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Ohio State football has two national championships, several first-round NFL draft picks and Heisman Trophy candidates this century, but no representative from the Buckeyes cracked Fox analyst Joel Klatt's All-21st Century college football team.
Appearing on "The Joel Klatt Show" on July 13, Klatt revealed his list of 14 position groups of the best players from college football this century, but did not include any Ohio State players in the final cut of 23 players.
Among the position groups, Klatt considered wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs (classified as a nickelback in the groupings) in his final nominees, but ultimately decided to cut both players.
Along with Smith, Klatt recognized four other wide receivers as finalists: Pitt's Larry Fitzgerald, Alabama's DeVonta Smith, Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree and Alabama's Julio Jones. Narrowing his final picks to three, Klatt cut DeVonta Smith and Jeremiah Smith.
"I know that the numbers might not support [Julio Jones] against some of the other candidates like DeVonta Smith or even what Jeremiah Smith has done over the last couple of years in his first two years of college football. But [Jones] was doing this for a team that was primarily run-oriented, in an era in which the SEC was absolutely loaded," Klatt said.
Klatt called Caleb Downs the smartest player that he ever covered, but chose LSU's Tyrann Mathieu in favor of Downs and Alabama's Minkah Fitzpatrick for the sole nickelback spot.
See the rest of Klatt's team below.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: No Buckeyes made Joel Klatt's all-century team. Here's who was snubbed
Continue reading...
Appearing on "The Joel Klatt Show" on July 13, Klatt revealed his list of 14 position groups of the best players from college football this century, but did not include any Ohio State players in the final cut of 23 players.
Among the position groups, Klatt considered wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs (classified as a nickelback in the groupings) in his final nominees, but ultimately decided to cut both players.
Along with Smith, Klatt recognized four other wide receivers as finalists: Pitt's Larry Fitzgerald, Alabama's DeVonta Smith, Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree and Alabama's Julio Jones. Narrowing his final picks to three, Klatt cut DeVonta Smith and Jeremiah Smith.
"I know that the numbers might not support [Julio Jones] against some of the other candidates like DeVonta Smith or even what Jeremiah Smith has done over the last couple of years in his first two years of college football. But [Jones] was doing this for a team that was primarily run-oriented, in an era in which the SEC was absolutely loaded," Klatt said.
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Klatt called Caleb Downs the smartest player that he ever covered, but chose LSU's Tyrann Mathieu in favor of Downs and Alabama's Minkah Fitzpatrick for the sole nickelback spot.
See the rest of Klatt's team below.
Joel Klatt's All-21st Century college football team
- QB: Vince Young (Texas)
- RB: Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma)
- WR: Larry Fitzgerald (Pitt), Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech), Julio Jones (Alabama)
- TE: Brock Bowers, Georgia
- OT: Bryant McKinnie (Miami), Joe Thomas (Wisconsin)
- OG: Quentin Nelson (Notre Dame), David DeCastro (Stanford)
- C: Barrett Jones (Alabama)
- Athlete: Percy Harvin, Florida
- EDGE: Terrell Suggs (Arizona State), Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama)
- DT: Ndamukong Suh (Nebraska), Aaron Donald (Pitt)
- LB: Luke Keuchly (Boston College), Micah Parsons (Penn State)
- CB: Patrick Peterson (LSU), Patrick Surtain II (Alabama)
- NB: Tyrann Mathieu (LSU)
- Safety: Troy Polumalu (USC), Ed Reed (Miami)
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: No Buckeyes made Joel Klatt's all-century team. Here's who was snubbed
Continue reading...
