A few days ago, our friends at SBNation.com wondered if Alabama’s backups could beat an average FBS program, specifically, Northern Illinois. After looking at the recruiting rankings and some of the general matchups, the author concluded that yeah, Alabama’s backups could probably win that game. That’s not a shock, as Alabama has recruited better than anybody over the last few seasons, and their backups will still include multiple future NFL players. Only a few programs have recruited at anything close to Alabama’s clip, and without that deluge of elite talent, it’d be tough for even the backups of a good team to hang with a competent college squad. But you know who else has recruited at nearly that elite of a level? Ohio State. Could the Buckeye Backups beat an average FBS team? First, let’s take a guess at what an OSU backup starting lineup might look like: Position Player Name Year Recruiting Ranking QB Joe Burrow (RS) Freshman 4*, .8970 RB Bri’onte Dunn Senior 4*, .9537 WR Austin Mack Freshman 4*, .9614 WR Paris Campbell Sophomore 4*, .9359 HBack Dontre Wilson Senior 4*, .9685 TE Jake Hausmann Freshman 4*, .9414 LT Branden Bowen (RS) Freshman 3*, .8666 LG Michael Jordan Freshman 4*, .9387 C Brady Taylor (RS) Sophmore 3*, .8618 RG Evan Lisle (RS) Junior 4*, 9616 RT Malcom Pridgeon Junior 4*, .9329 DE Jayln Holmes Junior 4*, .9622 DE Nick Bosa Freshman 5*, .9965 DT Jashon Cornell (RS) Freshman 4*, .9557 DT Tracy Sprinkle (RS) Junior 3*, 8514 LB Jerome Baker Sophmore 4*,…
Continue Reading: Could Ohio State's backups beat an average college football team?
