Bad News...

Man, you just hate to hear stuff like that. A season-ending knee injury only a few (non-contact) practices in.

Well, Osahon is a true freshman, he'll have his entire freshman year to adapt to college life, he can continue to work out and he can redshirt and still have his four years of eligibility. That's the only mindset that can be taken right now ...it's a tough break for the young man.
 
This could be a big blow to our defense and special teams this year. We really can't afford any more injuries at safety or linebacker.
 
Thats too bad. I haven't seen anything about him since recruiting last year, but he seemed like a quick kid with great instincts that could have made a big impact on ST as a freshman, but oh well, assuming his knee heals up well he'll probably be better in the long run with the extra year to get in the weightroom and become more familiar with the JT defense.

Good luck, and get well Tongo
 
midatlantech said:
This could be a big blow to our defense and special teams this year. We really can't afford any more injuries at safety or linebacker.
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I wish the best for Tongo and hope he has a quick and successful recovery in order to contribute next year and going forward BUT...

saying this will be a big blow is going overboard. This is football and players are going to be injured - all schools are going to deal with it. He's a true freshman and the depth chart will be impacted somewhat for the LB position and he would probably have seen time on special teams but it shouldn't be too difficult to find a replacement on ST.

I hate to downplay the significance of an injury (because he is a person) but there are many other positions where a season ending injury would create a "big blow". A true FR LB (IMO) is not one of them.
 
I agree that this should not be considered as a big blow to our program being at the linebacker position. We need much more help in our secondary and it would be more of a blow if it happened to the big recruit freshman DB from the Keys(forgot his name) who is looking good and is getting practise time on #2 unit.
 
It's not a big blow because he wasn't given a chance to show what he could do. As far as we know he could have been the best linebacker on the team after a day of practice, but because he never made it to full contact and we don't know what we are missing, it isn't a big blow. We are simply as we were before he ever showed up.
 
Whether anyone considers this...

as a big blow to the team or not, it is definitely a big blow to the young man. I remember the photos of Osahon when he signed his LOI, he wore a tux. He was obviously very proud of his scholarship. I feel terrible for him, wish him the best and look forward to seeing him play next year!!

Unfortunately, injuries are just a a fact of football life. Players and teams must deal with them. They have to persevere, adapt and overcome.
 
ContactBuzz said:
Isaying this will be a big blow is going overboard. This is football and players are going to be injured - all schools are going to deal with it. He's a true freshman and the depth chart will be impacted somewhat for the LB position and he would probably have seen time on special teams but it shouldn't be too difficult to find a replacement on ST.
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This was a big blow because he is the 2nd LB on the 2-deep to go out for the season....first was Barnes. Tongo already had the physical measurements to play this year...and the coaches were counting on him to compete for the spot as the 4th LB to go in the game.....like Guyton last year.

Plus....the experience would have been invaluable since Hall graduates...and next year Wheeler and Guyton will be seniors.

We are one starter going down from some issues.
Tucker has always had to watch his academics close..just like KScott and KHall. Chambers still is at 90%...and Bowen is a freshman.

With only 79 scholarships (73 this year actually) we cannot afford injuries almost anywhere on the field.

In summation...I am not saying the sky is falling...but this will impact what we do on the field from a personnel and rotation standpoint.
 
hiverred - If you were going down the roster naming guys we couldn't afford to lose, how far down the list would Tongo appear?

I'm sure some changes will have to be made to account for his loss but it could be much worse.

...with all of the caveats I mentioned above - I'm not trying to sound like a heartless message board geek.
 
First off, I should have started by saying that I wish Osahon the best in his recovery and that it was a very difficult thing for this young man.

Having said that, we are woefully thin on athletes folks. You can flat out bet that just about every freshman DB, LB, S, RB, etc. will be playing this year on special teams. And that is not good.

We are one injury away now from being totally depleted at two defensive positions: LB and S. If y'all don't think that losing Gaston, Barnes and now Tongo is huge, while we're on probation, well I guess Florida real estate it is.

We are seriously at risk now for big physical teams too. If we had more RB's, I'd expect more of them to move to defense, but we're thin there too. Sorry to say, but 7-5 can be expected soon just based on depleted ranks.
 
Suck!

On the road to rehab and let's hope for a 'D Richard Type' of recovery..I know this beast can do it!!! hardcore...Go Tongo!
 
ContactBuzz said:
hiverred - If you were going down the roster naming guys we couldn't afford to lose, how far down the list would Tongo appear?

I'm sure some changes will have to be made to account for his loss but it could be much worse.

...with all of the caveats I mentioned above - I'm not trying to sound like a heartless message board geek.
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Kind of goes back to what I said in my original post...we cannot afford injuries at almost any position as we are barely two deep right now...and inexperienced at some parts of our two deep like LB and S. With us running 12 scholarships shy of the full 85...we are dangerously thin...so they are ALL big injuries at this point imho.
 
Tongo was NOT on the 2nd team. Shane Bowen was and IS. Tongo may someday be a great LB, but at this point in time, he is just another good PROSPECT. You don't measure football ability in inches and pounds. The young LB you may want to keep an eye on is Sedric Griffin.
 
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