Things are really starting to heat up now that summer is upon us and kids will be visiting and camps will be held. Ohio State recruiting is on track to land some really big commitments but to make sure they get the summer off to a great start they made sure they shored up the Ohio borders and landed one of the top players in the state today at a position of great need and a top notch national prospect. I imagine we will be seeing quite a few more of these posts before the season kicks off in 100 days.

DANTE BOOKER JR

Dante Booker announced he was committed to Ohio State today via his twitter account.

https://twitter.com/D_Book47/status/337629226998050816

Dante Booker Jr. is a 6’4″ 220 lbs 4 star LineBacker from Akron, Ohio. Booker is one of the top LB prospects in the country and was chased by schools like Notre Dame, TTUN, Penn State, and Nebraska. Dante brings a real nastiness to the outside LB spot combined with his top notch speed and power he could move to a hybrid of DE/LB at OSU depending on his body growth. Rivals ranks him a 4 star and the 108th best prospect in the country. Scout ranks him a 4 star and the no. 9 OLB ion the country. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the no. 84 prospect in the country. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the no 8 OLB in the country. Below you can see his highlight reel from his JR season.

Things have been slow on the recruiting trail the past few months to say the least. There have been lots of offers given out all over the country and lots of interest shown by some of the best recruits in the country. Until today’s bizarre happenings though there wasn’t much to report. This newest recruit though has had OSU as his leader for months and many thought he was going to announce to OSU last year but he postponed. Then this morning he announced he was ready to commit but nearly every recruiting expert from every service had a different take on who his final 2 teams were. Apparently the communication issue was solved and today he did in fact become OSUs commitment #8 for the 2014 class.

LONNIE JOHNSON

Lonnie Johnson announced his commitment via his Twitter account today.

Lonnie Johnson is a 6’3″ 190 lbs 4 star WR/Safety from Gary, Indiana. Lonnie is a running back/wide receiver/safety at his HS but most project him to play the Wide Receiver position at the next level. His size will suggest he will play in the outside and combined with his speed he will surely be looked upon to become a down the field deep threat. He will have to work on his route running and stamina but all those are coachable aspects that with his rawness can lead to success at the next level. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the no 29 safety prospect in the country. Rivals ranks him a 3 star. Scout ranks him a 3 star and the 47th best WR prospect in the country. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the 5th best recruit in Indiana. Below you can see his highlights.

Our friends at Football Study Hall do a great job with advanced statistics and I just wanted to share some of the Buckeye related statistics that the guys over there have found. Today we will be looking at last year’s ball carriers (anyone who carried the ball last year) and see how many yards they gained after the line “did their job.” These are the type of plays that separate a great ball carrier from a good one.

This is going to look and sound like a new language so here are some definitions:

Highlight Yards: The portion of a given run that is credit only to the running back; after a certain number of yards, the line has done its job, and most of the rest of the run will be determined by the running back himself. For more information, start here. An important note, however: a player’s per-carry highlight yardage is now calculated as follows: Highlight Yards divided by Opportunities. In this case, Opportunities mean only the carries in which the offensive line “did its job,” i.e. carries that went at least five yards. With a different denominator, then, it is possible for a player’s Highlight Yards per carry to be much higher than his overall yards per carry.

Block Success Rate: Highlight Opportunities divided by total rushes. Basically, how many times did the offensive line get the ball carrier to the second level (five yards).

Adj. POE: POE stands for “Points Over Expected.” The idea for POE is simple: It compares a runner’s production to the production that would have been expected of an average back given the same carries against the same opponents. A runner with, say, a plus-6.0 Adj. POE produced the equivalent of a touchdown more value than the average FBS running back would have with the same carries.For more information on Adj. POE, start here.

Using the above definitions, lets see how the Buckeye ball carriers performed last season. The far column on the right “Rk” takes all of the ball carriers in the nation (roughly 1,500 players) and ranks them versus each other based on Adj. POE. Overall, we are looking at how effective the ball carrier is after the first 5 yards. It’s the difference between a negative to 5 yard gain and a back breaking play in a big game.

A few things stand out here…

• Braxton Miller gains a ton of highlight yards and he is also helped by his offensive line (%50 block success rate). He mostly runs outside of the tackles, but without good blocking by the wide receivers and the line’s ability to get him past the first 5 yards he does not have a chance to make plays in the open field. Miller is using his offensive line to gain positive yardage, then he is making defensive backs miss in the open field. It sounds obvious but it takes a special talent like Miller to make the best athletes on the defensive side of the ball look foolish in the secondary.
• He was playing through injury last year but I expected Jordan Hall to have a higher Adj. POE. He never got into a good rhythm after missing the preseason and I do expect him to be better next year in the open field, using his speed and his new position.
• I thought Carlos Hyde would have lower highlight yardage due to his “power back” persona. Not only is Hyde gaining the tough yards but he is also doing a good job gaining those extra yards once he gets to the second level.
• We saw a few glimpses of Rod Smith last year and the statistics show he should get some more carries this season. If Hall or Hyde go down, Smith has shown big play capabilities and he could flourish in Meyer’s offense.

The 2013 class of the College Football Hall of Fame was officially announced today and it includes some of the most dominant players the game has ever seen. QBs Vinny Testaverde, Danny Wuerffel, and Tommy Frazier were a combined 101-12-1 in their college careers. Ron Dayne rushed for over 7000 yards including bowl games, but even his NCAA official number of 6,397 is the best of all time. The class also features the great Tedy Bruschi.

But easily the most illustrious member of the 2013 class is our own Orlando Pace, the man who redefined offensive line play and launched the greatest Heisman campaign known to man:

In addition to his gridiron, acting and kitchen skills, Pace also played some hoops in high school. You already know how well-decorated he was in his college career, but let’s review anyway: two-time first team All-American, two-time Lombardi trophy winner (still the only player to win twice), 1996 Heisman finalist as an offensive lineman (which is probably impossible today) and did not allow a sack in his final two years as a Buckeye.

I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic when I say that one day there should be a national trophy named for this man, as dominant as a player could possibly be at a crucial but thankless position. When you can get the enormous fanbase of a traditional powerhouse loaded with skill position talent to cheer for line play, then you are indeed a special kind of player.

Congrats, Mr. Pace. No one deserves this more.

ABC/ESPN recently made selections for their portion of the 2013 Big Ten night game schedule, and not surprisingly, the Buckeyes will be featured prominently.

Urban Meyer wanted more games under the lights at the Shoe for recruiting purposes, and the Worldwide Leader In Doing What Urban Meyer Wants obliged. Ohio State will host two night games on Disney channels this season (Wisconsin on 9/28 and Penn State on 10/26) as well as a road game against Northwestern (10/5).

In addition, the Big Ten Network will most likely want to feature Ohio State at night as well, although the options are limited. Iowa’s visit on 10/19 is the most likely target and would result in four straight night games for the Bucks. Perhaps they’ll take a stab at something from the non-conference slate, but with the Cal game on the road (and therefore unavailable to BTN), there isn’t an obvious competitive matchup (although, you never know).

And then there’s the November portion of the schedule. There seems to be some confusion as to whether or not there is an actual policy against November night games in the Big Ten, but the “not” link is from this year and quotes Delany as being “supportive” of the idea.

Personally, I would 100% support moving The Game to a permanent prime-time slot, although to be perfectly honest, I wish every game could be at night.

Alen Dumonjic is a writer for TheScore.com, with contributions to various other sites including The Boston Globe. He primarily studies the NFL in-depth, analyzing schemes and players, but when draft time rolls around, he studies prospects. He is a great follow on twitter for you X’s and O’s lovers @Dumonjic_Alen.

MOTSAG: Even though NFL Draft pundits have stated that Johnathan Hankins’ draft stock has fallen a bit, he should still be the first Buckeye selected in the draft. Which NFL player would you compare Hankins to and what particular scheme or specific team do you think Hankins would thrive in/for?

I think Dane Brugler of CBS Sports compared Hankins to Brandon Mebane of the Seahawks a while back and that’s the best comparison. Mebane has played the one and three-technique spots but he’s more of a one-technique, which I think holds true for Hankins. Mebane has played in a 30 front in the past but is best suited in a 40 front, which the same can be said for Hankins. As for team, maybe the Vikings, who are going to be needing defensive linemen soon and will be looking to add someone up front.

MOTSAG: Urban Meyer praises John Simon for his crazy worth ethic and love for the game, but do you see him as an eventual starter in the league or is he more of a rotational player?

I think he’s a rotational player and that’s not necessarily a knock. With the way the NFL uses sub-packages and rotates players, it’s not a bad thing to be a player who can play on a limited snap count.

MOTSAG: Who do you think represents the best value out of the Buckeye prospects based on where he will be drafted and potential upside?

After Hankins, Reid Fragel is the best value. He has a lot of upside as a pass blocker, but I would like to see him become stronger, develop his technique and become more fundamentally sound. He’s a project but has the upside you look for.

MOTSAG: Do you think Fragel could eventually develop into a solid right tackle in the NFL?

Based off of his skill-set, I do, but I think it’ll take time. He’s very raw, but has upside.

MOTSAG: Jake Stoneburner has the size and the hands to be a mismatch at the tight end position, but he never seemed to put it all together for the Buckeyes. Do you see him having more of an impact in the NFL if he is drafted by the correct team?

I do. I think he has the skill-set to develop into a solid contributor in the NFL, provided he goes to the right staff and has his head on straight. He can be a mismatch in the passing game as a flex tight end.

MOTSAG: Zach Boren is an interesting 7th round- UDFA prospect as he can play both sides of the ball and he is the type of football player that NFL coaches look for when filling out their roster. Thoughts on Boren? 

Boren is an interesting prospect because he has the traits that you look for in a football player in general. He’s tough, strong and willing to do what’s best for the team. He also plays a position that may or may not be dying, however. Some teams like to use fullbacks while others do not. Perhaps he could be an option for a team like Green Bay, who could be in the market for a potential future replacement for John Kuhn, or the Houston Texans.

MOTSAG: It is likely two seasons away but what are your thoughts on Braxton Miller and his chances of succeeding in the NFL? 

Miller will be one to watch simply because if Chip Kelly’s offense takes off in the pros, teams will be scrambling even more to find dual-threat quarterbacks. NFL coaches copy schemes and Kelly’s scheme doesn’t place too much stress on the quarterback, which is why Miller could be a target for some teams that run that scheme when he comes out.