Urban Meyer on draft: 'I think the Browns did very good'
Joe Scalzo @jscalzoREP
May 14, 2018 at 2:31 PM May 14, 2018 at 5:33 PM
Meyer also confirmed that Dwayne Haskins is the front-runner to replace J.T. Barrett as the Buckeyes' quarterback
CANTON Last season, Ohio State's Urban Meyer coached against the top three picks in the NFL draft — Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield, Penn State RB Saquon Barkley and USC QB Sam Darnold — and was the head coach of the fourth, CB Denzel Ward.
The Cleveland Browns drafted Mayfield and Ward at Nos. 1 and 4, although many fans wanted them to draft one (or both) of the others.
How did the Browns do, coach?
"I've got be careful because it'll be a headline somewhere," Meyer joked at Monday's Hall of Fame Luncheon Club at Tozzi's on 12th. "I think the Browns did very good."
The Buckeyes held Mayfield in check in a 45-24 win over Mayfield's Sooners in 2016. The 2017 meeting was a different story as Mayfield threw for 386 yards and three TDs in a 31-16 win at Ohio Stadium. Afterward, Mayfield ran to midfield and planted Oklahoma's flag.
"I've got a lot of respect for him as a player," Meyer said of Mayfield. "The No. 1 characteristic of all successful players, especially quarterbacks, is not height, weight, size, fast, slow, tall, short. It's 'Are you a competitor?' And, 'Are you an extreme competitor?'
"I can tell you about that. I know he is. I know him personally. I think they did very good."
As for Ward?
"I'm very biased about that guy," he said, grinning.
Outside of a 97-yard kickoff return to start the game, the Buckeyes mostly held Barkley in check during last season's 39-38 win over the Nittany Lions. He ran for 44 yards on 21 carries with one touchdown and caught four passes for 23 yards.
Still, Meyer is a fan.
"I'll say this about Saquon Barkley," he said. "I don't know him personally, but I've read a lot of stuff about him and I just like great players that are great people. And that's what I hear about him."
Darnold threw for 356 yards in a 24-7 loss to OSU in the Cotton Bowl, but he also threw a pick-six and lost two fumbles. Meyer thinks Darnold's struggles were due to OSU's pressure, as the Buckeyes sacked him eight times.
"Sam Darnold is an excellent player," Meyer said. "Our D-line was dominant. He's a very accurate passer."
Here are other highlights from Meyer's speech, which came on the final meeting of the club's 55th season:
Sophomore Dwayne Haskins is the front-runner to replace J.T. Barrett at quarterback.
Haskins, who completed 6 of 7 passes for 94 yards in relief of Barrett in the Buckeyes' 31-20 win over Michigan, had the edge over senior Joe Burrow and freshman Tate Martell after spring practice and is now the clear front-runner after Burrow announced last week he would transfer out of the program.
"This is really the first time I've talked about this since the spring game, but as of now it looks like Dwayne Haskins will get the first opportunity to be the starter," he said. "Dwayne is a young guy that came in against our rivals and did a heck of a job. You go back and watch that again, he came in on the first drive and took us down the field and scored on that first drive against that defense. So he's got a great release, he's got good size and he's a mobile-enough quarterback.
"It is going to change how we attack defenses."
Burrow, a former Mr. Football winner at The Plains Athens High School, has reportedly narrowed his choices to LSU or Cincinnati. Because he has his undergraduate degree, he will be immediately eligible at his next school.
"He's a very good player," Meyer said of Burrow. "I love Joe. I love his family. He did everything the right way. … I have nothing but good things to say about him. Joe and I are extremely close."
He thinks the Big Ten is back.
The Big Ten went 7-1 in bowl games and finished with five teams in the top 17 of the final AP Poll (No. 5 Ohio State, No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 8 Penn State, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 17 Northwestern).
"In 2012, the Big Ten conference wasn't very good," he said. "I didn't know that until I got here. I remember when I first got to Ohio State, I was shocked at how everyone was disrespecting the Big Ten like they did. I'm talking about nationally, when I'd go to meetings and they'd talk about how bad the Big Ten was. And I think that was a little bit overblown. But it's (the league) nothing compared to what it is right now.
"The Big Ten is arguably the best conference in the country and we happen to be in the toughest division in America and that's the Big Ten East. They're recruiting like never before in the Big Ten conference, so if you want to have a conversation with different people in different parts of the country and want to brag about the Big Ten, go ahead. You can do it with a lot of substance and data right now."
He doesn't want to expand the playoffs.
Although OSU was the final cut for the four-team playoff this season, Meyer thinks adding another round is asking too much of the players.
"You can't go eight teams," he said. "You'd have to change the whole model of college football. You'd have to give a bunch more scholarships, change the calendar. We always think of the student-athlete first and you can't add two more games. Unless, down the road, you change the conference championship games and all that to be part of it and I can't see that happening."
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