tOSU Recruiting Discussion

[ScriptOhio]

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT IS MORE CRUCIAL TO OHIO STATE'S SUCCESS THAN RECRUITING STARS

It's so easy to be enamored with the fact that Ohio State holds commitments from six five-star prospects for the Class of 2017.

It doesn't matter if you've seen them play in person or simply watched their tape, you already expect Baron Browning, Josh Myers, Wyatt Davis, Shaun Wade, Chase Young and Trevon Grimes to make an impact the moment they step foot in Columbus.

But it doesn't typically work like that.

Most players, like starting offensive guard Billy Price, take their bumps and bruises early on.

“Talent only gets you so far,” Price said at Thursday's Fiesta Bowl media availability. “It gets your foot in the door. But once you get in the door, it's how you take that on.”

A four-star prospect out of Austintown Fitch, Price was a first-year starter as a redshirt freshman in 2014. It's easily forgotten because of how the season ended with a national championship, but Price and Rimington Award winner Pat Elflein were a part of the offensive line that gave up seven sacks in a 35-21 home loss to Virginia Tech.

“You're not going to come in and ball out. It just does not happen,” Price said. “The last guy to come in and annihilate people was who, Orlando Pace? It's part of the maturation process, especially as a young guy. I went from playing high school dudes to I've got to go stop [former Hokie defensive end] Dadi Nicolas and some of those guys from Wisconsin. It's a learning curve.”

Entire article: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-...hio-state-than-recruiting-five-star-prospects

 

[rampageripster]

Ok, I wanted to do a thought experiment… what if we had a full sized class to work with this year? What if we could bring in the number that, say, Michigan is for 2017. Let’s say we bring in the 25 plus 6 EEs (about average) so that our numbers look more like 31. We currently have 17 Verbal Commits (16 when you subtract Haubeil as a GS), so that means an additional 14 commitments we could land. What would that class look like? There is a ton of speculation in this post, and I’m not plugged in, I just absorb a lot of information.


First, let’s take a look at the current class and how it ranks.

QB: Tate Martell

RB: JK Dobbins

WR: Trevon Grimes, Tyjon Lindsey

OL: Josh Myers, Wyatt Davis

DT: Jerron Cage, Haskell Garrett

DE: Chase Young

LB: Baron Browning, Brendon White, Pete Werner

DB: Shaun Wade, Isaiah Pryor, Marcus Williamson, Amir Riep

PK: Blake Haubeil

We have 17 commitments for a 247 composite score of 300.81. In this scenario, there is no reason to GS Haubeil, so we have 14 scholarships to work with. It looks like we will land 3-4 more players. I’m going to give a conservative guess and say we land the following to get to 21.

WR Jaylen Harris

DB Darnay Holmes

DB Jeffrey Okudah

DT Jay Tufele (only “guess”)

That finish would bring us up to 322.11, which is enough to be 1st in every year besides 2010 (Florida, 323.66). That’s impressive. Even taking out Tufele would still leave us at 318.52. But I’ll leave him because I think the staff sees the writing on the Wilson wall and goes all out.

Now, for what could have been. We’ve got 10 scholarships to deal with here. This is how I would project that shakes out. Again.. lots of speculation here, but I’ll try to give my reasoning

QB Danny Clark: I think if this is a big class, he is never asked to GS. UFM likes having lots of competition in his QB room and Clark was a rock in our recruiting for so long.

RB Morgan Ellison: This is a late riser and someone who will make a ton of noise when healthy. Late offer and commitment, and someone low-key enough that Dobbins doesn’t freak

WR Danny Davis: Gets the offer he has been waiting for… just an epic WR class

TE Cole Kmet: With the space, the staff can take a TE. He’s the top of the list and with the instability at ND, they make him a priority late.

OL Thayer Munford: There’s a good chance he makes it into this class how it is.

Jake Moretti: Hear me out. In this scenario where we can fit so many commits, we have the EE room to bring him in. That’s what he wanted, to rehab in his college program. We take a flyer on his injury and keep him in the class

DT Donovan Jeter: Think he slides down and there was momentum here until the Haskell commit.

DE Joshua Paschal: The staff really seemed to like his versatility and would be a good compliment to Young.

LB: Markquese Bell: See Munford... might end up in the class anyway. I see him as a LB

DB: None… we have enough in this small class for a large class… Bolden may be an exception

ATH: Lynn Bowden: Did about all he could do for an offer and the space wasn’t there. He gets it now.


There are probably some reaches (mostly in keeping Moretti and not taking Bolden/L Wade), but I don’t think this was out of the realm of possibility. Now, what would this class rank look like? 328.27, the best class of all time. But what is scarier? Even with adding all these great recruits, we would only be 6 points back with our small class… It’s good to be a Buckeye

 

[jwinslow]

Lamont Wade would probably be in already instead of flirting with Sheffield.

Bubba Bolden would be in. That's two top-35 players that OSU has turned away (with a tiny chance of swinging back for Bolden later if others head elsewhere)

I don't believe OSU wanted Moretti to leave.

 

[rampageripster]

I still don't think we take L Wade or Bolden because the DB class is full. It would be unwise to take that many DBs... I suspect the scholarships to be used elsewhere

Oh, and I agree about Moretti. I don't think we were willing to let him EE cause of space. That no longer becomes a concern here and he sticks.

 

[ShowMeBuck]

Only 2 for the OL in this class? That's arguably our biggest weakness going into the playoffs so that's scary. WR is also a current weakness but there is potential on the team already and more coming. I guess if you only take 2 OL then we have the right 2 but still.........

 

[jwinslow]

Only 2 for the OL in this class? .

No one tell him whether any of them are projected at OT...

 

[buckeyemania11]

Only 2 for the OL in this class? That's arguably our biggest weakness going into the playoffs so that's scary. WR is also a current weakness but there is potential on the team already and more coming. I guess if you only take 2 OL then we have the right 2 but still.........

I'd kind of be shocked if they didnt take 1 more OL

 

[ShowMeBuck]

No one tell him whether any of them are projected at OT...

Hahaha. Exactly. That's a good/scary point.

 

[ShowMeBuck]

I'd kind of be shocked if they didnt take 1 more OL

I know Munford is rated higher but I kinda liked Honingford (sp?) and taking one from the weasels is always nice.

 

[RobotParty]

RT here has been an interesting position during the Meyer era.

2012: Converted TE
2013: Decker
2014: Converted DL
2015: Converted DL
2016: Prince

So it's basically been 3 guys relatively new to the position and 2 underperforming sophomore OTs. I'd like to see us get deeper there, but clearly the staff has made it work without doing that.

With things so tight, I think you take the last few BPAs regardless of position (Okudah, Holmes, Wilson/ Tufele and Harris) and move on to 2018.

 

[maximumblitz]

Point #1: I believe JT always said that "3" was the right number of offensive linemen.
Point #2: We have 16 offensive linemen in the program. Only one is a senior, although maybe Price will leave this year as well.
Point #3: 16 is roughly equal to 5*3, which is over JT's formula, unless everyone plays 5 years.
Point #4: The bigger issue is avoiding recruiting misses.
Point #5: To make up for past recruiting misses, the defensive line provided a lot of charity, as did the tight ends

https://sites.google.com/site/scholarshipbreakdown/home

 

[ScriptOhio]

Interesting article (didn't know where else to put it).....

2017 Pro Bowl rosters: Do recruiting star ratings actually predict NFL success?

Here's how each selection for the 2016 season rated coming out of high school or JUCO

When it comes to winning a national championship in college, the recruiting star system matters. There's a science behind this, but all you actually have to do is look at the past several national title winners and where they finished in recruiting the 3-4 years prior. Five-star and 4-star players dominate these rosters, particularly when it comes to recent champions like Alabama, Ohio State and Florida State.

However, when it comes to winning a Super Bowl or making the Pro Bowl, how prospects rated out of high school or JUCO seems to matter less.

There are a few reasons for this. For one, not every player in the league was around at the time recruiting rankings became a thing, though that number is getting smaller by the year. Two, stars aren't an indicator of performance at the professional level of the game. Ratings are made by evaluators based on the level of a player's talent and how a particular recruit projects as a success playing college football.

And three, the math doesn't favor a high percentage of blue-chip recruits, and it never will.



Entire article: http://www.cbssports.com/college-fo...ng-star-ratings-actually-predict-nfl-success/

 

[ScriptOhio]

Looking Forward: Buckeye Offensive Line in 2017 and Beyond

With only one senior on the offensive line this season in Pat Elflein, the Buckeyes are relatively young at this position moving forward. They should return four starters next season unless junior Billy Price decides to go to the NFL early. The two young pups on the line this season have performed well at times in Michael Jordan and Isaiah Prince.

Although Prince struggled a bit here and there, this season has been proof that the Buckeyes can and have been recruiting the right athletes at this position over the past few seasons, as normally such young kids would not be developed enough to come in and play this soon. Jordan is the first true freshman offensive lineman to start for the Buckeyes since Orlando Pace did it in 1994.

In that same vein, the 2017 class is highlighted by two very talented offensive linemen in Josh Myers and Wyatt Davis. Myers hails from Miamisburg, Ohio and is a 5-star recruit and the No. 1 overall prospect from the state of Ohio. He committed to the Buckeyes back in January of 2015, and is slated to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on January 7th, 2017 before enrolling at Ohio State in January.

Entire article: http://theozone.net/Ohio-State/Foot...ard-Buckeye-Offensive-Line-in-2017-and-Beyond

 

[ShowMeBuck]

Never in my wildest dreams would I consider myself worried about how this class finishes. But with the final spots seemingly pegged for blue chip DBs you don't turn away, precious few spots remaining, and only 2 OL commits I find myself seriously worried that we have a glaring deficiency. 2 for the OL just isn't going to work. AT ALL.

 

[Hstead]

Never in my wildest dreams would I consider myself worried about how this class finishes. But with the final spots seemingly pegged for blue chip DBs you don't turn away, precious few spots remaining, and only 2 OL commits I find myself seriously worried that we have a glaring deficiency. 2 for the OL just isn't going to work. AT ALL.

It concerns me some because guys that we have recruited do not seem to have stepped up like I thought a couple would. I am shocked Knox and Burrell have not progressed to the point where they were more competitive and we had to bring in Pridgeon. I thought Burrell would be a stud. Not sure what is going on there.