Regardless of who we have had, have, or are going to have, I think there is no way you pass on Dunkley in terms of talent. If there are other issues then fine, but I can't imagine a lack of an offer based on talent. As far as specialists...it is a very uncertain year for this class, so I'm ok with taking a specialist...two I'm not so sure about, especially in the same class. But as everyone else has mentioned, JT is the best in the biz when it comes to the kicking game and usually we have 3 kickers on scholly as is, so we might as well handpick them if they are that good.
As far as "needs" go...we need a QB, TE, 2 to 3 OL, two DT's, and a safety or two. The other positions to me are luxuries or depth. Another "need" is to lock down 6 to 8 of the top 10 we have offered in Ohio, regardless of position. Graham at QB is intriguing but calling him "excellent" is premature...it still stings to miss on Montana and Hendrix. However, I am glad to see a legacy get a shot here and hopefully he has a big senior year after being injured most of his junior year.
At TE we have missed on the only guy we have offered with Welch and I think we are insane to have not offered Alex Smith...hopefully we can still throw our hat in the ring or snag someone. However, this is a position we never use anyways so maybe we just go back to "Yackle" after Stoney.
At OL we have 1 elite tackle with Norwell, who I think is the best OL in the country aside from Henderson. We aren't getting Henderson and Linder and Koujando are question marks. Getting James would be huge. So this position is far from answered. The plus side is I believe all 4 of the OL haul in '09 are going to be special.
We have some young talent at DT with Goebel, Mobley, Simon, and Bellamy but we need to follow up with a couple more DT's because none of that talent is proven yet. Unfortunately, it is just a down year in talent. I love Hankins potential and Tomlinson is a big boy but neither appear very sold on OSU, though I wouldn't count us out for either. Beyond those two, I really would like to see Talbot get an offer at Wayne. This position could go either way. Safety is not a worry, as we will get Bryant and possibly Anderson.
As far as the "need" in state, this is my biggest disappointment. Losing Hicks, Turner, Welch, Hendrix, Ware, and James could happen and they all are top 10 players in Ohio. At best we hang on to Turner and get Hicks or James. This doesn't make '10 a bad class but it's just disappointing to miss that many top players in Ohio.
