{mosimage}OK, I've taken a week or so away from football. At least if you are going to live in SEC country you can get outside and play enough to actually almost forget about football-almost. As an aside, my son in law did Disney last weekend and tells me he had Buckeyes come to him and warn him about wearing his Woody hat in public. Not aware that he had any difficulties, but did say there was alot of LSU gear around. I, of course did the bait and tackle thing at the Snook Nook in Jensen Beach and the boys were waiting on me. At least this year there was no posted notice as there was last year procaiming I was on suicide watch. For a bunch of uncouth bastards the boys were relatively gentle this year. I can tell you the snowbirds do not seem so anxious to wear their Buckeye gear after a loss.

Anyhow, back to football. Most fans see themselves as having 2 seasons-the games and recruiting. For the Bucks we are becoming pretty used to 3 seasons, with the 3rd season being what does the NFL do to our junior class. Vernon Gholston is gone. Hell of a ball player. and he seems to be ready to cash in. Congrats Vern. We will miss you.

The news for te Bucks gets much better after Vernon. Brian Robiskie will return as a receiver. Whether you like our receivers or not, at least they will all return. They will be a solid bunch with solid experience and with freshmen coming in who could contribute.

Malcolm Jenkins is returning at corner. How about that! Turning down big bucks as a first round pick and coming back. I kindof need to keep repeating this to myself lest I wake up. What this means for the Bucks, among other things, is the entire defensive bacfield will be back. One would think the defensive gameplan could include entrusting the corners a bit more in single coverage. Malcolm returning is fantastic news.

Alex Boone has elected to return at left tackle. It appears this decsion was helped by Boone's draft prospects. Obviously Alex believes there is NFL money to be made by improving his draft status for next year. Kirk Barton used up his eligibility at right tackle so it is very nice not to have to replace both starting tackles. Boone is a bit of a flake. Here's hoping he becomes a senior leader on this team.

Marcus Freeman has elected to return at linebacker. I have been hard on Marcus in the past but again, he will bring alot of experience onto the field next year. The linebacking corp was looking scary with Larry Grant graduating and Freeman and James Laurinaitis looking at the NFL. The news got even better Monday with the Cleveland Plain Dealer repoting that JL is also returning for his senior year. How cool is that! Two players on this list that really didn't need to stay to improve their draft stock- JL & Jenkins are staying. So, we have 2 of our starting LB's back, Homan coming off a medical redshirt, the subs coming back with a couple of quality freshmen joining the team. The LBing corp could have been a weakness, but will now be a strength. Gholstin and Grant are the only two starters we will lose of the defense. On offense we lose Barton at right tackle and Johnson and Whaley at fullback.

Recuiting is important and I get into it as much as the next guy, but the players mentioned above are much more important to the prospects for next years Bucks than a Terrelle Pryor or a Michael Brewster. Quality players returning to positions that matter. The early season matchup with the Trogans ought to be something.

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