Ohio State Football: Receiving Stats For Days

SB Nation's Bill Connelly, requisite numbers bad ass, college football/tennis encyclopedia, and all around boss recently provided us, the internet at-large, a Library of Congress worthy document detailing 7 seasons worth of NCAA receiving data. Going beyond the typical yards and catches, Bill also detailed the number of times each player was targeted, simply put, how many times a particular receiver was thrown at. I'd bookmarked the article in question weeks ago but with the site launch, the spring game, the draft, and typical miscellaneous real life distractions, it completely slipped my mind. The immortal MGoBrian took the liberty to inadvertently get things refocused in the right direction by outlining the pertinent information related to the Wolverines from the figures. In the spirit of this past weekend's NFL Draft (and more specifically all the mind numbing copycat league references, which I suppose in pointing out I'm being somewhat the copycat), I present to you the Ohio State answer to the data in question.

Remember, the 2006 Jim Tressel does LSD season and the 2005 Jim Tressel smokes pot (e.g. the gateway to offensive progressiveness) offenses aside, we're looking at WalrusBall across the board (and 2011, Walruspocalypse Now, natch).

When Dane Sanzenbacher was at his best, it wasn't just some kind of white possession receiver affirmative action; he was legitimately Ohio State's highest productivity capable receiver relative to the number of times he was thrown towards. While Ted Ginn's lack of route running efficiency may have doomed him from ever being more than a special teams threat at the NFL level, his other worldly speed made him a force to be reckoned with his sophomore season in Columbus. Fiesta Bowl vs N.D.-year Santonio Holmes was also quite the weapon (though I remember at the time it seemed his overall game wasn't exactly given its fair due). The differences between Ted Ginn as a #1 in 2006 and as a #3/#4 in 2005 are also quite astounding.

Brian Hartline pre-quitting and taking his ball and going home because his BFF was benched was quite the weapon from the four slot (though to be fair, his 2008 numbers as a number 2 speak glowingly even in lieu of his final half of the season apathy). You can also get a small window into why Jim Tressel potentially gave Ray Small so many chances. This also has me more excited for a potential return-from-injury Verlon Reed than I ever thought possible. And you've got to love Fragelrock's purported efficiency and the unsurprising high marks from Jake Ballard. <3 u, Walrusball. And by <3 u, I mean h8 u. DIAF. Forever and ever. Amen.

To see the lowest of lows, we flip things and look to the bottom twenty:

These figures are mostly comprised of little utilized fullbacks, forever alone'd tight ends, and fourth/fifth wide receivers. Of course Philly Brown supposedly being the Bucks' #1 last season with those kind of figures shows just how nightmarish things got last year.

We move on to who was most targeted, which should show either how much respect a certain receiver (or receivers) got within a particular year's offense, or just how damn bleak things got:

I don't think it's entirely a stretch to call DeVier Posey the schematically most leaned upon wide receiver of the latter half of the Tressel-era. Ted Ginn Jr. and Brian Robiskie check in second and third in that department respectively. It's also no surprise Brandon Saine got as many looks as he did given the notorious reputation his mits had, though seeing Small adds to the "I haz a sad"-ness of his career as a whole. Chris Fields being targeted as much as he was last season pretty much says at all.

Now let's look at who were (numerically speaking, anyways) the best at catching the ball amongst these groups:

Even with a comedically awful attitude, Brian Hartline's worth to a Jim Tressel offense was probably unfairly undervalued. The prospects of Devin Smith as a #2 or #3 have to have you licking your lips even more now and hey, given all the 2011's that show up here, maybe with an actual non-zombie sea mammal calling the passes, 2012 might not be so ground oriented after all.