Part 2 of a series of Q&As with Ohio State safety Tyvis Powell leading up to the NFL draft April 28-30.
Tyvis Powell played for an Ohio State team that went 38-4 over the last three years and won the 2014 national championship. He is also one of nine Buckeyes to skip his final year of college eligibility and enter the upcoming NFL draft.
Powell won't be the first Buckeye drafted, but he might be the funniest and most talkative player in the bunch. The 22-year-old safety gave his scouting reports on his teammates to the AP for his draft diary entries. The first installment was last week. In the latest, Powell gives his thoughts on fellow safety Vonn Bell, and his roommate, Cardale Jones, along with All-America tackle Taylor Decker and quarterback-turned-receiver Braxton Miller.
Offensive tackle Taylor Decker, a four-year starter who could be taken late in the first round.
Tyvis' take: "Hands down (the leader of the offensive line). He definitely does a great job of keeping them all in check. He's the one that if something's not going right, we go to Taylor and Taylor will get it fixed. Not just on the offensive line, but on the whole offense. He had a very powerful voice on that offense. A lot of people respected him. He does everything right. He never gets in trouble. If you ask him to do something he'll find a way to get it done. That's the kind of player you want."
Wide receiver Braxton Miller, played one season at receiver after being a two-time Big Ten player of the year at quarterback and injuring his shoulder.
Tyvis' take: "He turned out to be a very powerful weapon for us in the slot. He's very unselfish. I check him every day (in practice) and there's some days he got me. But I definitely got mine. Dealing with that whole receiver group — him, Mike (Thomas) and Jalen (Marshall) — after seeing them every day in practice, I started saying I got to get smart. Because these are some good athletes I gotta check. They made Saturdays so much easier, because it ain't like I'm going to be seeing anybody like y'all on these other teams. They allowed me to get really smart. I'm like figuring out the route combinations. I started jumping routes. They're like, 'Oh man, you're cheating the play.' I'm like, 'I'm getting smart out here.'"
Safety Vonn Bell, who could be the first safety drafted.
Tyvis' take and the origin of the Vonn Bell Academy: "We're doing ball drills (in practice). For some odd reason, there was something in the air that day, nobody could catch the ball. So Vonn gets out there and he catches every ball. And he says, 'I'm telling y'all, y'all need to come to VBA.' I'm like, what the heck is VBA? Vonn Bell Academy. Ever since that day, he thinks it proves he's got the best hands of the safeties. I don't know how true that is nowadays. But on that particular day he had the best hands and that's when he coined the phrase VBA.
"I think he had a hard time (as a freshman) trying to learn the playbook. There was just a whole bunch of good players. It was hard for him to try to find a spot. Me and him was playing the same position, nickel. I was the starter, he was the backup and there was no way, I wasn't giving it up.
"Me and Vonn were in the circle drill one day after training camp. He called me out. I was just so shocked. I guess in his mind he's thinking, 'I'm going to beat him in the circle drill and I'm going to take his position.' So I say, 'All right. Ain't nobody going to disrespect me and call me out.' We get in the circle. We line it up and when I tell you I whooped Vonn ... I tried to take Vonn all the way back to Chattanooga (Bell's hometown in Tennessee). He ain't ever going to admit to this, but everybody was there. It's the truth. We went twice. I whooped him both times. I took him all the way back to Chattanooga both times."
(Powell added after laughing at his own story): "Vonn's definitely going to have a very successful career just because of who he is. He works hard, he's a competitor. He studies the game. He goes out there and he makes plays. One thing I know about Vonn, from Day 1 he has been a playmaker ever since he stepped foot on this campus."
Quarterback Cardale Jones, a wild-card prospect with great raw ability.
Tyvis' take: "Cardale's really got a heart of gold. He might come off as this really silly guy, but he really cares about people a lot.
"Let me tell you about the first time I seen him throw the ball. So what happens was it was at the 7-on-7 (high school tournament). My high school coach was the coach at Glenville (High School) once upon a time. He goes 'Tyvis, they got this quarterback over there. I'm telling you he's 6-5, he got a gun. I'm talking about it's a straight laser.' And I'm sitting there like. 'There ain't nobody throwing the ball that fast.' He's like, 'Ty, I'm telling you, when you see him you're going to be like the kid can go to the NFL today. He's going to the NFL for sure.'
"We got to the 7-on-7 and I'm like, let me see this big arm that everybody gabs about. Man, he threw that ball and I said 'Holy shoot! Oh, shoot!' It was like, you blink, you missed it. This is ridiculous.
"We actually won because I picked him off to seal the deal, He's going to tell you it was tipped, but anyway I caught the pick. I got Cardale twice in my life when it counts. I got him in the spring game. I got him in the 7-on-7. When he sees me on the next level, he might go the opposite way. He tries me again, it's going to be bad. I want to see him do good on the next level. He just needs to stay away from me."
