Mike Mitchell

Mike Mitchell is one of the most special players in the 2013 recruiting class. Mitchell is a 5 star 6’4″ 216 lb outside linebacker from Plano, Texas. He was named a US Army All- American and Rivals ranked him as the number one player in the entire state of Texas. At the Nike Sparq combine, he was clocked at a blazing 4.39 40 yard dash and recorded a 40 inch vertical jump. He blew away the entire field at the combine, including the skill position players. Mitchell is not just a combine freak though, he is a classic, throwback linebacker.

Mitchell has a motor that does not stop and it stands out in his film. Nicknamed “The Abusement Park”, Mitchell  brings a nastiness to the defense and he is the type of player that will get significant playing time from day one. Expect him to start off as a special teams ace on kick off with his speed and tackling ability. He will be competing with under performing Curtis Grant for one of the starting OLB positions and if Grant can not put it all together, expect Mitchell to eventually start. Mitchell has an uncanny ability to get after the passer as an edge rusher and get stops in the backfield. His vision and play recognition are second to none. Mitchell recorded 151 tackles, 32 tackles for loss and 11 sacks his junior year. His supreme athleticism and motor will remind fans of AJ Hawk and his nastiness and violence reminds me of ex- Florida Gator and current New England Patriots linebacker, Brandon Spikes. Rivals ranks Mitchell as a five star and the 26th best player in the nation. ESPN ranks him as a four star and the 128th best player in the nation. 247 ranks Mitchell as a four star and the 95th best player in the country. Scout ranks him as a five star and the number two best linebacker in the country.

Trey Johnson

Four star inside linebacker Trey Johnson completes the Buckeyes two man linebacker recruiting class and fills an immediate hole for Defensive Coordinator Luke Fickell. Johnson is a 6’1″, 222 lb inside linebacker hailing from Lawrenceville, Georgia. The Buckeyes beat out Florida and Tennessee after Johnson de-committed from Auburn. Fickell is getting a southern linebacker who has the tools to start right away for the silver bullets. Coaches have raved about Johnson’s football smarts and his understanding of X’s and O’s. He may not have the crazy combine results like Mitchell but he will put himself in the right place to make the play and he will rarely make a mental mistake.

Johnson averaged 18 tackles a game as a Junior, finishing with 164 total tackles. He reads his keys quickly and makes numerous plays in the backfield. Like Mitchell, expect Johnson to get playing time in year one and possibly start or be a part of the linebacker rotation. Rivals ranked him as a four star and the third best inside linebacker in the country.  ESPN ranked Johnson as a four star and the 48th best player in the country. 247 ranked him as a four star recruit and the third best linebacker in the country. Scout ranked Johnson as a four star and the 16th best linebacker in the country.

In Conclusion

Like the offensive line, there were only two recruits for this position. Except, in my opinion, these are two “can’t miss” prospects. Other than Ryan Shazier, no one else is guaranteed a starting spot at linebacker and these two freshman could step up and make an immediate impact. Mitchell is the type of athlete and person that will not accept a seat on the bench. I expect him to have a heavy special teams role from day one and eventually take over a starting job at outside linebacker or even be used as a pass rusher off the edge in passing situations. Trey Johnson has the smarts, instincts and athleticism to start right away next to Shazier. After reading up on Johnson, it seems that he will rapidly comprehend Meyer’s defensive scheme, which will put him in place to either start or be put into a rotation at inside linebacker.

Although there is not a lot of depth in this class at linebacker, these two players have what it takes to make an immediate impact in 2013. I would give this position an A+ and I do not see either of these prospects not living up to the lofty expectations that have been placed upon them.

Over the next week or so myself and Chris (@Cjason112) will take a look back at the 2013 recruiting class via a positional recap. We have decided to break things down in groups and will post once a day a post on each of the following OL, WRs & TE, RB & QB, on offense. On Defense it will be DL, LB, and DBs. There were no ST members in the class. We will be utilizing their personal commitment post and updating their final rankings with the 4 recruiting services and where we think they will play at OSU and how they will be utilized. We will also discuss if they should or will redshirt. Hopefully we will be able to get the info so many of our readers are craving but if you have questions or thoughts we would love for you to share them with us in the comments section. To start things off I will take a closer look at the OL.

Evan Lisle

Evan Lisle is a 6’6″ 265 lbs 4 star OT from Centerville, Ohio. Evan Lisle is a huge OT recruit and Evan fills a need at position we lack depth at and has the size and agility to play either right or left tackle. He needs to put on a little more weight but he has the athletic and lean look Coach Meyer wants from his OLmen. He will have every chance to play early and often. He excelled at the HS all star game and raised his recruiting rankings tremendously. My guess is he will not Redshirt and will be a backup early in the season. His final rankings are impressive to say the least. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and the 106th best recruit in the nation. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the 89th best recruit in the country. Scout ranks him a 4 star and the 5th best OT in the country. Rivals ranks him a 4 star and the 90th best recruit in the country. You can see his highlight video below.

Tim Gardner

Tim Gardner is a 6’5″ 310 lbs 4 star OLman from Indianapolis, Indiana. When OSU first started recruiting Tim they asked him to lose some weight and he put in a lot of hard work and earned his spot in the class. OSU coaches have raved about how willing he is to do what they ask from him and how determined he is to get better and become a part of OSUs class. In the end though I think he will move from OT to OG and will redshirt his freshman year. He is the kind of recruit who will have to fight and work extra hard to keep his body in shape and also to ever have a chance to play at OSU over higher ranked recruits. He has the ability but will always have an uphill battle. He does seem to have the heart and determination he needs to succeed so we will have to wait and see as time goes on. he isn’t nearly as highly ranked as his fellow OT Evan Lisle. ESPN ranks him a 3 star and the 11th best player in Ohio. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the 24th best OT in the country. Scout ranks him a 3 star and the 31st best OG recruit in the country. Rivals ranks him a 3 star and the 17th best prospect in Ohio. Sadly I couldn’t find a highlight reel for him.

In Conclusion

This wasn’t a huge class for OLmen for OSU mostly because they missed out on so many they were chasing due to a numbers crunch. I can see Evan Lisle getting playing time early as a backup and if injuries occur it could be a lot of playing time. Tim Gardner is more of a project OLman who under Coach Warinner’s watch he can develop into a great OLman. In the end I would rank this OL class a B+ with a chance in 4 years to be a A+ or a F because it is so small there is very little wiggle room.

Don’t forget to comeback tomorrow and every day this week and next week for the rest of the recruiting class positional recaps.

So this will be the last new commit from this past weekends big haul but I have no doubt in my mind that some of the guys who were here and didnt commit will soon enough. Urban wants OSU to be fast and to be football fast and with each recruit he lands you can see a real change in philosophy of the kind of players he wants compared to what Jim Tressel always recruited. Not saying either way is right or wrong but they are completely different and time will tell if this new philosophy will pay off over the long haul. With this 3rd and last commit of the weekend comes from a super fast RB/athlete.

PARRIS CAMPBELL JR.

Parris Campbell Jr. is a 6’0″ 180 lbs RB/Athlete from Akron, Ohio. Parris is a 2 time state champion sprinter and a state champion FB player from the high school that brought the world LeBron James St. Vincents/St. Marys in Akron. Obviously he is a speed guy who at his size will project to WR at OSU but if he gets bigger could play the RB spot as well but will for sure be used in the role of the Percy Harvin type back Urban is ALWAYS seeking. None of the 4 recruiting services have ranked him yet. Will update once they do. Watch his highlight reel below.

Every year it seems to be the same story for some Ohio State fans always screaming about Ohio kids going to to TTUN and how the OSU head coach isnt doing enough to keep the in state kids. Here is the problem with that statement though every year Ohio produces over 100 division 1 prospects and on a good year OSU can take 25 kids total. You can do the math and see it is impossible to take every Ohio kid. So every year a number of disgruntled Ohio kids upset over not being offered by OSU defects to TTUN and many other schools. Most of the time though those kids arent what OSU needed or just werent good enough to get an OSU offer. Now take what is happening in this years class TSUN produces FAR less division 1 talent and what they have pales in comparison to what Ohio produces and then you insert Urban Meyer sending Coach Coombs up north to plant a flag and all of a sudden you have 2 of the best TSUN recruits picking OSU over home state schools TTUN and MSU and their fan bases are flipping out big time. TSUN cant afford to lose any in state talent to OSU when there are so few to get to begin with but now OSU already has 2 of the top 4 and is in striking distance of the other 2. Ohio State already landed Damon Webb from TTUN pipeline school Cass Tech in Detroit who spurned Brady Hoke and now you have another recruit who was heavily recruited by TTUN and MSU picking OSU yesterday in…..

LAWRENCE MARSHALL

Lawrence Marshall is a 6’4″ 225 lbs 4 star DE from Southfield, TSUN. Lawrence comes from the heart of TTUN recruiting base and was thought to be a TTUN or MSU lean and OSU was a distant 3rd heading into the weekend. Lawrence brings a ton of speed and athleticism to the DE position that Urban wants and seeks. He will need to bulk up some but I have a feeling the OSU S&C coach will handle that nicely. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the no 246 best recruit in the country. None of the other big 4 recruiting sites have ranked him yet but when they do I will update this post. In the meantime enjoy some of his JR year highlights below.

Lets not forget we arent even a week removed from the NSD for the 2013 class. As I told you all last Friday this weekend would be a big one for the 2014 class as some of the biggest and best JRs from across the nation were in town to take in the Buckeye Nation experience. I had a feeling there would be at least one commit come out of the weekend but by the end of Sunday there were multiple commits but each one of them is special and deserves their own post so that is what you will get today. So without further adieu here is the info on commit no. 1 from this past weekend…..

KYLE TROUT

Kyle Trout is a 6’6″ 285 lbs 4 star OT from Lancaster, Ohio. Kyle is one of those local kids that Buckeye fans love to get behind. With OL being such an important part of the 2014 class OSU will prob take 4-6 OLmen in the class and already has 2 top notch kids committed. Kyle fills a large need as he projects to be a Left Tackle and will protect the blind side of Braxton and his fellow QBs. The Giant Ginger as you can tell from the picture above continues Urban Meyers ideal OLman body style of tall and LEAN and athletic guys who can move. No longer will OSU just look for big and fat uglies to take up space. 247sports ranks him a 4 star and the 130th best prospect in the country. Rivals ranks him a 4 star and doesnt have rankings for 2014 yet. Scout ranks him a 4 star and the 16th best OT in the country. ESPN ranks him a 4 star and on their ESPN 150 Watch List. Below you can see his JR year highlights.

Sorry I wasn’t able to get in a post for each new member of the 2014 Ohio State Football recruiting class today. I porise I will make it up tomorrow with a post for each guy. There were 3 new guys added to the class today Kyle Trout an OT from Lancaster, Ohio and Lawrence Marshall a DE from Detroit, TSUN and Parris Campbell Jr. a RB/Ath from Akron, Ohio. All 3 of these guys fill a position of need in the class and shores up the local midwestern elite guys. Below you can get a head start on what these guys bring to the table with highlight films on each one. Tomorrow I will go in depth with more details and info.

Kyle Trout

Lawrence Marshall

Parris Campbell Jr.

Just 3 days after Ohio State and Urban Meyer had what was arguably the best National Signing Day recruiting class ever for the Buckeyes the staff will be knee deep in recruiting. The 2014 class is already under way with its first 2 recruits in Marcelys Jones and Damon Webb.

This weekend though OSU will host a long list of 2014 recruits with the vast majority of them coming from Georgia. There is the Buckeyes top choice at QB in Clemson commit Deshaun Watson. Also arguably the top WR on their board in Demarre Kitt. There will be a host of RBs from across the country. Dont get confused though this weekend is all about showing Deshaun Watson how awesome OSU is and how well he will fit in Urban’s system. They will roll out the red carpet and throw the whole enchilada at him. Below you can see a list of visitors for the weekend with a special H/T to Eleven Warriors for the list.

QB Deshaun Watson (2014)

QB Jayru Campbell (2015)

RB Nick Chubb (2014)

RB Jonathan Hilliman (2014)

RB Shai McKenzie (2014)

RB Michael Weber (2015)

WR Demarre Kitt (2014)

OT Jamarco Jones (2014)

OT Kyle Trout (2014)

DE Lawrence Marshall (2014)

DE Joshua Alabi (2015)

DE Dante Sawyer (2014)

DB Todd Kelly Jr. (2014)

DB Damon Webb (2014 commit)

The Buckeyes completed a very successful national signing day with 24 signed letters of intent, five of which were early enrollments and the other 19 faxed their LOI to Columbus throughout the day. It was a long day for Urban Meyer, the entire coaching staff, the recruits, and the thousands of Buckeye fans that were glued to social media waiting for the next prospect to sign. Joey Bosa, the four- star defensive lineman from St. Thomas Aquinas High School (FL) started it off around 7:30 a.m., and Ezekiel Elliott, the four- star running back  from Saint Louis, Missouri finished up the night by announcing his decision to become a Buckeye around 5 p.m.

The majority of the prospects that faxed their LOI  today were committed to Ohio State for a while now, but there were a couple that were a nice surprise  After losing out on WR James Quick last month to Louisville, tight ends coach Tim Hinton recruited James Clark, a speedy four- star WR away from his home state of Florida. Clark chose Ohio State over the Florida Gators. In an even bigger surprise, the Buckeyes lured Vonn Bell, a five-star safety out of Georgia, to Columbus. It was thought that Bell would commit to Tennessee but it was made clear today that Urban can close better than anyone. These two prized recruits were magnificent finishing touches on Urban Meyer’s first true recruiting class at Ohio State.

“I’m pretty good at this.”

Rankings:

ESPN: Ranked 3rd; 1 five-star, 18 four-stars, 6 three-stars

Rivals: Ranked 2nd; 2 five-stars, 16 four-stars, 6 three- stars

247 Sports: Ranked 2nd; 1 five-star, 19 four-stars, 5 three-stars

Scout: Ranked 1st; 4 five-stars, 17 four-stars, 4 three-stars

Positional Breakdown (From 247sports):

All Purpose Backs: Ezekiel Elliott, Dontre Wilson

ATH: Darron Lee, Christopher Worley

CB: Eli Apple, Gareon Conley, Cameron Burrows

DT: Billy Price, Donovan Munger, Michael Hill

DE: Tyquan Lewis, Tracy Sprinkle, Joey Bosa

ILB: Trey Johnson

OLB: Mike Mitchell

OT: Timothy Gardner, Evan Lisle

QB: JT Barrett

S: Vonn Bell, Jayme Thompson

TE: Marcus Baugh

WR: Corey Smith (JUCO), Jalin Marshall, James Clark

*P: Johnny Townsend

*(committed but no LOI)