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What If Urban Meyer Built an NFL Team of His Former Players?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Oct 25, 2014; University Park, PA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes defensive lineman Joey Bosa (97) reacts after beating the Penn State Nittany Lions 31-24 at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Urban Meyer could field quite an NFL team with his former players.

With many head coaching struggles in the NFL, teams are on the prowl and in pursuit of high-quality football coaches. Big-time names like Nick Saban and Urban Meyer appear on what is a short list of guys that teams are gunning for. In fact, Urban Meyer was targeted by an NFL team (he hasn’t said who) near the end of last season.

“I was reached out to, asked if I would be interested, and I’m not,” Meyer said during a news conference last December. But what if Meyer had given the pro game a try by now, and he was able to put together a team while only using his former college players?

Honestly speaking, he would be probably be a Super Bowl contender. Allow me to elaborate. Here is a look at the team that we could put together using only former Meyer-coached players. Let’s start with the quarterback position.

Quarterback:

Starter: Cam Newton

Backup: Alex Smith

Third string: Cardale Jones

Before Urban Meyer became respected as one of the greatest coaches in college football, he was running things at Utah with Alex Smith, who has since proven himself to be a franchise quarterback in the NFL. After accepting the heading coaching position at Florida, Meyer was blessed with eventual Heisman and national-championship-winning quarterback Tim Tebow.

Although Tebow turned out to be a scrub in the NFL, the person backing him up did not. That man’s name was Cam Newton, who, if not for him getting suspended from the team for his arrest on felony charges of burglary, larceny, and obstruction of justice, would have thrived in Meyer’s offense.

After Newton’s suspension at Florida, he transferred to Auburn, where he went on to win the Heisman trophy and a national title. Now he is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

He was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2011, he is a three-time Pro Bowler (2011, 2013, 2015), he was named first-team All-Pro, and in 2015 he was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year, while also winning the Bert Bell Award.

Meyer would be set at quarterback in having former players Cam Newton and Alex Smith on his roster. And if all else failed, Meyer would be left with Cardale Jones as his third-string guy. Sound familiar?

Jones led Ohio State to a national title as a third-string quarterback, and I swear he has ice in his veins. He is now the backup quarterback for the Buffalo Bills

Running Back:

Starter: Ezekiel Elliott

Backup: Carlos Hyde

Ironically, when these two players were on Ohio State’s roster at the same time, Carlos Hyde was the starter and the seasoned veteran, while Elliott was the freshman backup. That was back in 2013, when Hyde had 208 carries for 1,521 yards, compared to Elliott’s 30 carries for 262 yards.

The tables would turn if they were on the same team now, though. Elliott has quickly become one of the best running backs in the NFL, and after rushing for 96 yards versus the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday night, he remains the league’s leading rusher with 799 rushing yards thus far in his rookie campaign.

Elliott’s 114.1 rushing yards per game are also tops in the NFL.

In Carlos Hyde, you have a reliable back that could start for a lot of different teams. His 429 rushing yards give him the 18th most rushing yards in the NFL thus far, despite the problems on the 49ers’ offensive line

Elliott and Hyde would make arguably the best one-two punch in the NFL if they were on the same sideline together. Hyde’s a pretty good running back. However, Elliott may just be a future hall of famer.

Wide Receiver:

Starter No. 1: Michael Thomas

Starter No. 2: Philly Brown 

Backup: Jalin Marshall

When it comes to former Meyer players in the NFL, the wide receiver position is the weakest, as there are slim pickens on the depth chart. However, Michael Thomas has the most impressive resume at this juncture, as he is currently leading the New Orleans Saints in receptions, and is second on the team in both receiving yards (500) and touchdowns (3) in his rookie season. On to Philly Brown.

Now in his third season, Brown has 69 receptions in his NFL career, 920 yards (13.3 yard AVG), 6 TD’s, and 14 rushes for 133 yards (9.5 yards per carry). Although he provided quite a spark for the Panthers as a rookie, he has had a decline in production thanks to a nagging shoulder injury.

Tight End:

Starter: Jeff Heuerman

Backup: Nick Vannett

The only former Urban Meyer-coached tight ends in the NFL are former Ohio State tight ends Jeff Heuerman and Nick Vannett.

Heuerman is the backup tight end for the Denver Broncos and only has two receptions for 48 yards thus far in his career, and 6′ 6″, 257 lbs Nick Vannett only has one reception thus far in his rookie season.

But you better believe that these guys would be more involved in the passing game if Cam Newton was their quarterback. Especially since there wouldn’t be a veteran tight end starting ahead of them.

Offensive Tackle:

Starter at left tackle: Marcus Gilbert:

Starter at right tackle: Taylor Decker:

Marcus Gilbert was one of the better offensive lineman Meyer coached during his tenure at the University of Florida, and now he’s a starting offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s arguably the best player on Pittsburgh’s offensive front, and has started in 61 of his 62 career games.

Rookie Taylor Decker is expected to have a spectacular career, and has started at left tackle from day one. Although he’s notorious for getting called for holding, look for him to make the Pro Bowl at some point, if not several points, of his career.

Offensive Guard:

Starter at right guard: Andrew Norwell

Starter at left guard: Jack Mewhort 

Andrew Norwell is anchoring things on the interior of the Carolina Panthers’ offensive line, and has started in 23 of his 24 career NFL games. Mewhort is a guard for the Indianapolis Colts, and has started in all 37 games in his NFL career thus far.

Both would provide the team with solid blockers on the interior of the offensive line and open up holew for Ezekiel Elliott or Carlos Hyde to run through.

Center:

Starter: Maurkice Pouncey

Backup: Corey Linsley:

Every year he has stayed healthy in his NFL career, Pouncey has been a Pro Bowl selection (2010–2012, 2014) and either a first-team (2011, 2014) or Second-team (2010, 2012) All-Pro. He was the Pittsburgh Steelers Rookie of the Year in 2010, and has started in all 63 of his career games.

Would-be backup to Pouncey, Corey Linsley has started in all 30 games of his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers thus far, and made the PFWA All-Rookie Team in 2014

Defensive End:

Starter No. 1: Carlos Dunlap

Starter No. 2: Joey Bosa

Backup: Noah Spence 

Now in his sixth season in the NFL, Dunlap has recorded 296 tackles, 54 sacks, 26 pass deflections, and 14 forced fumbles thus far in his career. What a beast! Dunlap was a Pro Bowl selection for the first time in his career last season, recording a career-best 13.5 sacks

Bosa has played in just four career NFL games, and the rookie already has four sacks. He was a bit quiet in the Chargers’ 19-27 loss, but averaging a sack per game isn’t too shabby.

If he continues to register a sack per game throughout an entire 16-game regular season (he didn’t play in the Chargers’ first couple games, due to petty contract negations), he will have 16 sacks in the regular season, close to J.J. Watt’s league-leading 17.5 sacks in 2015

Noah Spence is another rookie standout defensive lineman that was formerly coached by Urban Meyer, and he’s expected to do big things in his career as well. Spence played for Ohio State in 2012 and 2013 and was highly regarded as one of the better underclassmen in the country.

However, he was suspended indefinitely and declared ineligible after failing two drug tests. After the suspension, he took his talents to East Carolina.

Now making his home in Tampa Bay as a Bucaneer, the standout from Philadelphia, PA is on pace to have a seven-sack season.

Defensive Tackle:

Starter No. 1: Johnathan Hankins

Starter No. 2: Adolphus Washington

Hankins was on pace to having a solid career in the NFL early on in his career. Although he didn’t start for the Giants until his second season in the league, he made the most of his opportunities when he did become a starter back in 2014, recording 51 tackles, seven sacks and one forced fumble.

Since then he has been plagued with injuries, and is fighting to return to his 2014 form.

Yet another rookie on this list, Adolphus Washington didn’t become a starter for the Buffalo Bills until the fourth game of this season, yet he already has 13 total tackles on the year and two sacks.

Linebacker:

Starter No. 1: John Simon

Starter No. 2: Jelani Jenkins

Starter No. 3: Darren Lee

Backup: Brandon Spikes

John Simon was the heart and soul of Urban Meyer’s first team at Ohio State (2012). He played defensive end in college, despite being rather under-sized for the position. Nowadays he is playing linebacker for the Houston Texans.

As of week seven of the 2016 regular season, the 6’1″ 252-pounder has recorded 104 tackles, 9 sacks, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery in his career.

Mr. Brandon Spikes was a crucial part to Urban Meyer’s success at Florida, where he became a two-time consensus All-American and a three-time first-team all SEC selection. He came into the NFL in 2010 and has since recorded 341 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, 16 pass deflections, six forced fumbles

Jelani Jenkins is a starting linebacker for the Miami Dolphins… when he’s healthy. Despite the former Florida stud being out for knee injuries, and now a groin injury, he has 213 tackles to his credit thus far in his career, along with 3.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. ,

Due to recurring injuries thus far in Ryan Shazier’s career, he has been somewhat of a first round draft bust. Sure, he hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations of him coming out of college. However, his 145 tackles in 23 career games are good enough for 6.3 tackles per game, which isn’t that bad when considering all of the injuries he has endured. Onto Darren Lee.

Although Lee has been out the last two weeks with an injury on his left ankle, the former 3-star high school recruit did manage to register 30 tackles in just under five games, averaging six tackles per game.

That’s not so shabby for a rookie. Especially when you consider that, at that rate, he would have eventually ended up with nearly 100 tackles (96) through a 16-game regular season.

Cornerbacks:

Starter No. 1: Joe Haden

Starter No. 2: Bradley Roby

Backup: Eli Apple 

Joe Haden was the Sporting News Defensive Player of the Year, a unanimous All-American, and a first-team All-SEC selection for Urban Meyer’s Gators back in 2009.

Ever since his rookie season he has been the starting nickelback for the Cleveland Browns, and has done spectacular thus far in his career. He’s already a two-time Pro Bowler (2013, 2014), and was Second-team All-Pro in 2013.

Bradley Roby played for Meyer’s undefeated Buckeyes in 2012, before opting to forego his senior season and take his talents to the NFL.

The former first-team All-Big Ten selection and second-team All-American has since started in every game of his NFL career, recording 125 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, and four defensive touchdowns. Onto Eli Apple.

Even though Apple was a red-shirt sophomore last year, the former five-star recruit made a good enough impact during his freshman and sophomore seasons to be a top-ten NFL Draft pick. He is now a starting cornerback for the New York Giants.

Safeties:

Starter No. 1: Reggie Nelson

Starter No. 2: Eric Weddle

More from Scarlet and Game

In his nine and a half year career, Nelson has recorded 689 tackles, 87 passes defended, 8 forced fumbles and 32 interceptions. He was a Pro Bowl selection in 2015, a second-team All-Pro, and the NFL’s co-leader in interceptions.

Back when Urban Meyer was the head coach at Utah, special players on defense were key to his success. Eric Weddle was one of them. Now In his tenth season in the NFL, Weddle has recorded 702 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 76 pass breakups, and 20 interceptions thus in his career.

He’s also a three-time Pro Bowler (2011, 2013, 2014), two-time first-team All-Pro selection (2011, 2014), three-time second-team All-Pro (2010, 2012, 2013), and he led the NFL with nine interceptions in 2011

Conclusion:

If you are a highly-touted high school recruit who has dreams of playing in the NFL, Urban Meyer’s not a bad coach to play for.

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