The sun already set on college football down in New Orleans just a couple of weeks ago. The Super Bowl just gave us our last hurrah as well Sunday night. So, we’ve got a question for you: Are you missing the good ‘ole American game yet? Yeah, yeah, there’s the whole reboot of the XFL, but for all intents and purposes, the game we know and love is now on a hiatus until the fall really.
But that’s okay. We’re going to fill that time with some reflections on the decade that just passed us by for Ohio State. It was one that was filled with several Big Ten Championships, a national title, and a slew of wins over That Team Up North.
But who are the best of the best from the 2010s? There’s a ton of really good players to choose from, and we’re doing our best to identify them in a series of posts dealing with the best of the decade of Ohio State football.
We’re starting with our All-Decade Offensive Team, with the All-Decade Defensive Team up next. So, here it goes. If you were to put a team together on the side of the ball responsible for scoring points, what OSU players would you choose from 2010 through 2019? Here’s our stab at it.
Next … The skill positions at Ohio State
Quarterback
Dwayne Haskins (2018)
Boy, this was a tough one. We had to choose between the likes of Terrelle Pryor, Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett, Dwayne Haskins, and Justin Fields. While any program would take their chances with any of them, how can you ignore what Haskins did by having the greatest single-season any quarterback in Ohio State history had. We go with Haskins by a thin, thin margin on this one. Heck, Fields might end up being the best of them all once he gets one more season this decade.
Running Back
Ezekiel Elliott (2013-2015)
Another close call here between Zeke and J.K. Dobbins. If it were twenty years ago, we could go with a two-back set and take them both, but we’re sticking with the one-back formation of the times. Both guys are extremely talented, but Elliott had just a little bit more big-play ability and explosiveness. He gets another slight nod here.
Wide Receiver
Devin Smith (2011-2014)
K.J. Hill (2015-2019)
Parris Campbell (2015-2018)
Okay, the good news is we get three guys here. The bad news is we have to cull it down to just three. Also, we’re only taking into account what these guys did in college, not at the next level. Otherwise, Michael Thomas would be a shoo-in. So, we’ll go with the speedster Devin Smith to stretch the field, Parris Campbell to play in the slot, and the program’s all-time leader in receptions, K.J. Hill. Not a bad unit at all.
Next … The offensive line and tight end
Tight End
Jeff Heuerman (2011-2014)
Ohio State has not historically featured the tight end much in the offensive plans, and that continued throughout this past decade. Heuerman is unquestionably the best of them though. He caught 52 passes for 792 yards in his career and was a part of the 2014 national-title winning team.
Offensive Line
LT – Jack Mewhort (2009-2014)
LG – Wyatt Davis (2016-current)
C – Pat Elflein (2011-2016)
RG – Billy Price (2013-2017)
RT – Taylor Decker (2012-2015)
It’s tough picking the best offensive lineman because there aren’t a lot of stats to support which of the big uglies are better than the rest. But the thought here is to get the best five in the lineup, so we’ll start with two Rimington Award winners in Pat Elflien and Billy Davis on the interior. Mewhort and Decker are two First-Team All Americans and likely the best tackles OSU has had over the last decade. And we’re going with Wyatt Davis at left guard. While Andrew Norwell and Michael Jordan were also studs there, Davis was a beast last year as a First Team All-American and can start anywhere in the country.
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