2011 Rivals/Scout/etc. National & Regional Rankings

[CHU]

Aundrey Walker went up. Almost every other Buckeye stayed the same in the Rivals rating (might have moved up or down on the top100/250 charts). Jeremy Cash went from a 4-star 5.8 to a 3-star 5.7.

Thank you.

Refuse to even look at ESPN's revised list, so that helps (I imagine Braxton moved down).

 

[wadc45]

Not sure why I even bother...

Aaron Green becomes a five-star player - ESPN

2011 College Football Recruiting - Top 150 - ESPNU 150

Of note:

#1 Jadeveon Clowney
#17 Steve Miller
#28 Ishaq Williams
#44 Curtis Grant
#55 Braxton Miller
#63 Avery Walls
#66 Doran Grant
#85 Jabari Gorman
#90 Damian Swann
#98 Darius Jennings
#105 Evan Spencer
#125 Michael Bennett
#150 Anthony Wallace

UPDATED

Shakeups in final ESPNU 150 - ESPN

Wittek becomes a top-three QB
Max Wittek (Corona Del Mar, Calif./Mater Dei) exceeded our expectations during Under Armour Game week. He was the most precise and efficient quarterback from Day 1 in Orlando. He is college ready and like his predecessor Matt Barkley at Mater Dei, Wittek, a USC commit, has been groomed fundamentally. Wittek moved up at the expense of Braxton Miller (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne), who looked very athletic and strong at times as a passer but was not as consistent and struggled at times with his reads and decision-making.

Who's going where? - ESPN

Curtis Grant (Richmond, Va./Hermitage)
ESPNU 150 rank: 46
Thought to be headed to Florida before Urban Meyer's resignation, this one is now wide open between the Gators, Buckeyes, Tar Heels and Cavs. He's already made trips to Florida and Ohio State. Grant will visit Virginia (Friday) and North Carolina (Jan. 28) before making his decision.

Darius Jennings (Baltimore/Gilman School)
ESPNU 150 rank: 98
It's a three-team race for Jennings between Ohio State, Virginia and Wake Forest. He has already visited all three. The Buckeyes like him on defense, the Cavs on offense, and he could get a shot at QB at Wake Forest.

Jadeveon Clowney still No. 1 - ESPN

2011 College Football Recruiting - Top 150 - ESPNU 150

Of note:

#30 Steve Miller - 4-stars - 82 rating
#43 Ja'Juan Story - 4 - 81
#44 James Vaughters - 4 - 81
#46 Curtis Grant - 4 - 81
#69 Doran Grant - 4 - 81
#75 Ryan Shazier - 4 - 81
#81 Braxton Miller - 4 - 81
#98 Darius Jennings - 4 - 81
#106 Evan Spencer - 4 - 81
#127 Michael Bennett - 4 - 80

 

[Gatorubet]

Meyer leaving and the uncertainty has us at #19 (or 25) depending on who you ask. A big let down for us after all of those gravey years. Good to see the Bucks stay top 10. As long as those that don't go Gator don't go to an SEC opponent, I am good with that. I hope you get eveyone you want who does not have UF as a possible.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

2011 College Football Recruiting - Top 150 - ESPNU 150

Of note:

#30 Steve Miller - 4-stars - 82 rating
#43 Ja'Juan Story - 4 - 81
#44 James Vaughters - 4 - 81
#46 Curtis Grant - 4 - 81
#69 Doran Grant - 4 - 81
#75 Ryan Shazier - 4 - 81
#81 Braxton Miller - 4 - 81
#98 Darius Jennings - 4 - 81
#106 Evan Spencer - 4 - 81
#127 Michael Bennett - 4 - 80

Of their top 29, 11 are from Florida and five are from Georgia (Miller is Ohio's highest ranked player). Only three each from Cali and Texas in the top 30. None from Ohio or Pennsylvania. Florida has 29 of their top 86 players. No bias there.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Just curious if any Buckeye commit actually went up in the rankings/ratings with Rivals.com or ESPN?

Not that I care about either's (perhaps biased) opinion, but was just curious. I imagine most dropped?

Just use this formula:
- If they are an OSU commit: drop
- If they are thought to be headed to OSU: drop
- If they are from Ohio but didn't commit to OSU: rise
- If they are from Glenville but not thought to be going to OSU: BIG rise

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

I'm sorry but Braxton is not the 75th best player in the nation.

 

[westbuck04]

I'm sorry but Braxton is not the 75th best player in the nation.

You're right. He's the 81st best player in the nation!

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

Well you get what I mean.

But still that is outrageous. He's easily top 20. They only switched spots because they attended that stupid all star game. How can you base a kids place in one game where your line is getting destroyed and your running for your life? When he had time he actually threw some nice balls, and yet the receivers were dropping them.

Its stupid.

 

[CHU]

But still that is outrageous. He's easily top 20. They only switched spots because they attended that stupid all star game. How can you base a kids place in one game where your line is getting destroyed and your running for your life?

Don't forget a line that had 2-3 days to work together and are working together for the first time. It would be like basing Kobe Bryant on his play in the All-Star Game.

I'm actually not surprised they dropped him. But if he went to the SEC or was based out of Florida...

 

[wadc45]

BuckeyeGrove 2011 Ohio Rankings - January 2011

Top 10:

1. Bennett
2. B. Miller
3. Grant
4. S. Miller
5. Walker
6. Hayes
7. Traylor
8. DePriest
9. Stoudt
10. D. Smith

Jim Tressel's Recruiting Classes Ranked: How Does '11 Stack Up? | Bleacher Report

By David Thurman (Correspondent) on January 18, 2011

When the class of 2011 signs on the dotted line on February 2nd, it will mark the 10th recruiting class of the Tressel era. I realize that he was technically hired before the class of 2001 signed, but most of those players were in place before the Senator took office, so we won't include that group in our discussion.

Although he has been criticized for failing to close strongly (which has often been true), the fact is that Ohio State has inked some excellent talent and has more often than not been ranked in the top 10 by the recruiting services.

Once again it appears that the coaching staff is assembling an excellent group of players this year so the question looms how does this class stack up with others in the past decade? Although we don't have a final report card on recent classes let's take a crack at rating the "Tressel 10" from worst to first:

10. Class of 2003
The biggest disappointment of Jim Tressel's tenure was his second class, which came on the heels of winning the national championship. The highest rated players in this class were defensive backs Donte Whitner and Dareus Hiley and tight end Louis Irrizarry and only one panned out.
Not only was it a small class, but a majority of players didn't contribute due to academics, off-the-field issues or injuries: Marcel Frost, Ira Guilford, Irrizarry, Sian Cotton, Reggie Smith, Brandon Maupin, Hiley, Devin Jordan and Curt Lukens (that is nine out of 15 if you are counting). The stars of '03 were Whitner, corner Ashton Youboty and receiver Anthony Gonzalez.

9. Class of 2004
In case you wonder why the Buckeyes didn't capitalize on the great 2002 season like they could have, look no further than the two classes signed immediately after that epic success.

This group's most celebrated members were Teddy Ginn, Marcus Freeman and Kyle Mitchum. The first two turned out to be stars along with Vern Gholston and Antonio Pittman. So what went wrong?

Consider the following: Devon Lyons, Dennis Kennedy, Albert Dukes, Alex Barrow, Brandon Underwood, Joe Bauserman (baseball...though he did eventually show up--kind of), Erik Haw, Sirjo Welch and Chad Hoobler, This class was far from a complete loss--there were some stars and a number of solid players, but it wasn't close to as good as hoped.

8. Class of 2010
Of course it is too early to know, but at this point there seems to be a lot more guys who appear to be "contributors" than "stars," as Tress and company mostly struck out in January.

The top-rated players in this group include Rod Smith, Andrew Norwell and Christian Bryant, and they all look like keepers. Big Jonathan Hankins has been a pleasant surprise, Corey "Philly" Brown has awesome upside and there are some other solid looking players.

But consider that Jamel Turner never made it to campus, and that the class included some reaches like David Durham, Chad Hagen and Adam Griffin. Also, there is some doubt if Scott McVey will ever see the field due to injuries and highly ranked James Louis has failed to impress to this point. Only time will tell, but it is hard to rate this class any higher, especially considering it only included one offensive lineman.

7. Class of 2007
A very small class that failed to sign some sought after stars, it did include a few big names: Brandon Saine, Brian Rolle and Eugene Clifford. The first two worked out pretty well--especially Rolle. Some guys who didn't get headlines on signing day, but performed exceptionally well include Cameron Heyward, Dan "Boom" Herron and Dane Sanzenbacher. The other good players in this class were Jermale Hines and Devon Torrence, while the heartbreakers were Clifford and fellow corner James Scott, who both left school.

6. Class of 2005
This was a small class that lacked star power according to the recruiting gurus but wound up with some incredible surprises. The highest ranked players coming in were Alex Boone, Doug Worthington and Jamario O'Neal and, as Meatloaf sang, "two out of three ain't bad." Pleasant surprises included James Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins, Brian Robiskie and Donald Washington.

The biggest disappointment, along with O'Neal, was running back Maurice Wells, although Freddie Lenix never made it to Columbus at all. Overall, a good class that didn't have many defections and included plenty of solid performers like Lawrence Wilson, Brian Hartline, Todd Denlinger, Anderson Russell and Jim Cordle.

5. Class of 2009
Although the '09 class received a ton of national love, it remains to be seen if it will be considered a "great" one. The big names included Jaamal Berry, Dorian Bell and Melvin Fellows, all of whom have talent but have yet to put it all together.

Players who have made major contributions include John Simon, Reid Fragel, Jordan Hall and Zach Boren, the latter two in spite of not being that highly touted. Disappointments include receivers Duron Carter and James Jackson, with hopes that Chris Fields will be the shining light at that needed position. Keep an eye on Storm Klein, C.J. Barnett and Corey Linsley to make a major impact this season.

4. Class of 2006
An interesting class, because it included a lot of guys who were not highly rated by the recruiting services, some of who blossomed nicely. The most highly touted players in the class were Beanie Wells, Robert Rose and Connor Smith, and while Wells was a mega-star, the other two didn't even become starters. Ray Small was also part of this class and certainly he had his moments but was a bit of an enigma.

However, there were plenty of guys who did shine, including Ross Homan, Kurt Coleman, Chimdi Chekwa, Thad Gibson, Dexter Larimore, Bryant Browning and Jake Ballard. Tyler Moeller still has a year of eligibility left and could finish his career as a star, no pun intended.

3. Class of 2011
It will be three or four years before we can evaluate fairly but this class has huge potential. If Aundrey Walker signs as I expect, it will mean that the '11 class will have stronger numbers on both sides of the trenches than any in Tressel's career.

Certainly there is potential star power in quarterback Braxton Miller, center Brian Bobek, defensive linemen Michael Bennett and Steve Miller, linebacker Ryan Shazier and corner Doran Grant.

The interesting thing is that the Bucks always seem to take at least one "project" and sometimes more--guys like Zach Domicone, Jermil Martin, Rocco Pentello and Curtis Terry to name a few. But this group does not include one player who has flown under the radar--the closest might be lineman Tommy Brown. Hopefully it will be a special group.

2. Class of 2008
Talk about star power--this group had it: Terrelle Pryor, Michael Brewster, Mike Adams, Etienne Sabino and DeVier Posey, among others Although it has been hurt by defections and ineligibility's like Willie Mobely, Shawntel Rowell, Keith Wells, Lamaar Thomas and Jermil Martin, it has also benefited from lots of good contributions. Among them: Nathan Williams, Jake Stoneburner, J.B Shugarts, Andrew Sweat, Orhian Johnson, Travis Howard and Garrett Goebel.

It's still too early to give a final grade to the much ballyhooed '08 class, but it should go down as one of the best group of athletes assembled at OSU.

1. Class of 2002
For my money, Tressel's first class was his best, although most of the stars were not the ones expected. The big names in this group included Maurice Clarrett, Justin Zwick, Mike D'Andrea and Mike Kudla. Of that bunch, only Clarrett was a true superstar, and we all know he only played one year.

But how about this foursome who didn't garner such big headlines: Troy Smith, A.J. Hawk, Nick Mangold and Santonio Holmes! Other very good players included Rob Sims, Nate Salley, Quinn Pitcock and Bobby Carpenter.

Beyond that were solid contributors such as Roy Hall, Doug Datish, T.J. Downing, Jay Richardson, Tyler Everett, Brandon Mitchell, Joel Penton and Stan White. It is safe to say that the 2002 team would not have won a national championship without contributions from many of these guys as true freshman, and overall it was a very talented group.

Those are my thoughts on the past decade of recruiting. I would be interested to hear yours.

Interesting article and surely warrants some discussion, so I am posting the article in it's entirety. I personally think in retrospect that the 2005 class was one of JT's best from a development standpoint (and I think it is unfair to label Jamario a "disappointment"...I consider him as much a contributor as say Roy Hall) and should be ranked much higher. And I disagree on the assessment of Tommy Brown...I rate him right in the middle of the 5 OL I expect OSU to land in this class.

 

[stkoran]

13 of the 18 2005 recruits ended up being starters, 3 either transfered or never made it campus, 1 was pretty much injured his whole career, and 1 was a backup. Seems like a huge success to me. Also, I think Laurinaitis and Jenkins were a bit better than "pleasant surprises." Even if they had been 5 star recruits, it would have been hard to predict that both would be the best players at their positions in college football.

 

[wadc45]

Class of 2011 Team Football Recruiting Rankings - ESPN

7
Ohio State Buckeyes
Signings:21 ESPNU150 Signings:6 Top Prospect:Steve Miller
Five-star commits: 0 Four-star: 13 Three-star: 8 Others: 0

Previous rank: 6
The Buckeyes cleaned up in Ohio with No. 4-ranked QB Braxton Miller (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne), top-six DE Steve Miller (Canton, Ohio/McKinley), top-three CB Doran Grant (Akron, Ohio/St.Vincent-St. Mary) and top-10 OG Michael Bennett (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville). Braxton Miller, an Under Armour All-American, fits the mold of a Troy Smith, but Miller is more explosive as a runner. He has a big arm, can make all the throws and just needs to be a little more consistent. Steve Miller displays the ability to be tough against the run and pass and still has good upside. Grant is a playmaking corner with great quickness and athleticism, while Bennett is a dominant run-blocker. Jim Tressel and his staff went outside the state as well, plucking two talented four-stars out of Florida -- safety Jeremy Cash (Plantation, Fla./Plantation) and tight end Jeff Heuerman (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) -- and top-20 WR Evan Spencer (Vernon Hills, Ill./Vernon Hills) from Illinois.

Landed Shazier and Grant and dropped a spot...

 

[wadc45]

ESS Post Season Top 100! | EliteScoutingServices.com

38. Ryan Shazier, LB, 6-2, 210, Plantation ? (Committed to Ohio State): from the first time we had the chance to watch him as a sophomore, it was evident that this impressive football player would be one of the top prospects in the Class of 2011. Shazier can get to the quarterback off the edge, but the question remains is can he make smooth transition to linebacker in college?

54. Jajuan Story, WR, 6-4, 190, Brooksville Nature Coast ? (Committed to Florida): The key word to remember when watching this impressive athlete is RAW. The tools are there for him to be a dominating receiver, but he needs to be more aggressive.

65. Jeff Heuerman, TE, 6-5, 225, Naples Barron Collier ? (Committed to Ohio State): In a few years from now, when they took a look back at this class, this may be one of the best players produced. Heuerman does a great job of getting off the line quickly and down the field.

79. Jeremy Cash, S/OLB, 6-2, 195, Plantation ? (Committed to Ohio State): After starting his career in Miami at Ransom Everglades, his move to Plantation watched him become more of a physical football player. His best attribute will be his ability to cover backs and receivers in space. Now he just needs to put it all together.

 

[Diego-Bucks]

Rivals.com High School/College football scouting team:

Derek Samson, Assistant Managing Editor
Chad Carson, Recruiting Editor
Mike Farrell, National Analyst
Barry Every, National Analyst
Brian Perroni, Texas/Midlands Analyst
Chris Nee, Florida Analyst
Keith Niebuhr, Southeast Analyst
Greg Peterson, AMP Producer/Analyst
Rick Kimbrel, Pac-10 Analyst
Adam Gorney, West Coast Analyst

So, just to note, there is currently no Mid-west analyst and no regionally based national analyst since Tim O'Halloran (I think he's with Chicago Tribune full-time but I really don't know) and Bill Kurelic moved on.

Mike Farrell claims to know the Mid-West the most out of the national analysts, but he lives in Connecticut (or at least used to)... not sure how he can scout the Mid-West from over there.

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

Those rankings seem low in my opinion.