receivers deep down the field throughout the game.  His accuracy is something that needs to improve.  Miller was 8-18 against the Boilermakers for a career-high 132 yards, but the low completion percentage brought his season average to exactly 50 percent.

One has to wonder if this stage is getting to Miller, as he was hailed out of high school as being a “true dual-threat that is advanced as a passer in comparison to most,” according to ESPN.  His accuracy has been off almost all season, but his legs and his ability to make the big play have overshadowed this a bit.  Hopefully this is just a result of growing pains, coming from high school to college football.

Posey, Hall, And Herron Suspended For Nebraska Game

This is getting old, real fast

As it was announced yesterday, we're here to bring the bad news in full summation, for your understanding and total lack of disbelief. Oh wait, that's me. 

- Five Ohio State players were under investigation for receiving more money than they were owed for part-time jobs. 

- Only 4 players were found guilty, including Melvin Fellows, Marcus Hall, Boom Herron, and DeVier Posey. 

- These 4 players are suspended indefinitely, but Fellows, Hall and Herron received the same amounts of money that have been suspended for 2 games, previous to before this whole NCAA ordeal. 

- DeVier Posey seems to be in the most trouble, and might not ever get to see the field in a Buckeye uniform again. The amount of money he has received is enough for a 4 game suspension. With the risk of a bowl ban (which, even making a bowl is looking less and less more likely) and loss of scholarships, the Buckeyes won't put Posey back on the field, because it's too dangerous to mess with the NCAA situation. 

- The NCAA ruling that was set for late October, early November, will be delayed due to the new developments. Gene Smith says this does not affect the NCAA's decision, but it's rather a necessary protocol. 

For the university release, head to the jump. 

Ohio State's Armageddon

Pryor under fire from Buckeye Nation right now

Ohio State fans have been blessed before this season. Sans Troy Smith in 2004 receiving money from a booster and had to sit out the Alamo Bowl and the first game of the season the next year, Tressel's players have been very well behaved, including almost no suspensions. The NCAA has done no investigations or anything like that to any of Tressel's team as fans watch USC, Alabama, etc. get knocked out by the investigations, and Buckeye fans could relax because they knew Tressel would never allow such a thing.


Now only 12 days from kickoff in the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas, Ohio State has met it's match. It's not on the football field. Terrelle Pryor, Daniel "Boom" Herron, DeVier Posey, Michael Adams, and Solomon Thomas are now all suspended for the first five games in the 2011-2012 season. All of these key cogs in the Buckeye team are eligible for the Sugar Bowl, but it's possible they might sit out still. It depends on what Gene Smith and Jim Tressel want to do.


The key players have some money to pay, as well:

• Mike Adams must repay $1,000 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring  
• Boom Herron must repay $1,150 for selling his football jersey, pants and shoes for $1,000 and receiving discounted services for $150.
• DeVier Posey must repay $1,250 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring for $1,200 and receiving discounted services worth $50.
• Terrelle Pryor must repay $2,500 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring, a 2009 Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award and his 2008 Gold Pants.

Spring Finals: Wide Receiver

We all know by now that spring has come and gone, football wise that is, so we will be taking a look into all the positions, tell you how they did, and where they might be this fall. Today's topic is Wide Receiver.

The Ohio State wide receivers have had some pretty good cores in the past, including Santonio Holmes, TG2, Gonzo, Hall, and more. The 2010 group is looking to make a statement that they can be one of the groups in that list itself. The receivers always play an important role at Ohio State, but this year, they have to do work to impress. We start with Mr. Posey.