tOSU Recruiting Discussion

[cincibuck]

Cornelius Greene was always listed as being from Washington DC.

:osu:

Sorry, I was thinking of Neal Colzie.

 

[calibuck]

Probably just my 5 cent psychology, but having tOSU commitments wearing the 2014 OSU t-shirt will do as much or more than having a coach yammering in a recruit's ear. The 'solidarity' showing of the gonna-be Buckeyes will project a feeling of family more than anything I can imagine. Whichever kid thought that one up should be a Captain right now!

With a decent showing by these 'nine', I'll bet vcash that some of the kids that were considering tOSU will consider a little harder. This is something that money cannot buy. Those irridescent green shoes must be an Oregon thing though. Trieu, Chung, Long, and the rest of you writers, make double darn sure that when you interview these prospects you ask them what they thought of tOSU contingent at the Opening, and the feeling of 'family' when you saw them all decked out in matching OSU tee's.


:gobucks3::gobucks4:

 

[shiznit7]

Dante is HUGE....I don't see how he plays LB. Hubbard's position is very much debatable which leaves us with just Berger as a true LB so far in this class. The staff must be very confident in McMillan because even with him that only leaves us with 2 true LB's in this class after just 2 in the last clas. We still have some serious depth issues at this position even if we land McMillan.

On the defensive side of the ball this year the LB spot is easily my biggest concern. I just can't move on from the fact that Boren had to fill in there last year and between last class and this one so far we have just 3 LB's, 4 if McMillan is on board. The staff was after Winovich pretty hard, do we have any other's we are still after? Like I said, we must be very confident in McMillan and even then it still seems like an awfully thin position group. Granted we are filling the spots with total studs, but still.....

I know that the staff has been talking to Tegray Scales and Petera Wilson, but I think that they are both backup options at this point.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Dante is HUGE....I don't see how he plays LB.

He's 6'3", 215. Even if he grows another inch and puts on 20 pounds he's still right in the prototypical LB range.

 

[RB07OSU]

Dante is HUGE....I don't see how he plays LB. Hubbard's position is very much debatable which leaves us with just Berger as a true LB so far in this class. The staff must be very confident in McMillan because even with him that only leaves us with 2 true LB's in this class after just 2 in the last clas. We still have some serious depth issues at this position even if we land McMillan.

On the defensive side of the ball this year the LB spot is easily my biggest concern. I just can't move on from the fact that Boren had to fill in there last year and between last class and this one so far we have just 3 LB's, 4 if McMillan is on board. The staff was after Winovich pretty hard, do we have any other's we are still after? Like I said, we must be very confident in McMillan and even then it still seems like an awfully thin position group. Granted we are filling the spots with total studs, but still.....

I hear you to be sure but I really think at least one of Hubbard or Booker stays at LB, likely Booker. Dante is huge but his skill-set screams future SAM to me (Berger at WILL, McMillan at MIKE)...maybe LEO but with an emphasis on standing up. I think you put Booker, Berger, and McMillan (possibly Hubbard) behind Mitchell, T. Johnson, and Darron Lee and you are plenty stacked up, especially for a team that will in all likelihood be in the Nickel more often than not.

I know we had really bad luck with LB in the past few years but there is always the danger of overcompensating and leaving another position in an equally undesirable position. Just me personally, I am more concerned with getting a sixth OL than a fourth LB in this class. You've gotta have at least 5 on the field at once and I see depth as a huge issue there (i.e. I would rather take Knox or Mavety over Wilson/Garrett if it came down to a final spot). Now if we have room, I would like to see a guy like Garrett change his mind about heading down south.

 

[ShowMeBuck]

I may be changing my opinion on how I would like the class to finish out. I am usually not one who believes in the approach of "taking the best players regardless of needs" but with the small numbers we have left and the high talent level we still have a shot at I am thinking it would be a great approach. Obviously we are focusing on Kwon and at least 2 more OL and Urban seems really focused on Samuel but beyond that why wouldn't we just land the biggest studs at this point rather than trying to fill specific roles? Roberts or Gesecki? Why take either if you can add Knox as a 6th OL prospect or if you had Holley in the fold already for instance and you could add Thomas as a signing day surprise. Do we absolutely need a 6th OL talent or 2 more DL players? No but I just don't know how you turn away total studs. With the small number of spots left I'd prefer landing the best overall players remaining rather than targeting a few specific roles but that's just my opinion.

 

[tlinc]

I may be changing my opinion on how I would like the class to finish out. I am usually not one who believes in the approach of "taking the best players regardless of needs" but with the small numbers we have left and the high talent level we still have a shot at I am thinking it would be a great approach. Obviously we are focusing on Kwon and at least 2 more OL and Urban seems really focused on Samuel but beyond that why wouldn't we just land the biggest studs at this point rather than trying to fill specific roles? Roberts or Gesecki? Why take either if you can add Knox as a 6th OL prospect or if you had Holley in the fold already for instance and you could add Thomas as a signing day surprise. Do we absolutely need a 6th OL talent or 2 more DL players? No but I just don't know how you turn away total studs. With the small number of spots left I'd prefer landing the best overall players remaining rather than targeting a few specific roles but that's just my opinion.

I mostly agree. However, I also think the staff has to look at things across multiple classes. For example, it is already looking like OSU has a great chance of bringing in a banner class of OL again next year. There are a couple of highly regarded Ohio guys. Drew Richmond from Tennessee could be a 5 star guy and it seems like OSU leads. Sterling from Western PA looks like another guy who could be 5 star that is very high on OSU.

So maybe part of the calculus for Urban is comparing guys like Roberts and Gesicki to the TEs and big WRs realistically available next year and doing the same with the OL, DL, etc.

 

[ShowMeBuck]

I mostly agree. However, I also think the staff has to look at things across multiple classes. For example, it is already looking like OSU has a great chance of bringing in a banner class of OL again next year. There are a couple of highly regarded Ohio guys. Drew Richmond from Tennessee could be a 5 star guy and it seems like OSU leads. Sterling from Western PA looks like another guy who could be 5 star that is very high on OSU.

So maybe part of the calculus for Urban is comparing guys like Roberts and Gesicki to the TEs and big WRs realistically available next year and doing the same with the OL, DL, etc.

I see your point but it's hard to work on that strategy because a lot can change between now and the 2015 class. Take the best players you can now considering our limited schollies.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

You can never, ever have too many good O-linemen. OL is the hardest to project, to develop, and is the position most prone to injuries. If a true top-notch OL wants to come here, you most certainly don't turn him down.

 

[Buckeye86]

You can never, ever have too many good O-linemen. OL is the hardest to project, to develop, and is the position most prone to injuries. If a true top-notch OL wants to come here, you most certainly don't turn him down.

I don't agree with this at all and think the exact opposite is true when it comes to injuries.

I would much prefer the coaches load up on elite skill position players that can be used in a variety of ways than go overboard on offensive linemen.

We'll see how Brady Hokes does with it over the next few years (if he continues on his current pace), but I don't think having an abundance of linemen is a winning strategy in the long term.

 

[ant80]

I don't agree with this at all and think the exact opposite is true when it comes to injuries.

I would much prefer the coaches load up on elite skill position players that can be used in a variety of ways than go overboard on offensive linemen.

We'll see how Brady Hokes does with it over the next few years (if he continues on his current pace), but I don't think having an abundance of linemen is a winning strategy in the long term.

As the old saying goes, the games are won or lost in the trenches.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

I don't agree with this at all and think the exact opposite is true when it comes to injuries.

I would much prefer the coaches load up on elite skill position players that can be used in a variety of ways than go overboard on offensive linemen.

I pretty sure that the vast majority here on the board--and virtually every coach--disagrees with you.

If you think that OL don't suffer more injuries or get banged up more than any other position, then I simply don't know what to tell you. Which other position wears knee braces as protective measures? As for loading up on skill position players while ignoring OL needs, those skill players aren't going to be worth squat when the QB can't get them the ball because the defense is in his face before he can get rid of the ball.

This ain't TechmoBowl...

 

[Muck]

Gerry Faust was a big proponent of offensive linemen uber alles.

 

[Buckeye86]

As the old saying goes, the games are won or lost in the trenches.

And yet, Ohio State somehow managed to win a ton of games with guards playing OT for a decade.

With a real offensive line coach, a real offensive coordinator, a real offensive game plan, and better recruiting and development of offensive linemen, I am confident we can be significantly better than in previous years along the offensive line and on offense in general without adding 6 OL per recruiting class.

Brady Hoke is barely above .500 as a head coach. Urban Meyer is a little bit better than that. I think Urban knows what he is doing and he is almost certainly not going to take 6 offensive linemen per year (although it might happen this year).

I pretty sure that the vast majority here on the board--and virtually every coach--disagrees with you.

If you think that OL don't suffer more injuries or get banged up more than any other position, then I simply don't know what to tell you.

You're wrong on both of these points, although the qualifier "get banged up" makes you slightly less wrong.

Let's just drop the topic before we jinx an offensive line that didn't miss a single start last season.

 

[craigblitz]

Never get an argument out of me when it comes to having good OL/DL, but today's game you don't need a dominate 2 deep oline or Dline as much as you need speed. If you have a dominate line but have no playmakers what does it matter? I understand you can counter this argument with having a team full of playmakers but poor lineman.... I will take my chnages with speed any day of the week especially on the offensive side of the ball because I can scheme a lot easier to hide my disadvantage on the line.

JMHO of course... Or we could just do what Urban is doing and get dominance at every position.