Recruiting Misses in 2015 Class Hurting Buckeyes Now
Urban Meyer hasn’t done it yet this year, but in the past he has lamented the slow boil of the 2015 recruiting class. Over the past two years, he has shared his collective disappointment in the class and their low production output when compared to other classes.
And it wasn’t because they
weren’t playing. Some of them were playing, but they weren’t playing as well as they needed to, and the rest of the class wasn’t even doing
that well.
The 2015 class is now in its fourth year at Ohio State and how the Buckeyes respond to their latest collision with adversity will depend greatly on those fourth-year players who have been through this situation before.
The problem, however, is that Urban Meyer signed 26 players in the 2015 class and just 13 of them remain today.
Only four of them played as true freshmen in 2015, which gives you an idea of just how ready they weren’t for college football. Two of the four — Denzel Ward and Jerome Baker — left early for the NFL after the 2017 season. A third — Eric Glover-Williams — left the program over a year ago. Right tackle Isaiah Prince is the only true senior remaining on the team.
Following the loss to Purdue on Saturday, fifth-year senior Terry McLaurin said that what got the Buckeyes through the Iowa loss last year was that the team stayed together. They never fell apart or pointed fingers. Leadership kept the team together.
The same will have to happen now, and it can’t just be the handful of fifth-year seniors like McLaurin who make it happen. The remaining members of the 2015 class have to make it happen as well.
But how many of them are actually
in a position of leadership?
Right tackle Isaiah Prince is the only captain among the fourth-year players. He was also one of the players who stood up after Saturday night’s loss and talked to the team. A year ago, it was Billy Price doing the talking following the Iowa loss.
Prince can’t be the only leader among the 2015 class. Dre’Mont Jones, Robert Landers, and K.J. Hill have to be there as well, and they no doubt are. But it has to mean something.
Of course, maybe leadership is overrated. Last year’s team was loaded with fifth-year seniors like J.T. Barrett and Iowa still happened.
Right now, the Buckeyes need focus and they need production, and both seem compromised.
In 2015, there were a number of Buckeyes seemingly with one foot out the door and headed for the NFL. It’s an amazing distraction. The same could happen with Jones, Hill, Damon Arnette, or Mike Weber, each of whom entered this season expecting it to be their last.
That can either be a motivator or a distraction. It depends on the player.
With the way Ohio State and Meyer have recruited, there’s never going to be an overwhelming number of fourth-year players on the roster, but the percentages were higher in 2015, 2016, and 2017 than they are now.
And you never heard Meyer complaining about the 2012, 2013, or 2014 classes.
Entire article:
https://theozone.net/2018/10/recruiting-misses-hurting-buckeyes/