Archives for February 2014

We are a full 48 hours past the National Signing Day for the 2014 class and it feels like I am already behind the 8 ball on 2015 coverage. Just want to take a look at what to expect class size wise and what our area of needs will be and who we believe OSU will be targeting hardest. So lets get started on this.

The Class Size

Here is what we know for sure as of today. There are 15 Seniors on the team. Also the scholarship reductions for the NCAA violations ends so OSU has 3 extra scholarships to offer. That puts OSU at 18 spots right off the bat without any early leavers for the NFL draft and transfers and players kicked off the team. Lets take a quick look at who could leave early for the draft. There are 3 semi-likely players Noah Spence, Adolphus Washington, and Taylor Decker. You can count on 2-4 other players leaving due to natural attrition.

So for the 2015 class size it will be at least 18 players and could easily get up to 25. For the sake of this article though we will use the number 20 as a benchmark.

A look at the positions of need here is where I think OSU will use those 20 spots…

QB- 2 DB- 2
RB- 2 LB- 2
TE- 2 DL- 3
OL- 4 ATH- 1
WR- 2

The biggest areas of need for the 2015 class is QB, RB, and TEs. OSU didnt take any RBs or TEs in the 2014 class so they have to double down. OSU will also lose Braxton Miller and only took 1 QB each of the last 3 years.

The Targets

So lets breakdown who OSU will pursue the hardest to fill these positions at least based on early interest on both sides the players and coaches.

Quarterbacks- 5 star QB Torrance Gibson is the top target for OSU. They are also chasing 4 Star QBs Brandon Wimbush, Lorenzo Nunes, and Jarrett Stidham. Look for OSU to push hard to land 2 of these guys.

Running Backs- 5 star RBs Damien Harris, Taj Griffin, and Soso Jamabo plus 4 star RBs Mike Weber, Jacques Patrick, TJ Simmons, Larry Scott, and Andre Robinson are the main targets as of today but could change as the year goes on.

Tight Ends- Chris Clark and CJ Conrad are the top targets but look for a few surprise names to pop up soon because OSU needs at least 2 of them this cycle.

Offensive Line- High 4 star Steven Gonzalez is the top target for OSU and that is very apparent by the attention he has gotten from all of the staff. Other targets are 5 star Martez Ivy and Mitch Hyatt (Clemson Commit) also 4 stars Sterling Jenkins, Chuma Edoga, Austin Clark, Joshua Alabi, and a host of other players. OSU will most likely take 4 OL every year including 2015.

Wide Receivers- 5 star George Campbell and 4 star guys Brian Cole, Devante Peete, and CJ Sanders are the main targets.

Defensive Backs- OSU already has CBs Eric Glover-Williams and Jamel Dean as commits. They will continue wo pursue 5 star Minkah Fitzpatrick, Kevin Tolliver (LSU commit), and 4 stars Tarvarys McFadden, and Jordan Whitehead. There will be others for sure.

Linebackers- Malik Jefferson, Justin Hilliard, Jefferey Holland, Rickey DeBerry, and Nick Conner are the main targets.

Defensive Line- Tim Settle, Trent Thompson, Shy Tuttle, Terry Beckner Jr, and Jashon Cornell are all 5 stars with OSU offers. There are again a ton of other targets that will be pursued much like OLmen.

Athletes- Jerome Baker is the top choice here the LB/RB fills the need for 2 spots and being from Ohio is a must get. There may be others who fall into this category but Baker is such an important recruit I am leaving him on here all by himself.

In Conclusion

The 2015 class will be Urban Meyers 4th class but only his 3rd class with his recruits solely. We know that Coach Meyer will fill positions of need and will pursue top talent all over the country. New Jersey will likely be a big source of players in the 2015 class. OSU would like to have their QBs locked up before the summer ends. Look for a lot of surprise players as always and for the class to fill up over the entire year and not by May like Brady Hoke loves to do. I really believe the 2015 class could be the best ever but then again I say that every year don’t I? Enjoy the ride because Urban Meyer is driving and he isn’t driving a junker.

It is that annual time of the year when players go to Indianapolis to be prodded and pinched and tested for everything you can think of while wearing Spanx on national TV.

Like most years the list of Buckeye players is pretty large and the list of snubs is a little surprising. Before we get to the list to be invited to the NFL combine at least one NFL team has to turn in papers on you that they are interested and may possibly draft you. To not be invited means you have a tough battle to getting drafted and will have to prove yourself at the Ohio State Pro Day. This years combine takes place Feb 22-25th.

Invited Buckeyes

Ryan Shazier- LB
Jack Mewhort- OL
Corey Linsley- OL
Philly Brown- WR
Carlos Hyde- RB
Bradley Roby- CB

I imagine all of these players will be drafted with Roby, Shazier, Hyde, and Mewhort all going in the coveted top 3 rounds of the draft.

Snubbed Buckeyes

CJ Barnett- Safety
Christian Bryant- Safety
Kenny Guiton- QB
Marcus Hall- OL
Andrew Norwell- OL

These guys will have the OSU Pro Day to change teams minds about them. Here is wishing all of them luck and that the phone rings on Draft Day or at the very least get an Undrafted Rookie Contract.

Congratulations to Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer and his assistant coaches on signing 23 new players for the 2014 recruiting class. Recruiting at a high level demands tremendous effort and time, and by the ratings of various recruiting sites/analysts, Ohio State landed highly-touted players who should be able to come in and contribute to Ohio State.

I have stated before, and I will state again – I truly do not get overly concerned about recruiting rankings. Yes, I know Coach Meyer stated in his press conference that he follows it, and was disappointed that Ohio State did not have the top-ranked recruiting class in the country. Yes, I certainly acknowledge that recruiting is the life-blood of any football program.

I will merely point out that while recruiting is important, player development is essential. And even Coach Meyer acknowledged in his press conference that last year’s recruiting class, which was highly ranked, did not have the immediate impact Coach Meyer felt that they would for the 2013 season.

In my lifetime, I have read about many hyped players who just simply never developed into the superstars that fans were led to believe they would become. A case in point ~ the top ranked player from the 2010 class? OT Seantrel Henderson. While Henderson may develop into a solid NFL player, I believe most college football fans would agree that Henderson certainly did not have a college career that measured up to the considerable hype that accompanied him to Miami (FL).

My point is, I simply choose to pump the brakes until a player has arrived on campus, and shows what they can do in college games, against other top players. A.J. Hawk was not as highly-rated as Mike D’Andrea in 2002, and Ohio State fans will all agree that Hawk had the superior Buckeye career. So will this happen again with any of the 2014 recruits? Wait and see.

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The 2014 recruiting class has nine players from Ohio, with multiple states also contributing to the group. Again, my compliments to Coach Meyer for leaving no area overlooked in the effort to secure top players for the Buckeyes.

Other items of interest I have regarding this recruiting class?

– Luke Fickell is certainly on notice, based upon comments made by Coach Meyer. Linebackers were a premium recruiting position for the Buckeyes, and Coach Meyer repeatedly stated that the linebacker play “has not been up to standard”.

@davebiddle @jbook37 Major shot across the bow at Fickell for evaluation & lack of development with those statements.

— Chip Minnich (@ChipMinnich) February 5, 2014

– I am ecstatic that Ohio State signed five offensive linemen in this class. For years, Jim Bollman seemed to trivialize the number of offensive linemen signed, often playing walk-ons. No more – Coach Meyer stated that sixteen are needed, which reflects why five were signed for this class.

@SYRmotsag Happy to have a staff that understands OL depth is crucial for program. Bollman never wanted that many OL.

— Chip Minnich (@ChipMinnich) February 5, 2014

– Was tremendously impressed listening to both Coach Chris Ash and Coach Larry Johnson Sr. on Coach Meyer’s radio call-in show. Coach Johnson’s strong reputation as a defensive line coach was the essential reason why Ohio State was able to flip DE Darius Slade from Michigan State. This spring should bear watching and listening for the imprint by both of these coaches.

The 2014 recruiting chase has come and gone; on to 2015. Meanwhile, I believe I will take my time speculating on how the new recruits will fit into the current team – after all, it is not as though those recruiting rankings will mean much during the spring game on April 12th.

Good morning Buckeye Nation and Happy belated National Signing Day (LOI).

Urban’s Christmas: In what might have felt like Christmas to the Buckeyes head football coach yesterday many young men from across the country signed their names on their LOI’s and faxed them over to Ohio State. I’m not going to get into specifics because our recruiting specialist Jeremiah Sharpe did an outstanding job yesterday keeping us informed of who was pledging to play in the Scarlet and Gray. The “original 22” of the Dream ’14 class wasn’t much of a surprise since they committed to play for Meyer before signing day and they all signed on (or were already enrolled) but number 23 was a late entry.

Crafty with the media: The Columbus Dispatch put out a story Tuesday about Aaron Craft calling a player only meeting and they had a players only practice. The attire for the players only practice wasn’t allowed to be Scarlet and Gray since it was deemed by them that they weren’t worthy of wearing the colors after the Penn State loss. Craft during his interviews was being coy when asked if he was the one who called the meeting and choose what was to be worn for their practice. Hopefully something clicked since they have won two in a row since then.

The Other Eleven: Did you know that The Ohio State University had another football team? I’ll be honest when I came across this story on The Lantern I wasn’t aware. Seems we will be learning more of them since some of the student athletes on club football team are making a documentary about it. My hats off to you young men great job and keep up the good work I’m actually looking forward to seeing it especially since I love anything that’s Scarlet and Gray.

Meet a Champion: Have you meet a player from Ohio States National Championship? Want to? Well if you do (and seriously who wouldn’t) this is your lucky weekend. The Sidney Daily News has an article on some of the champion Buckeyes being at a mall in Piqua. Look you can get out of the snow get in to a warm area and meet some of the awesome players and by awesome they wore the Buckeye colors and won a national championship so they are double awesome.

Until next time Buckeye Nation…

What a day. Today brought to us the conclusion of the 2014 class. NSD always is exciting when you have Urban Meyer as your head coach. All 22 original members of the class are official. There was however some rumblings late last night that a Michigan State commit was interested in visiting OSU before signing his NLI with them.

Well that apparently upset Coach Dantonio who told that commit Darius Slade a 3 star DE from New Jersey that he was no longer wanted and his offer was pulled. OSU scheduled a Official Visit with Slade in 2 weeks. Darius Slade however knew what he wanted and OSU was very willing to accomodate him and he officially signed his NLI today and joined the class and became commit #23.

The News was broke today by Stephen Spiewak of Maxpreps.com…

Per coach John Fiore, Darius Slade has signed with Ohio State.

— Stephen Spiewak (@Spiewak) February 5, 2014

Darius Slade took the spot being held for Malik McDowell who may or may not have committed to MSU today. It is also a way for Urban to say Screw You to Dantonio who did everything he could to steal Jamarco Jones from OSU the last few weeks… Unsuccessfully.

Congrats to @Darius_Slade!!! #Dream14

— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) February 5, 2014

Welcome to Christmas Morning College Football fan addition. Today is the day we find out that all the committed players either followed through or moved on to other places. There are also the surprise commitments and flips. I am hoping to put in 16 hours of continuing coverage for all you fans of the greatest soap opera ever created for grown men. I will keep you up to the minute on all things CFB and recruiting related today in this live blog. So sit back and kick your feet up and enjoy the ride…

Just a reminder that OSU had 7 early enrollees in Raekwon Mcmillan, Marcelys Jones, Stephen Collier, Sean Neurenberger, Johnnie Dixon, Curtis Samuel, and Kyle Trout.

Late last night Jamarco Jones the huge OT commit reaffirmed his commitment to OSU after taking a late visit to MSU last weekend.

Big day! #Dream14

— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) February 5, 2014

Well we are ready to get started. Going to try to keep this post up to date all day today. We will have several posts over the next few weeks breaking down the 2014 class and a look ahead to the 2015 class.

Sam Hubbard was the first player to turn in his LOI via fax this morning. The 6’6″ 225 lbb ATH from Cincy will be a versatile player and could be a TE or LB or DE or a freakishly huge Safety. Commit #8

NJ.com is reporting that Darius Slade a 3 star DE from Montclair, New Jersey and a current Michigan State commit won’t sign his LOI today and will visit Ohio State. Clearly Evil Meyer is pissed that MSU tried to steal Jamarco Jones away and you won’t like him when Evil Meyer is angry.

Terry McLaurin a 6’0″ 190 lbs ATH/WR from Indiana was the second player to get his LOI faxed in today. Clearly the Athletes want to prove they are hungry and ready to play early. Commit #9

Noah Brown a 6’2″ 220 lbs ATH/WR from New Jersey was 3rd to send in his NLI today… He projects to play the H-Back spot for OSU a WR/TE Hybrid player who could also play some RB. Commit #10

One time target Derrick Nnadi chose Florida State this morning… Most likely eliminating Malik McDowell from going to FSU who still has several commits to go before they finish their vastly oversigned class.

Marshonn Lattimore is recruit number 4 today and the 6′ 175 lbs CB prospect will quickly make an impact for OSU. He also has broken the heart of UK fans all at once. Commit #11

Brady Taylor the late commit from Columbus, Ohio is commit #12…. Hometown boy goes to hometown school and makes everyone smile.

Congrats to @RestUpBoog!!! #Dream14

— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) February 5, 2014

Commit #13 is Erick Smith a Safety from Cleveland Glenville….

Demetrius Knox silences all the doubters and officially became commit #14.

Demetrius Knox, rated as high as the No. 2 offensive guard prospect nationally, has signed his NLI with the Buckeyes…the fourth O-lineman.

— Jerry Emig (@BuckeyeNotes) February 5, 2014

More news on Darius Slade…

Per Marc Givler… Darius Slade will visit Ohio State Valentines weekend… #CupidLoadAnArrow

— Jeremiah (@SYRmotsag) February 5, 2014

Dylan Thompson a DT from Illinois has signed and delivered his NLI and officially becomes commit #15.

Jalyn Holmes a DE from Virginia is locked and loaded and is commit #16. This kid is going to be huge for OSU. He is fast and strong and just needs some conditioning and could be a star for OSU for years to come.

Commit #17 is personally my favorite in this class and a guy who I think could start from day 1. Damon Webb a CB from Detroit, Michigan and from UM pipeline school Cass Tech…

About time I was about to tweet @ProfessorSWebb to see what the hold up was 🙂 RT @markpantoni Congrats to @DameWebb!! #Dream14 #lockdown

— Jeremiah (@SYRmotsag) February 5, 2014

Malik Hooker a Safety/Athlete from Pennsylvania is commit #18. Probably the most surprising pick up for OSU as no one knew who he was or expected it when he committed. Proved himself very worthy of the offer though for sure.

Parris Campbell the CB/WR/Athlete from Akron becomes commit no 19 accounted for… expect his HS team mate to be next.

Congrats to @D_Book47!!! #Dream14

— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) February 5, 2014

and BOOOOM commit #20 is Campbells teammate Dante Booker JR….

No doubt these men all deserve credit for building this class

Malik McDowell chose Michigan State after all… can’t wait to hear his parents on some radio station somewhere…

Here are Dylan Thompson and Brady Taylor doing the O-H live from the USA vs the world bowl…

It is official Jamarco Jones has become commit #21….

Congrats to @jjones_73!!! #Dream14

— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) February 5, 2014

Lastly but not least Kyle Berger is commit #22… The LB from Cleveland will be coming off of a horrible injury but is already improving and could see some time in his freshman year.

That is it from here at Camp Motsag hope you all enjoyed todays frantic coverage and if anything new pops up I will be sure to add it here.

*UPDATE*

Darius Slade who we mentioned earlier in this post has committed and signed his NLI and is commit #23 for OSU…

Congrats to @Darius_Slade!!! #Dream14

— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) February 5, 2014