Pat Elflein, who will play center next season, was named a captain by the Buckeyes, 12:00 PM ET COLUMBUS, Ohio — The list of accomplishments is already long, and Pat Elflein hardly could have been blamed for taking a look at all he’s done and skipping off to the NFL. But it turns out the checklist of what all the Ohio State offensive lineman wants to do before he leaves the program might be even longer, which is exactly why he was coming out of a team meeting Friday morning with a new position coach instead of training somewhere warm with the large group of teammates who didn’t want to stick around for another year. Elflein was tempted by the chance to jump to the next level along with nine other Buckeyes with a national title on his resume along with two years of full-time starting experience and all-conference accolades. But as he rattled off his goals on the to-do list for a senior season in which he’s already scratched off one new item, it became increasingly clear that Elflein simply had too much unfinished business to leave Ohio State now. “I want to graduate, I wanted to be a captain, I want to be a first-team All-American and get a tree in Buckeye Grove and I want to lead this team,” Elflein said as he inched forward intently on a bench next to Ohio State’s indoor practice field. “We have a lot of talent and we can do a lot of things this year, we can just reload. I want to lead this team, play for Ohio State for another year, play center, get experience at center so I have some versatility for the next level and I want to win the Rimington [Trophy for the nation’s best center]. So, there’s a lot of goals here still to be done, and just with the inconsistent draft information, I didn’t want to leave all that here. “It’s already starting. I was named captain the other day, so, there’s a check. Now just keep it going.” If the Buckeyes are going to collectively keep rolling as a national contender, Elflein is now literally and figuratively going to figure prominently right in the middle of it all thanks to his decision to return…
Continue Reading: Pat Elflein’s return to Ohio State boils down to unfinished business
