Ohio High Rankings

[Oh8ch]

Duane Long's rankings for the 2009 Ohio class are out and I thought they merited a bit of discussion - perhaps to be merged with the rankings thread in a day or so.

1. Fellows
2. Klein
3. Carradine - he lovvvves Carradine if he gets the grades
4. Simon
5. Hall
6. Fields
7. Turner
8. Barnett
9. Newsome
10. Payne
11. Wood
12. Studlien
13. Allen
14. Freeman
15. Hunter
16. Mason
17. Golden
18. Adam Bellamy
19. Prior
20. Spikes
21. Brandt
22. Linsley
23. Mewhort
24. Edwards
25. Fox

Others of note -
#32 Muldoon
#34 Homan
#41 Toussaint (even thought he loves his speed)

And mentioned as an also ran but not ranked in his top 106 - Zach Boren.

I have always liked Duane's rankings, but he listens to his own drummer and does not fall in line with the other services based on offer lists. Sometimes he comes way out of left field.

 

[Buckeyecty4]

I like his rankings.. although I disagree about Toussaint and Muldoon.. I also think Payne is way too high... Our two OL recruits should probably be in the 10-15 range as well

 

[Napoleonbuck]

I think I can say that Long's list is unequivocally horrible. Not a doubt in my mind that I couldn't throw darts at a board and produce a better list.

Whether it's Barnett being 8th in the state, or Mewhort and Linsley, with a plethora of offers, being behind kids with at best MAC schools.

I'm not even going to get into him having Payne so high when he'll likely be a project pick up for Miami (OH).

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Guys Duane is one of the best in the business...

Not going to say that I agree with everything, but when he puts a guy somewhere you take note...

He likes Payne, lots of others don't...

He like Carradine, and I truly believe opinions on him would be different if he had an offer from tOSU...

He has never been real high on Mewhort...I truly believe that will change...Mewhort is too good to be rated that low...


Same with Linsley and Hunter...

I would also move Wood and Barnett higher, but the top 12 players in Ohio however you want to rank them, are top 200 top players in the country and any team int he country would take any one of these players on this list, and it is really splitting hairs when you start ranking them...

Simon, Fellows, Carradine, Fields, Barnett, Wood, Klein, Hall, Turner, and Hunter, Mewhort, and Linsley

 

[jwinslow]

Mewhort/linsey

Fields is a good athlete but in no way is equal, let alone superior to Barnett. Cj would be a star on recruiting sites if he were from muck city.

The name escapes me, but didn't Duane have another Mac qb strangely high at 3 a few years ago?

 

[Napoleonbuck]

I think Barnett is way better than just top 12. The way I look at it, there are three prospects in this Ohio class that are just a notch above the rest, and those three are Simon, Barnett, and Fellows.

I think those three, based on a combination of offers, measurables, and film are the best of the best in Ohio. Following those three would be the rest of your list (I have no problem with Carradine being in that elite group because I'm really high on him too). I just can't imagine his reasoning for some of these rankings. I'm just wondering how he would justify his ranking of Payne that high or his rankings of Touissaint or Muldoon that low.

Edit:

Also, no offense to Jake Brandt(I admit I had to look him up). I'm sure he's a fine player, but I seriously doubt he's better than Mewhort or Linsley, especially Linsley.

I'm actually surprised Linsley isn't getting more talk as being among the ten best in the state. His video is great. He has a tremendous offer list. He's a prototypical road grader at guard. He's definitely the second best lineman in the state IMO after Hall.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I think Barnett is way better than just top 12. T

Hard to get higher than top 12...I am not saying I have him at 12, just that he could be anywhere...There are guys that I would obviously put higher in the top 12 than others, but IMO all are big time prospects...

he way I look at it, there are three prospects in this Ohio class that are just a notch above the rest, and those three are Simon, Barnett, and Fellows.

I think those three, based on a combination of offers, measurables, and film are the best of the best in Ohio. Following those three would be the rest of your list (I have no problem with Carradine being in that elite group because I'm really high on him too). I just can't imagine his reasoning for some of these rankings. I'm just wondering how he would justify his ranking of Payne that high or his rankings of Touissaint or Muldoon that low.

Other guys would add Wood to that list, others would add Klein to that list, others would add Carradine to that list, others have Said Hall is the best player in the state...See what I am getting at...one guys opinion is just that...Duane sees more film on these guys than anyone of this board...He has also been doing this for a long time...IMO the only position that he struggles at, sometimes is QB, much like with Payne in this class, it was Hartline and Belton a couple years back...But IMO that just comes with how valuable the QB position is at the college level...

Edit:

Also, no offense to Jake Brandt(I admit I had to look him up). I'm sure he's a fine player, but I seriously doubt he's better than Mewhort or Linsley, especially Linsley.

I'm actually surprised Linsley isn't getting more talk as being among the ten best in the state. His video is great. He has a tremendous offer list. He's a prototypical road grader at guard. He's definitely the second best lineman in the state IMO after Hall.

No real gripe with you here...I have not heard of Brandt either, but remember that Duane has seen more film on him than we have...

As for Linsley much like with QB's being valued very high by Duane, along with DE's, G's not so much...He likes lineman that are able to play all positions...Unless of course they are Mike Brewster...

 

[Napoleonbuck]

I can understand that, but it seems to me that there has been a consensus on just how good Barnett is (of course that was until this was released). I agree with you that there is some lee way, but even 8 seems too low to me. It was like last year when the Ohio rivals guy had Mike Adams seventh in the state. That's certainly not bad, especially considering how top heavy Ohio was last year, but it still grossly underrated him. I feel the same way about Barnett. There's nothing wrong with being eighth or twelfth in such a talent rich state, but he's just so talented that I think not having him in the top five does him a disservice.

I generally think all the guys on this list are big time prospects (aside from Payne, and maybe Studlien, though that's only because of his injury), but some are just bigger than others. It was true when Clarett was number one in state, it was true when Wells was number one in state, and it was true last year with Adams. I don't think Barnett is hands down the number one player like those guys were, but he's at least in the discussion. That alone should put him above 8 IMO.

Just seems like he lets too many biases and early judgement calls creep in. Rivals too thought of Payne highly to start with. They rectified that though when he didn't show improvement and the offers never started coming in(even MAC offers).

 

[OregonBuckeye]

Guys Duane is one of the best in the business...

Not sure if that's a compliment for Duane or a denouncement of the business. :p


Very, um.....unique list.

Fields is a good athlete but in no way is equal, let alone superior to Barnett. Cj would be a star on recruiting sites if he were from muck city.

The name escapes me, but didn't Duane have another Mac qb absurdly high at 3 a few years ago?

Agreed 1000% on Barnett.

Are you thinking of Clay Belton?

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I can understand that, but it seems to me that there has been a consensus on just how good Barnett is (of course that was until this was released). I agree with you that there is some lee way, but even 8 seems too low to me. It was like last year when the Ohio rivals guy had Mike Adams seventh in the state. That's certainly not bad, especially considering how top heavy Ohio was last year, but it still grossly underrated him. I feel the same way about Barnett. There's nothing wrong with being eighth or twelfth in such a talent rich state, but he's just so talented that I think not having him in the top five does him a disservice.

I generally think all the guys on this list are big time prospects (aside from Payne, and maybe Studlien, though that's only because of his injury), but some are just bigger than others. It was true when Clarett was number one in state, it was true when Wells was number one in state, and it was true last year with Adams. I don't think Barnett is hands down the number one player like those guys were, but he's at least in the discussion. That alone should put him above 8 IMO.

Just seems like he lets too many biases and early judgement calls creep in. Rivals too thought of Payne highly to start with. They rectified that though when he didn't show improvement and the offers never started coming in(even MAC offers).

I am not disagreeing with you at all on anything you said...I am just saying that this is year is unlike other years...Where there was the clear cut #1...

I have seen people say Hall, Wood, Barnett, Fellows, Klein, or Simon as the #1 player in the state...

It is a good thing for us with lots of top tier talent in state...I am with you on Barnett tho and really like him...I put him in the top 4 along with Fellows, Simon, and Wood...

But there is no clear cut way to rank these guys, and we are also probably looking down on Turner a little bit due to his commitment to Michigan, but he very well could be the #1 DB in the state...

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

Muldoon is way too low. IMO the things you look for in a D-lineman, regardless of which one of the four spots, are physical strength, which is to say does this player hold his position or gets pushed back. The second thing is how quick does the player get to the ball, as in going from zero to full speed. Muldoon too me is build like a brick, and accelerates very well. Might not be the biggest or the fastest player, but he definitely does have a good mix of the two.

Carridine has pretty good quickness. The question is whether he can be trusted to hold his position on the line and not have teams run his way. Also, will he develop the strength to overpower tackle to get to the ballcarrier rather than mostly using his ability to run around people at the high school level. If Carridine puts on a good showing at camp, then an offer may well come his way.

Studlin is a very good player, but a little too high IMO. There are a lot of LBers in Ohio who can run and make plays. His film got out about half a year before the others did. I think he's a good player who could thrive at a school like MSU or Illinois.

Fields is a little too high IMO. He is on the same skill level as Bryan Underwood and Perez Ashford. I like Ashford the best but watching him hitting his top speed is like watching someone running into a wall...Fields is another player whose name got out very early in the process. His top speed is pretty good but it just takes a long time for him to get there, which is going to be a problem when he's trying to create separation. At this point he seems more like a runner than a WR. Terrence Davis is intreguing because of his size.

This class of DBs is one of the better ones in recent years. Woods, Turner, Barnett and Hunter are pretty interchangeable. If I have to choose one it would be Hunter because of his versatility. He has the hips to play corner, tackles and blitzes well from the safety spot and has the ball skills to play center field. They are all pretty good though.

 

[jwinslow]

Yes, Belton was it.

Hard to get higher than top 12...I am not saying I have him at 12, just that he could be anywhere...There are guys that I would obviously put higher in the top 12 than others, but IMO all are big time prospects...

No it's not... top-5 is considerably higher than top-12. Newsome is a good athlete but isn't a big time, 5-star guy. Payne and Studlien are certainly a large step down from guys like Simon, Fellows, Barnett, etc.

No real gripe with you here...I have not heard of Brandt either, but remember that Duane has seen more film on him than we have...

You can keep repeating this... it doesn't put him above criticism. I have no problem calling Duane one of the better evaluators among Ohio recruitniks, and I have no problem calling this list pretty questionable on a number of fronts.

Barnett being 8 instead of 4-5 is understandable. Mewhort outside the top-20 is not. Linsey outside the top-20 is not. Both outside the top-20 is even worse. But to top it all off, those two are languishing in MAC territory while Freeman is almost 10 spots higher.

 

[OSUBuckeye4Life]

To sum this up quickly......not a fan of this list. I have a feeling Duane will be making some rather drastic changes before the year is over.

 

[tsteele316]

the next time duane long watches any kid on this list play in person will be the first time.

 

[zincfinger]

I think a legitimate argument could be made that if you're putting together an independently-derived ranking, you should ignore players' offer lists. Since offers are basically just a reflection of how different coaching staffs rate the players (attenuated by different teams' needs), saying that Duane Long should consider offer lists is sort of like saying that Long should be influenced by the Rivals ranking when he puts together his own. You can certainly argue that coaching staffs do a better job of ranking recruits, but if your aim is to make your own, independently-derived ranking, you should arguably ignore any other rankings, including scholarship offers, and focus solely on film, complete games viewed in person, caliber of competition, and perhaps physical measurables.