Nall gone

Good luck to ya Nall. Thanks for being a contributing factor in ending the Civil War losing streak.

It will depend entirely upon his workout day. His production in college didn't earn him a draft pick, but his workout might.

I think he'll be UDFA

I do not think that is an unreasonable assumption. 

I think as long has he can show what we expect in workouts, that being 6'3 and 240 with his speed and acceleration will earn him a later round flyer. But like I said, a lot depends on if he can earn a combine invite. I think that is kind of doubtful, personally. 

It just seems to me that pro day workout don't often move the needle on players that were not already high on people's radar. It seems that the Combine is that chance to raise eyebrows. I dunno, I could be wrong. 

Selfishly I'm really glad he's going to the NFL instead of showing us all what we missed out on by playing for Stanford or someone else with a competent staff and offensive line that isn't made up of emergency converted d-tackles and such.

Really glad he isn't choosing to put on another college team's jersey. Hope he gets a shot at the league. Isn't RB a deep position in this year's draft? Hope all the best for him. He has enough "freak of nature" in him to at least land on a roster.(If Gwacham can make it 3 years and counting, so can Nall)

From what I saw last year, we have one, possibly two, players coming back that play hard and fast at running back. I assume Ryan was told everyone has an opportunity to start. At that point it becomes a conundrum... stay and risk not being named starter, transfer and risk not being named starter, or focus on getting ready to show your stuff to team scouts at pro day or the combine.

Ryan's an excellent player with a good top speed for a kid his size. If I were him I'd hire a sprint coach and work on starting explosively and fast. The NFL really looks at 40 times at running back and receiver, that's burned a couple of our kids in the past.

I appreciate what that kid did. He has a lot of ability, and when healthy and given the opportunity to tote the rock, he had some great moments for us. He hung in there through all of that dysfunction of the last few years, and remained loyal to leadership (and I refer to that in this case more as a title than an attribute of the last coaching staff)

I would have been surprised had he returned to tell the truth. It’s interesting...many of us figured/projected/hoped that while JS was not the “splash” (or Dr. Ray’s “Blue Chip”) hire that we sought, he brought some things to the table that might surprise everyone. Some of us thought that his downhome OSU pedigree might allow him to bring in guys like Heyward, Johnson and Breckterfield, and with his offensive understanding perhaps convince Nall to stay. We thought that he might flip some notable talent in the early signing period, but given his QB focus and record certainly would solidify our lock on Petras and even pull a transfer in at that position. So far...no, no, no, no and no.

I don’t blame JS at all. I just renewed my season tix, and am excited for the new era here. Nall was likely gone regardless. The aforementioned coaches have current gigs that pay more and give more cred to their resumes and are all more interested in a specific career ladder than they are to wax nostalgic (and I don’t blame them or JS for that). Even in the case of recruiting, no way should JS be faulted for not doing anything sexy during the early signing period. Not enough time or helping hands available, and I doubt that there will be enough to make much of a splash on 2/6.

My sense is that Barnes and Ray had to spin this hire in a way to 1) appear that they actually know something about football and (in Ray’s case) probe that he cares, and 2) create some excitement over a hire that is impossible to gauge at this time. I do like the looks of who we hired as our coordinators. Why would a standing O or D Coordinator of a successful P-5 program leave that for this right now? I honestly believe that JS could get this on track, but we have to give him time and be realistic along the way. Getting a solid Coordinator or position coach from a Power 5 program that is in a reasonably comparable position to do the same job in Corvallis is realistic. So is getting a talented position coach from a P-5 program and promoting him here.

When we start winning, the word will get out to recruits that OSU is legit, and the staff can flat teach and improve players. THAT will be our recruiting pitch. I honestly don’t ever see Tosh Lapoi “I’ll sell you beachfront property in Central Oregon”-type coaches coming here. You don’t have to have the fluff to attract what you need to succeed. In our case, we have to have coaches that are great teachers, can adjust to personnel and situations and know how to put kids in the best position to succeed. I think we may have that, but time will tell.

Back to Nall after my diatribe: Thank you, Ryan. Blessings on you and best of luck. The guy could make a roster on special teams or something to start with. I don’t think he needs to be limited by the mess he endured here nor our opinions of his potential, but right now I’d guess that he will be an UDFA. Go get ‘me, Ryan!