The Scarlet and Gray
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redsox907
- Posts: 3135
- Joined: 01 Jun 2025, 12:40
The Scarlet and Gray
need to turn him into the next Buckeye great
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The JZA
- Posts: 8714
- Joined: 07 Dec 2018, 13:10
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toysoldier00
Topic author - Posts: 124
- Joined: 14 Nov 2025, 10:58
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toysoldier00
Topic author - Posts: 124
- Joined: 14 Nov 2025, 10:58
The Scarlet and Gray
In Gainesville, the Clock Is Loud — and It’s Ticking for Billy Napier
By Bailey Lloyd
September 17, 2025
Billy Napier walked to the podium after Saturday night in Baton Rouge with the posture of a coach who understands the math. Not the final score, Florida’s 35–31 loss at No. 4 LSU was competitive, the kind of game that can be sold as progress if your footing is stable. But Napier isn’t operating on stable ground anymore. Florida is 1–2, unranked after opening the year as the preseason No. 15, and staring down a month that looks less like a schedule and more like a stress test designed to snap a program in half.
“We’ve got to coach better. That starts with me,” Napier said. “The margin is razor thin in these games, and when you make the kind of mistakes we’ve made, you put yourself in a hole.”
Florida is already in one. The opener against Long Island was a palate cleanser, 44–3, the type of game that lets a fan base exhale for a few hours. Then came South Florida, a home upset, 36–33, delivered on the final play and followed by the kind of silence that only happens when a crowd realizes the season has shifted under its feet. LSU was supposed to be the recalibration, and for stretches it looked like it could be. Instead, it became something worse: proof that Florida can play with a top team and still keep finding new ways to lose.
The roster isn’t barren. It’s part of the problem. DJ Lagway’s tools are obvious in every throw that rips off his hand, in every drive where Florida looks modern and dangerous, and in every pivotal mistake that makes the team feel like it’s learning basic lessons in real time. Through three games, Lagway has 1,042 passing yards on 64% completion, but only six touchdowns against four interceptions. The ball is moving. The points don’t always arrive. And when the stakes rise, the errors multiply.
That’s the pattern that turns frustration into something more permanent. Florida’s next three games: at No. 5 Miami, then No. 8 Texas, then at No. 9 Texas A&M. After that, the calendar doesn’t soften, No. 3 Georgia, No. 24 Tennessee, undefeated Florida State, and a trip to No. 11 Ole Miss sit on the back half like a closing argument.
A team can survive a rough September if the foundation is trusted. Florida’s isn’t. The fan base is restless, the expectations were real, and the results are already bending toward crisis. The phrase “hot seat” doesn’t quite capture it when the road ahead offers so few obvious wins. Napier’s season is at risk of becoming a weekly referendum, the kind that starts with impatience and ends with inevitability.
“We’re not going to flinch,” Napier said. “We’re going to go to work and fight our way out of it.”
In Gainesville, the fear isn’t that Florida won’t fight. It’s that the schedule won’t care.
September 17, 2025
Billy Napier walked to the podium after Saturday night in Baton Rouge with the posture of a coach who understands the math. Not the final score, Florida’s 35–31 loss at No. 4 LSU was competitive, the kind of game that can be sold as progress if your footing is stable. But Napier isn’t operating on stable ground anymore. Florida is 1–2, unranked after opening the year as the preseason No. 15, and staring down a month that looks less like a schedule and more like a stress test designed to snap a program in half.
“We’ve got to coach better. That starts with me,” Napier said. “The margin is razor thin in these games, and when you make the kind of mistakes we’ve made, you put yourself in a hole.”
Florida is already in one. The opener against Long Island was a palate cleanser, 44–3, the type of game that lets a fan base exhale for a few hours. Then came South Florida, a home upset, 36–33, delivered on the final play and followed by the kind of silence that only happens when a crowd realizes the season has shifted under its feet. LSU was supposed to be the recalibration, and for stretches it looked like it could be. Instead, it became something worse: proof that Florida can play with a top team and still keep finding new ways to lose.
The roster isn’t barren. It’s part of the problem. DJ Lagway’s tools are obvious in every throw that rips off his hand, in every drive where Florida looks modern and dangerous, and in every pivotal mistake that makes the team feel like it’s learning basic lessons in real time. Through three games, Lagway has 1,042 passing yards on 64% completion, but only six touchdowns against four interceptions. The ball is moving. The points don’t always arrive. And when the stakes rise, the errors multiply.
That’s the pattern that turns frustration into something more permanent. Florida’s next three games: at No. 5 Miami, then No. 8 Texas, then at No. 9 Texas A&M. After that, the calendar doesn’t soften, No. 3 Georgia, No. 24 Tennessee, undefeated Florida State, and a trip to No. 11 Ole Miss sit on the back half like a closing argument.
A team can survive a rough September if the foundation is trusted. Florida’s isn’t. The fan base is restless, the expectations were real, and the results are already bending toward crisis. The phrase “hot seat” doesn’t quite capture it when the road ahead offers so few obvious wins. Napier’s season is at risk of becoming a weekly referendum, the kind that starts with impatience and ends with inevitability.
“We’re not going to flinch,” Napier said. “We’re going to go to work and fight our way out of it.”
In Gainesville, the fear isn’t that Florida won’t fight. It’s that the schedule won’t care.
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Soapy
- Posts: 12952
- Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 18:42
The Scarlet and Gray
thanks for those two dubs, sun belt billy
your job here is done
your job here is done
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Caesar
- Chise GOAT
- Posts: 13030
- Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 10:47
The Scarlet and Gray
Murderers' row on that schedule for Napier. Looks like we'll have a repeat of real life with him getting the boot.
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toysoldier00
Topic author - Posts: 124
- Joined: 14 Nov 2025, 10:58
The Scarlet and Gray
Buckeyes on Sundays: Ohio State’s early 2025 tape is already rewriting the draft board
By Dane Brugler
September 18, 2025
Ohio State has always produced NFL talent. That’s the baseline. The program’s draft pipeline is so reliable that evaluators often walk into the fall expecting to find two kinds of players in Columbus: the obvious ones, five-stars with first-round tools, and the “next ones,” the well-coached upperclassmen who turn into value picks because the league can never have enough functional linemen, competent corners or rotational pass rushers.
But the first few weeks of Ohio State’s 2025 season have felt different. Not because the Buckeyes suddenly have more talent than usual, they don’t. It’s because the top-end looks even sharper than anticipated, and the biggest risers aren’t the household names. Two players in particular have changed the conversation: linebacker Arvell Reese, who entered the season as a projection and is suddenly playing like a top-five pick, and wide receiver Carnell Tate, who has gone from “high-end WR2 traits” to legitimate “best receiver in the class” tape.
It’s September. Nobody in the league builds final grades in September. But scouts absolutely build conviction in September, and Ohio State is giving them plenty to work with.
Arvell Reese: a new kind of top defender in this class
If you’re looking for the next non-quarterback to threaten the top of the draft, Reese is making the strongest early argument. The modern NFL wants second-level defenders who can do three things: run, strike and cover. Plenty of college linebackers do one. Some do two. Reese is flashing all three with a tempo that forces you to move past the “starter?” question and into the more meaningful one: what is his ceiling as a pro?
Reese’s athletic profile pops immediately. He’s not a “see it, then chase it” linebacker. He’s a “beat you to it” linebacker. His first step is urgent, and he closes space with angles that suggest he’s processing the play while others are still diagnosing it. What’s most impressive, though, is that his speed isn’t chaotic. Reese isn’t just flying around. He’s arriving with intent, fitting downhill against the run, slipping blocks without getting washed, and staying balanced enough to finish.
The other piece that keeps showing up is his ability to affect the passing game without needing scheme help. Reese has the range to carry routes, the burst to trigger on underneath throws, and the feel to find work when the quarterback extends the play. That matters. The NFL doesn’t draft “linebacker athletes” in the top 10 anymore unless they can take snaps away from offenses in coverage. Reese is doing it.
It’s early, but if he keeps stacking games like this, Reese won’t just be a first-rounder. He’ll be the type of defender front offices start circling as the first non-QB off the board, the rare linebacker who fits every subpackage and doesn’t have to leave the field on third down.
Carnell Tate: WR3 no more
Tate was already known inside the sport, a former blue-chip who, on most teams, would have been the featured guy. At Ohio State, he was one of several weapons, often functioning as a complementary piece next to Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka. That context is important, because it obscured what Tate does best: he’s a pro route runner with pro pacing, and he’s starting to play like someone who understands exactly how to separate at the next level.
The easy comparison for Tate coming into the year was “smooth, reliable, high-floor.” That’s not wrong. But it’s incomplete. He’s showing more explosion at the top of routes, more variety in his releases, and more confidence winning at the catch point. The timing with his quarterback is improving, but Tate’s most translatable trait is independent of quarterback play: he consistently creates clean throwing windows.
If you’re building a draft receiver room, Tate fits the profile that offensive coordinators love, the receiver who wins early in the down, can play inside or outside, and doesn’t need manufactured touches to be effective. He’s not just a complementary threat anymore. He’s playing like a featured NFL receiver, the type who can carry a passing game on intermediate downs and still hit you with explosives when you get impatient.
The 2026-wide receiver conversation will still include other names nationally, and Jeremiah Smith will continue to be the most feared Buckeye on Saturdays. But when scouts talk about this draft class, next April, Tate is making the case to be WR1.
Caleb Downs: the cleanest safety evaluation in years
Downs is exactly what he’s always been: a rare safety prospect who checks boxes that are usually spread across two players. He has the range to play deep, the instincts to bait throws, and the physical temperament to fit the run like an extra linebacker. He tackles like it matters, and he plays with the kind of controlled aggression that makes defensive coordinators comfortable building around him.
There are safeties who are “good” at a lot of things. Downs is impactful at a lot of things. His angles are efficient. His eyes are disciplined. And when he triggers, he arrives with force but also with wrap-up consistency, the detail that keeps a highlight hitter from becoming a liability.
If you’re looking for a top-10 defensive back, Downs is it. He’s the best safety prospect to enter the draft in years because there’s very little projection required. He’s already playing the NFL job.
Sonny Styles: first-round linebacker traits, different flavor than Reese
Styles is a different kind of linebacker than Reese, but the grade is in the same neighborhood. Where Reese wins with speed and range, Styles wins with size, violence and versatility. He’s the type of defender who can play as a true second-level linebacker, but also slide into pressure looks and function as an edge-adjacent piece depending on the front.
What keeps him in first-round conversations is that he doesn’t look like a tweener. He looks like an answer. NFL teams are constantly trying to solve for personnel, how to match big bodies without sacrificing athleticism. Styles is one of the few college defenders who naturally fits that problem set.
Caden Curry: sneaking into Day 2 for a reason
Curry’s rise is quieter, but scouts notice players who keep collapsing pockets. He’s not just winning with effort, he’s winning with leverage, with hands, with a better understanding of how to finish rushes. There’s an NFL role here as a rotational defensive end who can kick inside on passing downs, and if the pass-rush production keeps matching the disruption, he’s going to be a Day 2 player on many boards.
The league is always hunting for functional pass rushers, and Curry is starting to look like the type who lands in the second or third round and plays early because he can do more than one job.
The bigger point
Ohio State’s most impressive draft story through September isn’t just that it has elite prospects, that’s expected. It’s that the program is creating new ones in real time. Reese is playing himself into rare air. Tate is forcing evaluators to revisit their receiver rankings. Downs is validating his status as the best safety in the pipeline. Styles has the build-and-play style teams covet. Curry is trending the right way at the right time.
September doesn’t finalize anything. It does something else: it reveals who belongs in the conversation. Right now, Ohio State has more names in that conversation than anyone expected, and the season is just getting started.
September 18, 2025
Ohio State has always produced NFL talent. That’s the baseline. The program’s draft pipeline is so reliable that evaluators often walk into the fall expecting to find two kinds of players in Columbus: the obvious ones, five-stars with first-round tools, and the “next ones,” the well-coached upperclassmen who turn into value picks because the league can never have enough functional linemen, competent corners or rotational pass rushers.
But the first few weeks of Ohio State’s 2025 season have felt different. Not because the Buckeyes suddenly have more talent than usual, they don’t. It’s because the top-end looks even sharper than anticipated, and the biggest risers aren’t the household names. Two players in particular have changed the conversation: linebacker Arvell Reese, who entered the season as a projection and is suddenly playing like a top-five pick, and wide receiver Carnell Tate, who has gone from “high-end WR2 traits” to legitimate “best receiver in the class” tape.
It’s September. Nobody in the league builds final grades in September. But scouts absolutely build conviction in September, and Ohio State is giving them plenty to work with.
Arvell Reese: a new kind of top defender in this class
If you’re looking for the next non-quarterback to threaten the top of the draft, Reese is making the strongest early argument. The modern NFL wants second-level defenders who can do three things: run, strike and cover. Plenty of college linebackers do one. Some do two. Reese is flashing all three with a tempo that forces you to move past the “starter?” question and into the more meaningful one: what is his ceiling as a pro?
Reese’s athletic profile pops immediately. He’s not a “see it, then chase it” linebacker. He’s a “beat you to it” linebacker. His first step is urgent, and he closes space with angles that suggest he’s processing the play while others are still diagnosing it. What’s most impressive, though, is that his speed isn’t chaotic. Reese isn’t just flying around. He’s arriving with intent, fitting downhill against the run, slipping blocks without getting washed, and staying balanced enough to finish.
The other piece that keeps showing up is his ability to affect the passing game without needing scheme help. Reese has the range to carry routes, the burst to trigger on underneath throws, and the feel to find work when the quarterback extends the play. That matters. The NFL doesn’t draft “linebacker athletes” in the top 10 anymore unless they can take snaps away from offenses in coverage. Reese is doing it.
It’s early, but if he keeps stacking games like this, Reese won’t just be a first-rounder. He’ll be the type of defender front offices start circling as the first non-QB off the board, the rare linebacker who fits every subpackage and doesn’t have to leave the field on third down.
Carnell Tate: WR3 no more
Tate was already known inside the sport, a former blue-chip who, on most teams, would have been the featured guy. At Ohio State, he was one of several weapons, often functioning as a complementary piece next to Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka. That context is important, because it obscured what Tate does best: he’s a pro route runner with pro pacing, and he’s starting to play like someone who understands exactly how to separate at the next level.
The easy comparison for Tate coming into the year was “smooth, reliable, high-floor.” That’s not wrong. But it’s incomplete. He’s showing more explosion at the top of routes, more variety in his releases, and more confidence winning at the catch point. The timing with his quarterback is improving, but Tate’s most translatable trait is independent of quarterback play: he consistently creates clean throwing windows.
If you’re building a draft receiver room, Tate fits the profile that offensive coordinators love, the receiver who wins early in the down, can play inside or outside, and doesn’t need manufactured touches to be effective. He’s not just a complementary threat anymore. He’s playing like a featured NFL receiver, the type who can carry a passing game on intermediate downs and still hit you with explosives when you get impatient.
The 2026-wide receiver conversation will still include other names nationally, and Jeremiah Smith will continue to be the most feared Buckeye on Saturdays. But when scouts talk about this draft class, next April, Tate is making the case to be WR1.
Caleb Downs: the cleanest safety evaluation in years
Downs is exactly what he’s always been: a rare safety prospect who checks boxes that are usually spread across two players. He has the range to play deep, the instincts to bait throws, and the physical temperament to fit the run like an extra linebacker. He tackles like it matters, and he plays with the kind of controlled aggression that makes defensive coordinators comfortable building around him.
There are safeties who are “good” at a lot of things. Downs is impactful at a lot of things. His angles are efficient. His eyes are disciplined. And when he triggers, he arrives with force but also with wrap-up consistency, the detail that keeps a highlight hitter from becoming a liability.
If you’re looking for a top-10 defensive back, Downs is it. He’s the best safety prospect to enter the draft in years because there’s very little projection required. He’s already playing the NFL job.
Sonny Styles: first-round linebacker traits, different flavor than Reese
Styles is a different kind of linebacker than Reese, but the grade is in the same neighborhood. Where Reese wins with speed and range, Styles wins with size, violence and versatility. He’s the type of defender who can play as a true second-level linebacker, but also slide into pressure looks and function as an edge-adjacent piece depending on the front.
What keeps him in first-round conversations is that he doesn’t look like a tweener. He looks like an answer. NFL teams are constantly trying to solve for personnel, how to match big bodies without sacrificing athleticism. Styles is one of the few college defenders who naturally fits that problem set.
Caden Curry: sneaking into Day 2 for a reason
Curry’s rise is quieter, but scouts notice players who keep collapsing pockets. He’s not just winning with effort, he’s winning with leverage, with hands, with a better understanding of how to finish rushes. There’s an NFL role here as a rotational defensive end who can kick inside on passing downs, and if the pass-rush production keeps matching the disruption, he’s going to be a Day 2 player on many boards.
The league is always hunting for functional pass rushers, and Curry is starting to look like the type who lands in the second or third round and plays early because he can do more than one job.
The bigger point
Ohio State’s most impressive draft story through September isn’t just that it has elite prospects, that’s expected. It’s that the program is creating new ones in real time. Reese is playing himself into rare air. Tate is forcing evaluators to revisit their receiver rankings. Downs is validating his status as the best safety in the pipeline. Styles has the build-and-play style teams covet. Curry is trending the right way at the right time.
September doesn’t finalize anything. It does something else: it reveals who belongs in the conversation. Right now, Ohio State has more names in that conversation than anyone expected, and the season is just getting started.
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Captain Canada
- Posts: 5790
- Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15
The Scarlet and Gray
Just got shooters all over the roster 
Must be so satisfying playing with such a dominant squad.
Must be so satisfying playing with such a dominant squad.
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ShireNiner
- Posts: 610
- Joined: 29 Sep 2025, 10:06
The Scarlet and Gray
Bo killed me in the Big Ten Championship, he’s going to be a stud.
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Count
- Posts: 1964
- Joined: 19 Dec 2018, 08:38
The Scarlet and Gray
Bayou Billy’s days are numbered