Former Ohio State Offensive Tackle Mike Adams Signs 4-Year Deal With Steelers

Adams during Rookie Minicamp

The Steelers have signed their second-round draft pick from the 2012 NFL Draft, offensive tackle Mike Adams. Financial terms of the four-year deal were not disclosed.

Adams (6'7", 323 lbs), who was the 56th overall pick, played collegiately at The Ohio State University. 

Adams started 25 of 30 games he played in during his four-year career. The Farrell, Pa. native, registered 167 knockdowns and 33 touchdown-resulting blocks in his final two seasons. 

In 2011, Adams earned second-team All Big Ten Conference honors. As a junior he was named to the All Big Ten Conference first-team as well as The NFL Draft Report’s All-American third-team.

Adams saw his draft stock take a hit after it was revealed that he tested positive for marijuana at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. The Steelers said Adams re-entered their draft plans after he asked the team for a second interview in order to ask for another chance to prove himself.

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

Former Ohio State Player Nate Ebner Drafted By Patriots

Ebner gets his shot in the NFL

In one of the more interesting picks for the NFL draft, Nate Ebner has gone from walk-on at Ohio State to NFL draftee with the New England Patriots.

The second Dublin native to be drafted from this year's team with Mike Adams will be competing for playing time on Bill Belichik's special teams unit, a position where he shined for the Buckeyes after making the move to football from rugby. 

Ebner is a tremendous athlete, having been named the MVP of the Rugby World Cup in both 2007 and 2008. 

He was a tremendous player for the Buckeyes when it came to special teams last season, as he and Ryan Shazier (before the upgrade to LB) dominated the tackling. 

His nose for the ball and his tenacious sense of urgency on the field make him a player that will be pretty important in the Patriots special teams. I'm happy for Ebner as this was a surprise pick.

Mike Brewster remains undrafted.

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

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.

Wednesday's Buckeye Bits

Good morning, Buckeye fans! It’s a bit weird writing this knowing it’s the first time in a long time that there hasn’t been a basketball game to look forward to, but nevertheless we shall overcome and look towards spring football! Urban, you guys.

But I will backtrack to basketball just a little for a couple of bits.

Thomas, Sullinger headed to NBA?  While it would be nice for both Deshaun Thomas and Jared Sullinger to return to Ohio State for their junior seasons, it’s highly unlikely that both will.  Thomas is the more likely of the two to come back to Columbus, while Sullinger says he hasn’t made a decision yet, but will likely take his talents to the professional ranks. 

Sullinger should be a lottery pick if he decides to enter June’s NBA Draft.  The deadline to enter the draft if you want any chance at withdrawing is April 11.

Mock draft: Adams to the Texans? In a recent mock draft by Russ Lande of The Sporting News, he has the Houston Texans taking Ohio State offensive tackle Mike Adams with the 26^th pick.  That would be an interesting selection for the Texans, who would likely give Adams a shot at winning a starting tackle position after they lost starter Eric Winston to free agency.

Wednesday's Buckeye Bits

Good morning, Buckeye fans!  It’s Wednesday.  This is a good thing.  It means the week is almost half over, and, of course, the basketball Buckeyes take the court again tonight, taking on Penn State in Columbus.

Mike Adams Impresses at Senior Bowl.  Mike Adams was one of the top prospects at offensive tackle for the upcoming NFL Draft before Senior Bowl practices started, but it seems that he is doing even more to help his cause.  The 6-foot-8-inch Adams has the height to be a successful left tackle in the NFL, but scouts would like to see him add a few pounds to his frame. There is a good chance he will be a first-round pick in April.

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.

Postmortem

Sigh

That's all folks. The curtain has dropped, the seas have un-parted and the fat lady has belted her last note. That last "game" against the Spartans effectively ended the 2011 campaign before it even had a chance to get going. The Miami game a couple weeks back was a tough pill to swallow but many, yours truly included thought that the Big Ten season would offer a new beginning of sorts and allow Ohio St. to play meaningful football this season. That ship sailed in my head after the first 3 offensive series last Saturday. This team is bad. Not average or mediocre... bad. It pains me more than anyone else to type those words but it's time to face reality.

There will still be some good games against inferior opponents in the coming weeks but anyone with a pulse in the Big Ten has to be smacking their chops in anticipation of their game with OSU. I guess "bad" isn't a fair term to bestow on the whole team. I thought that the defense played their collective tails off (per usual) and kept the team in the game all afternoon. They let Cousins get off some decent throws and there were some missed tackles but when the D is on the field that long, the Baltimore Ravens would've given up some yardage. With an offense that pathetic there is no room for error. For OSU to have won that game, the defense would've had to been the unit to put it in the end zone. IS there any other conclusion to be drawn from that contest? Let's take a look at the 3 most glaring problems even though one could write a book on all that is wrong with OSU these days. The quarterback play is just awful right now. Joe Bauserman should never, and I mean never, pick up a football ever again.

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. 

Spring Finals: Offensive Line

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 the Offensive Line.

Ohio State has been criticized so much about the offensive line that in 2008, Jim Tressel himself took over for Jim Heacock. Much of the blame had been put on him as well for losing and collapsing against top-tier teams. It didn't help much, but in 2009, the O-Line turned the corner of destiny, making themselves a decent line. Against USC, they held their own, and opened up lanes for Boom Herron to find, and to cut through. Then against Penn St. they opened up holes for Boom and Zoom to destroy the D-line, and then gave up no sacks the the Nittany Lions. Now in 2010, with the majority of everyone returning to their spots, things are looking up for this group of talented linemen.