Who is the top prospect in Ohio for the Class of 2005?

[Buckskin86]

Who is the D-lineman that Duane thinks is ready for the NFL right now but has horrible grades and will not get an offer because of it? Any word on him? Are his grades improving at all?

I think you are referring to Antwon Hight- I don't think Duane has said that he is ready for the NFL right now but he believes that he has the type of talent that could play on Sunday's.

But grades seem to be the stumbling block for him and there is no sign of improvement. Unlike Javon Ringer who has gotten serious about his academic situation and it has paid off for him.

Duane actually ranked Antwon no. 20 in Ohio in the latest issue of Ohio High primarily because of grades. On talent he probably ranks right up there with Boone and O'Neal.

 

[BIATCHabutuka]

i don't get all the antwon hight hype. he is an all right player i guess but the NFL thing seemed to be stretching it to the point of snapping it.


he does have the large body but he has disappeared whenever i have seen him play against quality competition.

i will go over my mckinley tapes from the last two years and see if i can pull anything from hight worth posting. i will find tons of ryan brinson highlights for sure though it seems like a certainty that we aren't going to go after him or brad jones of McK.

in hight's defense, i have only seen him ever go up against teams like warren harding or cleveland st ignatius or massillon. hardly chumps for sure (well massillon is looking chump like last year and this year).

 

[buckhunter]

VG- not sure what time of the season your footage is, but Duane said he was eligible to start the season last year but not finish it. His Sophomore season I believe the opposite, not eligbile for season play, but grades improved a bit to see play in the post season. Pretty sad case!

 

[gbearbuck]

I went with Boones, only because we need some stud OL's... I want a couple of studs in each class... if we could only take one between O'neal and Boone, I would want Boone (greater need)...

The film on O'neal is ... hope they both stick with their verbals... both are impact players...

 

[osubux11]

I am going with Boone and O'Neal as well, also I think Javon Ringer is a hell of a player, his 3.8 something shuttle time is nuts. Last year I saw Boone at the begining and final game of the his season, dont get me wrong he looked great in game one but his attitude had turned nasty by the final game, and he played like a real SOB. Even though St. Eds got killed in that game he had his way with ALL the Elder defenders!!! Cant wait to have him in a buckeye uniform....

 

[Chewbacca]

I went with Boone. O'Neal is a fantastic athlete but Boone has a chance to be special. There are not many 6'8" guys who are as athletic as Boone is. Both will be great Buckeyes

 

[BIATCHabutuka]

i know i saw hight play last year against ignatius. as for the year before against warren harding, i honestly don't remember him playing or not and i haven't seen that tape in at least a year and a half. as for the post season, mckinley hasn't seen postseason the past couple of years though that may finally change this year with some luck.

either way though it doesn't sound like a guy the buckeyes should be following intently with the grades issue. ryan brinson on the other hand is an all world talent with the ball in his hands (kind of like how lloyd carr is an all world talent with balls in his mouth...). he didn't grow any at all though from his soph to junior year and if he doesn't grow some this year he is a small db in a talent laden in state d db class and will be looking elsewhere besides OSU like the rest of the McK guys. i honestly doubt that i will go see McK this year unless some visiting talent is coming to canton making it easy on my drive time.

p.s. i really really like McK but i just don't see any of those guys getting a scholarship offer from OSU.

 

[CleveBucks]

What is your opinion of Brad Jones, if you saw him at all?

 

[BIATCHabutuka]

i saw brad jones for sure last year, not sure about 2002 though.

jones had decent size and speed and looked like he could be a big 10 type of guy based on that alone. he isn't a blazer like ted ginn or anything like that but he has enough speed to play safety. not sure if he has the hitter mentality though. lacks corner speed though for sure i thought. if he were to flip to offense he is a third slot receiver at best, a possession type. not sure if i saw him on offense or not though, he just didn't seem to have that top shelf speed that all our receivers have.

antwon hight, like brad jones, also looked like a potential big10 player. neither player is a slouch physically (perhaps production wise...). they just don't seem like elite level big10 type of guys. i am sure the indianas of the world would kill to have them. hell auburn is probably raising funds to get a look at these guys as we type.

McK will be the next tape i bust out and post some highlights of on the net. my archive is full though right now so i will need to delete some of the older files first.

 

[CleveBucks]

Thanks... Jones sounds a little like Duane's take on Everett when he was coming out of McK. Good size, decent speed, question is if he is physical enough. I think Everett has turned out pretty decent so far.

 

[BIATCHabutuka]

i never agreed with the tyler everett being a reach thing at that time. he was banged up a bunch and was a better player than duane ever gave him credit for.

tyler everett will find a way to help this team for sure.

tyler everett is a much better prospect than brad jones. better speed and thicker. he was pretty much the man at McK, whereas jones is probably playing third violin.

 

[Hubbard]

i never agreed with the tyler everett being a reach thing at that time. he was banged up a bunch and was a better player than duane ever gave him credit for.

tyler everett will find a way to help this team for sure.

tyler everett is a much better prospect than brad jones. better speed and thicker. he was pretty much the man at McK, whereas jones is probably playing third violin.

I don't know Biatch, I think it's his speed that is keeping him off the field. All the times I have seen him (including his interception) he seems to be moving in slow motion. But that's just my take.

 

[BuckNutty]

If Jones is truly slower than Everett, who doesn't even have exceptional speed as a safety, I can't imagine he'll get an offer, especially with our depth at corner and Brandon Harrison still out there without an offer.

 

[Buckskin86]

Jones measurables seem fine- he was timed at 4.4 at last year's tOSU camp, he runs track and ran a 10.8 100 m and a 21.9 200 m- plus he is every bit of 6-2 so he seems to have the size to play safety even if CB doesn't work out

IMO if tOSU doesn't offer it would seem to be more about his football skills or a lack of available spots, than his measurables

 

[BIATCHabutuka]

i don't think ty is a blazer by any means but he probably has mid 4.5 to low 4.6 legit. that is enough to play safety at major colleges. fortunately we aren't some everyday major college, we are one of the super powers of college football and adequate speed only gets you a great seat in the shoe on saturdays. i hope to see him contribute on kick teams this year if nothing else.

i don't see any of the McK boys getting an OSU offer honestly, not for another few years probably will we see a big time Bulldog of interest to Buckeye fans. Massillon is also lacking major college talent right now. strange things going on in stark county honestly.

jones doesn't look anything like 4.4 on the football field. probably more like 4.6. 4.4 is ted ginn and donte whitner type speed and jones is a stride or two slower.

i still haven't voted in this thread.

i would have to say that boone is the bigger piece to the puzzle but jamario is the better prospect. i think i voted boone though. i have only seen boone on tv though. he was banged up and didn't play the game i saw eds last year at massillon. he is playing at warren harding the saturday the buckeyes are off this season though. should be a great game on a saturday without buckeyes.

the better question is who is the next best player in ohio after boone, oneal, and myers-white (the 3 that the coaches feel are the best in state [and jim cordle, i keep forgetting him]).

personally i am fascinated with javon ringer's talent. i got this one clip of him (ringer_cutbackTD.mpg) that is must see. in one fluid motion ringer enters the hole, switches the ball to his other hand, stiff arms a guy back about 3 feet (it is insane to see this massillon defender just fly back), then makes a wicked little juke and is off to the end zone just one more juke later. it is really hard to appreciate all the moves he makes in about one second of real time just seeing it once.

download the file and then play it off your hard drive but once it plays click on the timeline bar at about 4 or 5 seconds into the film and keep replaying it (keep clicking on that same spot on the timeline after he makes his move) until you can appreciate what he all is seeing and doing in that split second. unreal talent.

i have heard that both helping hand and bill kurelic said that the bucks are looking in another direction at tailback as of right now. if that is so this other prospect must be absolutely one of the best players in the nation to be that much better than ringer (they must be very confident in landing a maurice wells or another of his caliber). i just hope javon doesn't end up haunting us if he isn't a buckeye.

side note in a misplaced thread for hubbard: for a career think plastics. huge employer in the state and the technical jobs in the field for a chemist pay rather well and are rather simple chemistry. you will work long hours and some wierd hours in an industrial environment but it is worth it. check out polyone in cleveland. they are huge.