There are not very many teams that can, year after year, recruit and reload like the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes will have another top 5 class. Let’s take a look at the Buckeye’s best offensive recruit and defensive recruit.
Braxton Miller-QB
Miller is regarded as one of the best quarterback prospects to EVER come out of Ohio. I’ve watched 3 or 4 of his games and I haven’t been this excited about a prospect since… Terrelle Pryor.
He is a different animal than Pryor. Braxton is not as big as Pryor at 6’2 200lbs, but he is every bit as fast as Pryor and has much more jitter-bug quickness when compared to Pryor. In other words he can make people miss… badly.
He also has an absolute cannon for an arm. He is also much further ahead of Pryor as far as throwing the ball when compared at the same stages in their careers. Both came from spread option offenses out of the shotgun, but Miller threw the more than Pryor. Pryor has become a pass first nightmare for defensive coordinators, Miller could rewrite every passing record OSU has when it is all said and done. That is how good he is.
There is one thing that could hurt his chances to be a long term success at Ohio State and that is injuries. Miller has had a history with getting hurt. Something that Tressel will have to protect him from by making sure he doesn’t run it too much.
To me, Miller is a cross between Troy Smith and Michael Vick with a lean towards Vick. Smith could run the ball well, but is no where near as fast as Miller. Oh, and one other thing — he is enrolling at OSU early which means we should be able to see him at the Spring game!
Curtis Grant-LB
The 6’3 220lb linebacker from Richmond, Virginia will be patrolling the middle of the field in the future for the Buckeyes. Next year it should be red-shirt junior MLBer Etienne Sabino in the middle for the Buckeyes with Grant learning the ropes until he is ready to go.
Grant leads an impressive LB haul for the 2011 class. A few months ago the Buckeye’s were close to not getting a single linebacker in this class. Instead they poached Ryan Shazier, the 5th ranked OLB in the class from Florida (a tip of the cap to Urban Meyer for stepping down). Ejuan Price, who will play OLB opposite Shazier. Price was ranked 14th in the country and nearly went to Pitt before making the right decision. Then came the #1 LB in the country in Curtis Grant. Grant is a great mix of speed and power. He will want to work on his tackling as at the next level, he won’t be able to get away with standing too tall while trying to bring down ball carriers.
Roderick Smith-RB
Okay fine, he’s not a recruit for 2011 but a red-shirt from 2010. I want people to get excited about this guy. Rumor has it that during bowl practices he nearly had his red-shirt pulled. With a stable of Herron, Saine, Hall and Berry why on earth would the Buckeye coaching staff think about that for 2 seconds? Apparently he was the best player on the field and couldn’t be stopped. He has been compared to Chris Wells and Eddie George. He is a big, tall running back that had nearly 7000 yards rushing in his high school career.
With Boom Herron to sit 5 games to begin the 2011 season, look for Rod Smith to see a lot of action. Smith could very well take away carries from Herron, who proved himself a dangerous full time back in 2010.
Ohio State had another great recruiting class in 2011. Top 5 in the nation. Quick run down of all the new recruits(HS position ranking/name):
QB’s
#2 Braxton Miller
#24 Cardale Jones
WR’s
#19 Evan Spencer
#29 Devin Smith
TE’s
#14 Nick Vannett
#24 Jeff Heuerman
OL
#83 Tommy Brown
#22 Antonio Underwood
#1 Brian Bobek
DL
#8 Michael Bennet
#10 Chase Farris
#30 Joe Hale
DE
#9 Steve Miller
#14 Ken Hayes
OLB
#1 Curtis Grant
#5 Ryan Shazier
MLB
#14 Ejuan Price
#24 Connor Crowell
S
#11 Ron Tanner
#30 Jeremy Cash
CB
#5 Doran Grant
#22 Dejuan Gambrell
Long Snapper Bryce Haynes
Welcome aboard guys!
Why does the long snapper have to be the last one on the list? You better be saving the best for last because it is well known that long snappers are like the second or third most important member of the team.
Looking over this list gets me all giddy inside. I know everyone is happy about Miller but I’m reserving my judgement. You know who else was a highly touted Ohio QB? Justin Zwick. You know who was a Glenville Tarblooder that received a late scholarship offer that same year? Troy Smith.
I’m not saying Cardale Jones is the next Troy Smith. I’m just saying.
If a certain TE caught the touchdown vs. Texas I truly believe Zwick is the starter the rest of his career…
Cardale Jones won’t be a Buckeye officially for 1 year and even after that he will red shirt.
I don’t believe Ryan Hamby catching a TD pass is enough to change things in favor of Zwick. Zwicks days were numbered the year before, and Smith had already demonstrated a spectacular ability.
The only reason Zwick played that game at all was because Smith had been suspended for previous week, leaving him ill prepared for the Longhorns.
Also, don’t forget Chris Carter, who reports are saying will sign with the Buckeyes (if he hasn’t already).
I have to agree with Eric here, I don’t think Hamby catch that pass means Zwick is the starter. Smith was the projected starter for the year after a good 2004 season that ended in a train wreck. Tressel was going with Smith.
I don’t think we get as far as we do in ’05 (and obviously ’06) with Zwick at the helm.
Smiths 2004 wasn’t all that great. He had a HUGE game vs. Michigan and that was really it. He was then suspended for the bowl game and for the 1st game of the season.
I have to think that OSU wins the Texas game with that Zwick TD pass and that would have made Zwick the hero…beating the #2 team in the country in the biggest game played in Ohio Stadium in years.
Smith would have been the guy who played 1 big game the year before and was caught cheating the system and was suspended for 2 games.
Also, Zwick was the 14th rated QB in the 2002 class and Smith was the 15th ranked QB the same year. Both were highly ranked…
Now, with all that said, I’m glad Smith was the starter and it seemed to work out okay…