2012 Ohio State Buckeye Recruiting Class

The class of 2012 for Ohio State started off with a popcorn fart and ended with a thermal nuclear style bang. Ohio State had a disappointing recruiting class under interim head coach Luke Fickell. The Buckeyes were losing key recruits like Kyle Kalis, Kyle Dodson, Se’von Pittman, Taylor Decker among others that would have been locks to be Buckeyes. They were going elsewhere due to the resignation of Jim Tressel and the uncertainty of the impending NCAA ruling.

Then this happened:

Urban Meyer brought OSU’s recruiting class from being ranked 25th and fast approaching being outside the top 25 to the 3rd best recruiting class in the nation and did so in less than 2 months. Meyer brought in 11 prospects including getting 5 star RB Brionte Dunn to recommit to Ohio State. Without Meyer, Dunn was likely headed to Michigan.

During his introductory press conference Meyer talked about the need to bring in offensive linemen and linebackers. He did just that. He brought OT Kyle Dodson from the clutches of Wisconsin, OG Joey O’Connor and OT Taylor Decker who switched from Notre Dame. He then went out and got LB Camren Williams, LB David Perkins and Jamal Marcus who played defensive end in highschool but may end up playing the MLB position at Ohio State.

Kyle Dodson is a badass

Jamal Marcus is a player that Meyer coveted. Meyer called his highlight reel borderline ridiculous. You be the judge.

Meyer also went out and recruited one of the highest rated groups of defensive lineman to ever come to OSU. He started with Noah Spence, then added Adolphus Washington and then took Se’von Pittman away from Michigan State. Meyer also wrestled Tommy Schutt away from Penn State. Spence, Washington and Schutt are all 5 star blue chip recruits and Pittman is no slouch himself as a 4 star recruit.

Spence is a pure speed rush defensive end that had 3 sacks in the Under Armour All-American game, setting a record.

Adolphus Washington is a mixture of size and speed and will most likely play opposite Spence on the other side of the line, or he could move inside after he adds size and strength. Washington had 23.5 sacks as a senior.

Tommy Schutt will be licking his chops with Washington and Spence coming aboard. Schutt will play the interior defensive line for the Buckeyes. Schutt had 14 sacks his senior year.

Brionte Dunn is a player that nearly went to that school up north before Urban Meyer became head coach. Meyer fought hard for Dunn to stay a Buckeye and this kid who is a 5 star talent could very well be too good to keep off the field come September. He is already enrolled at OSU.

Here is a list of the full class for 2012:

QB-Cardale Jones-3 Stars
RB-Warren Ball-4 Stars
RB-Brionte Dunn-5 Stars
WR-Mike Thomas-4 Stars
WR-Frank Epitropoulus-3 Stars
WR-Ricquan Southward-3 Stars
TE-Blake Thomas-3 Stars
OT-Taylor Decker-4 Stars
OT-Kyle Dodson-4 Stars
OG-Joey O’Connor-3 Stars
OG-Patrick Elfein-3 Stars
OG-Jacoby Boren-3 Stars
DT-Tommy Schutt-5 Stars
DE-Noah Spence-5 Stars
DE-Adolphus Washinton-5 Stars
DE-Se’von Pittman-4 Stars
LB-Jamal Marcus-3 Stars
LB-Joshua Perry-4 Stars
LB-Camren Williams-4 Stars
LB-David Perkins-4 Stars
LB-Luke Roberts-3 Stars
S-Devan Bogard-4 Stars
S-Tyvis Powell-3 Stars
CB-Armani Reeves-4 Stars
CB-Najee Murray-4 Stars

The one thing missing from this class that Meyer coveted was an offensive play maker with gamebreaking speed. He was gunning for Stefon Diggs but Diggs chose to stay home in Maryland. But fear not Buckeye fans. In 2013, this kid will be coming to fill that void…Meyer will have his OSU version of Percy Harvin:

Jalin Marshall folks….remember that name.

How did the rest of the Big Ten do? Not so great. Outside that school up north (who finished just behind OSU at 4th overall nationally) Big Ten schools really struggled to attract top flight talent in 2012. The Big Ten really needs to step it up if they want to compete with Meyer and the Buckeyes.

School/National Recruiting Ranking:
Ohio State-3rd
Michigan-4th
Michigan State-37th
Iowa-45th
Northwestern-48th
Nebraska-50th
Purdue-51st
Indiana-52nd
Wisconsin-62nd
Minnesota-67th
Illinois-69th

Comments

  1. What about armani reeves for 2012?

  2. Hey Corey….thanks for the heads up….I had him as Armani “Edwards”

    Not a lot of people know this but Armani Edwards is actually his maiden name…nothing to be embarrassed about.

    Actually I just typed the wrong name….thanks for pointing that out.

  3. Of course, you were thinking of Armanti Edwards, the QB for App State back when they did that thing they did that one time, right?

  4. LOL……That’s right!!!

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