Ok well let me first start off by saying that to the people worried about o-line and d-line guys that the staff is capable of finding and locating some guys. I will not be worried unless it comes midway through the recruiting season and we are still lacking in that departement. There is no way there isnt one guys capable of an tOSU schlorship in the state of Ohio. Also with not a whole lot of depth our depth chart should look favorable to OOS. I mean no one knew about Jimmy Cordle around until about March. His thread on bp started was started on the 24th of March, and he ended up almost starting his freshmen year.
There are also guys like Ernest McCoy and I think Anthony Johnson(From Jenkins school) that I tend to believe the staff has had to show some interest in. Also the one guy from Mentor Lake catholic that I believe won the top o-lineman at the AA combine.
I think there are a ton of athletes in Ohio and other states that if we bring in the lineman we will put together a class full of quality.
The thing that gets me, unless there are guys we have no idea about is the lack of offer to guys like Clemons, Sukay, Torrence, Clifford. Now this is in no-way meant as a sky-is-falling type post, b/c I know the staff knows what it is doing, but from my outside view it is just hard to follow.
I also think the way the staff is bringing in the guys about 5 at a time instead of one large junior day is helping, b/c the guys really like the one on one time. I think that is another reason that we are not seeing the mass updates, kindof like Notre Dame and Michigan have been putting out.
Oliver and Evege, obviously.
I think that OSU leads for Blankenship.
I think that OSU leads for Saine, unless Michigan offers.
I agree with all of this.
I think that OSU has a very good chance for Clemons, Sukay, and Hines (although none has an offer yet).
The thing about it is that if they don't get offers then I would tend to believe the staff feels there are better guys out there that they feel they have a better chance at, which is a good thing. I think the offers will come, I just think they are taking a longer time in teh evaluation period with the limited number of schollies to give.
Torrence - 50/50, with baseball being the other option.
From reading interviews from Torrence, he bleeds scarlet and gray and I feel that he is going to choose to come here and play football and baseball both over the money. Wishful thinking??? Maybe.
Clifford - 50/50, with Michigan being the other option.
From recent updates and interviews, I feel it is better than a 50/50 chance.
Will Clifford and Torrence both get offered by Ohio State? They are very similar players, and other "speed" guys like Oliver, Evege, and Saine already have offers. And Brian Gamble and Sidney Glover are pretty good prospects, not to mention the OOS players.
I am sure you feel the same way, but you can never have to many athletes on your team, They are all guys that can play a multiple number of positions too, so I think they will get their offers, I think Torrence is just awaiting test scores, and not sure on the hold up for Clifford, but from the tone of the updates he sounds like he is expecting an offer. If not why would he show his cards, and come out and say we were a favorite.
Belton, Schepis, and Tucker won't get offers, and neither will Williams with a 2.3 GPA.
As for Belton, I am really unsure on QB, at this time last year, I probabaly would of went with Hartline. No one knew about Henton at this time last year, and the staff had him in their sites for a long time. No reason to panic at QB, we as outsiders are just unsure on which direction they might go.
Most people have said Schepis as top o-line in Ohio, and I really have a hard time as I said above, of thinking that the top o-lineman in Ohio doesnt garner an offer from us especially when we need at least 3 and probably 4 oline guys.
Then for Tucker, I put him on there b/c from his films he looked very good and we have been recruiting him since his sophmore year, one would think that would hold a lot of weight. It is really too early to tell.
As for Williams I didnt know it was that low, but this time last year everyone was questioning whether Gibson would be able to get in. When a schollie is on the line some kids can will themselves to do better in school.
Oglesby, Barksdale, and Martin probably go elsewhere.
I honestly think it is way to early to tell, but we have a lot of positives for these guys right now, so I tend to think that we can land at least one if not two or three(there is that optimism again.
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Solomon Thomas will go elsewhere (and might not get offered anyway).
Not so fast my friend. If he gets offered I think he comes here, but if we land Martin we might only take one. If we would start to feel like we were on the lower end of the stick for Martin, then I think the staff would push for him, unless they had a bigger name in mind.
So, best guess - Oliver, Evege, Blankenship, and Saine; maybe Clemons, Sukay, Hines, Torrence, and Clifford. That's nine reasonable possibilities, so it's safe to assume that the Bucks will get 6 or 7.
I know my early list will look stupid by years end, but I tend to think that around 11-13 guys are going to be heavy topics and we will be in the final few for at least that many. So I would be willing to put a little vcash on us at least getting more than 7. What do you say LJB you up for it.
