The 2015 Ohio State Recruiting Class, By The Numbers

Before reviewing the 2015 Ohio State recruiting class, I want to congratulate Coach Stan Drayton for his recent move to the NFL’s Chicago Bears as the Bears running backs coach. Coach Drayton was highly instrumental in the development of Ohio State running backs Carlos Hyde and Ezekiel Elliott from 2012-2014. I wish Coach Drayton all the best as he moves onto the NFL.

The 2015 Ohio State recruiting class, with twenty-seven players signed, ranks as one of the top recruiting classes in the country. While I have never placed too much emphasis on how various recruiting analysts rate recruiting classes, I do pay attention to 1) if other top programs are recruiting the players that Ohio State has signed, and 2) if the recruiting class helped to address needs within Ohio State’s program. By those measurements, Ohio State’s 2015 recruiting class did very well.

Geographically, Ohio State signed twelve players from Ohio, three from Florida, two each from Michigan and Virginia, and one player each from Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Utah. While Ohio players may be the majority, the graph below will demonstrate that Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer and his staff will scour the nation in order to find the best players and convince them to become Buckeyes.

2015 OSU Recruits By State

The best position group with this recruiting class? In my estimation, the offensive line recruits are tremendous. Branden Bowen, Matthew Burrell, Kevin Feder, Mirko Jurkovic, Isaiah Prince, and Grant Schmidt will help Ohio State co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Ed Warriner maintain the strong play at the line of scrimmage that Ohio State fans have become accustomed to since the 2012 season. Schmidt is an early enrollee and will participate in spring practice. It is such a relief to see Coach Meyer and Coach Warriner place the strong emphasis on offensive line recruiting; gone are the days of 2010 when Andrew Norwell was the only offensive lineman signed in the recruiting class. One!

A concern for this recruiting class? Very minor, but few interior defensive linemen were signed. Joshua Alabi, DaVon Hamilton, and Robert Landers were signed, but even Coach Meyer stated that the backup defensive line play has been “disappointing”, and “”You’ve got to go, or you’ve got to go.”. With Michael Bennett’s departure to a probable NFL career, and the targeted departures of Adolphus Washington and Joey Bosa after the 2015 season, I am guessing defensive linemen will be a premium target for the 2016 recruiting class.

Which player will be able to make an impact during the 2015 season as a true freshman? Early enrollee Nick Conner may be able to make a mark on special teams, and even at linebacker. A sleeper pick may be Rashod Berry, who will be played at tight end. With Jeff Heuerman’s departure, Nick Vannett a senior, and Marcus Baugh sometimes skirting the good graces of the coaching staff, it may be possible for Berry to get some playing time at tight end.

Yes, recruiting is key to the long-term health of any program. As my Dad used to say, you have to have the horses in order to be able to win, and Coach Meyer was able to secure some highly-touted talent with this class. I believe Fox Sports 1’s Joel Klatt said it best as it relates to what now awaits all of the talented football players who signed their respective national letters of intent on February 4, 2015…

MotSaG Chat with Tyrek Tisdale

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Recruiting is a constant process. There is no off-season and there is no it is too early to talk about a recruit because he is only a sophomore. There are recruits in middle schools getting offers and even some still in elementary school. So to have the chance to sit down and talk with a High School kid going into his Junior year it is refreshing. So I sat down today and talked with Tyrek Tisdale a 6’2″ 200 lbs Safety/Running Back from Orlando, Florida.

Tyrek has been on a nationwide tour with a group of Florida HS footballers and visited several school where he also received his first 4 offers from UAB, Louisville, Miami of Florida, and Ohio State. Tyrek said “It has been ridiculous, visiting 8 different Division 1 schools.”.

Tyrek grew up a fan of the Oregon Ducks and who can blame him for most of his life Oregon has been a mecca for offensive minded players who want to showcase their skills on the national scene. The uniforms alone can draw in HS recruits and fans a like. Tyrek doesn’t have any plans right now to visit Oregon but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him eventually make his way to Eugene to take in the gloriousness that is Nike.

Where else does Tyrek have visits planned for this summer? He tells me ” I plan to go visit Miami and Ohio State again this summer.”. Which begged the question for him… Will distance play any roll in where he decides to attend college. His answer was quick and precise “No distance wouldn’t be an issue.” Which is great to hear if you are an OSU fan. He clearly has no qualms leaving Florida or the south.

Tyrek visited Ohio State not to long ago and thoroughly enjoyed the visit telling me that he most enjoyed “Learning about the academics and visiting Buckeye Grove.” Buckeye Grove is a huge draw for receuits because it shows in a grand way how many OSU players have come there and had all-american careers. He also was able to sit down and talk to Coach Meyer and Coach Drayton and loved what they told him. He was also able to meet and chat with current OSU TE Jeff Heuerman on the visit.

Keeping his options open are important to him right now. Tyrek is just getting going into the recruiting process and is getting a crash course early on. He doesn’t have a plan for when he will commit but he does have an early leader for his services telling me that Ohio State is his leader right now and that he could see himself being a Buckeye someday. When I asked him what he would Buckeye Nation to know about him the most his answer was extremely revealing… “I would love for Buckeye Nation to know that we will always beat That Team Up North.”. While he is not ready to commit you can tell he knows what is important about being a Buckeye and that he already considers himself a member of Buckeye Nation.

This is definitely a young player that OSU fans need to get to know and watch and you can do that by following him on Twitter by clicking @TyrekTisdale.

You can view his highlights by clicking Hudl.

MotSaG Chat with Jared Payton

The 2017 class for the state of Ohio is loaded with talent. So much so that even though it is 2014 and these kids are just finishing up their Freshman year of high school they are already receiving lots of interest and offers and in some instances like Danny Clark already committed to their dream school. Jared Payton falls in the group of big time talents who are receiving a ton of interest from some of the biggest schools in the country. Jared made a visit this past weekend to Ohio State and took some time after to talk with me about that experience.

Jared who grew up a Florida Gators fan and has told me that is his dream school made the trek to OSU on Saturday. The trek was short as he lives maybe 20 mins from Ohio State in Gahanna. The Safety/Linebacker was hoping to be impressed with Ohio State and by the sounds of it they didn’t let him down. When I asked how did it go his response with was quick and to the point “OMG it was amazing”.

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Jared spent most of the day on Saturday taking a tour of Ohio State and meeting coaches and other recruits. He said he got to talk with Coach Meyer and Asst. Head Coach/RB coach Stan Drayton and was impressed by both of them. Jared fell in love with the campus and was thrilled with what he heard about the Academics side. Jared mentioned about how the coaches talked to them about life after football and always having a need for a Plan B. That the coaches hope to turn the players not only into better players but better men.

Jared spent time getting to know some fellow recruits like Miles Joseph, Drew Harvey, and George Hill. Rumors were swirling around on Saturday that George Hill was close to committing. Jared said Coach Meyer talked a lot about George Hill in the meetings and that George rally loves OSU and could see him committing to OSU and possibly playing together some day.

Jared mentioned that visiting the weight room was one of his favorite parts of the visit. He said it was extremely impressive and brand new. He again mentioned the academics side as another favorite part of the visit. He is unsure what he will major in but academics will help him with his Plan B. Jared didn’t get an offer on Saturday but did walk away impressed overall and said the visit was a perfect 10 and that Ohio State is right at the top of his list equal with even his childhood dream school Florida.

When asked what one thing he would like Buckeye fans to know about him he said… “To play for the Buckeyes would be a high honor! And I will bring everything I have all the time on the field! No one will out work me!”

You can follow Jared on Twitter by clicking @JaredPayton15