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Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He’ll give you his views each day on the game he loves.
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You would think losing a near-record 14 players in the NFL draft would put a dent in the Ohio State program. And sure, it will sting for a bit, but the Buckeyes always knew they were losing those guys and planned for it.
The new piece of the “rich get richer” system that is college football — don’t take that as a complaint — comes in the form of the transfer portal.
On the week the NFL kept calling on Buckeyes in Green Bay, Wis., Ryan Day’s staff added a possible draftee for next year. Or maybe two years from now.
Beau Atkinson — sounds like a guy in Columbus … or a college football movie character — picked the Buckeyes. Atkinson was one of the top-rated defenders in the portal after a 7 1/2-sack season at North Carolina.
Rather than remain in Chapel Hill where things could be interesting in Bill Belichick’s first year — the Raleigh, N.C., native chose the defending national champions.
The 6-foot-6, 260-pounder will move quickly into the starting lineup and likely be on the field when Ohio State visits Champaign-Urbana on Oct. 11. Should be fun. Unless you are an Illinois offensive lineman. Then, it becomes work.
You might think with a new quarterback, defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and at least 13 other starters, Ohio State will take a dip in 2025.
The Atkinson addition is another sign the answer is “not so fast.”
I had already been leaning toward Ohio State at the top of my preseason…
Source link : https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/cant-wait-for-saturday-what-the-nfl-taketh-away-the-portal-giveth-back/article_9e4f00a1-062d-42fa-ade2-4e522bf43fdf.html
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Publish date : 2025-04-27 14:50:00
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