OSU Football Recruiting

[Lebowski]

A quick look at the Bucks' verbal commits thus far:

Chris Wells, RB (Akron Garfield)
- MVP of the HS All-American game in San Antonio a few weeks back. Wells is a big, bruising back that will enroll early and should see significant playing time along with returing starter Antonio Pittman.

Conner Smith, OL (Cincy Colerain)
- Big-time prospect who dissapointed with a poor performance in San Antonio.

Ross Homan, LB (Coldwater)
- An athletic linebacker who has great speed and quickness. Outside shot at some playing time with the loss of three starters.

Robert Rose, DE (Cleveland Glenville)
- Opened some eyes at the All-American game with a terrific performance. Big commit from Ginn's program that can be called Columbus North. Only played two years on high school football, so he is raw, but obviously he has a very high ceiling. Could turn out to be an excellent player at the next level.

Jake Ballard, TE-OL-DE (Springboro)
- Very athletic and versatile. Could play any number of positions. If he bulks up, he could develop into an excellent OL or DE, because of his athleticism. Played on OJ Mayo's AAU b-ball team.

Antonio Henton, QB (Georgia)
- Already drawing comparisons to Troy Smith because he can run and throw. Relatively under-the-radar coming into his senior season. I will be interested in seeing his arm strength in the Spring Game.

Josh Chichester, WR (West Chester)
- Very tall (6'8''!) receiver who should become a threat in the red-zone. Interesting prospect.

Kurt Coleman, CB-S (Northmont)
- Very smart player. Tough guy who isn't afraid of contact.

Tyler Moeller, LB (Cincy Colerain)
- Has good quickness and plays hard. Not sure he has the frame to play LB and might be better suited as a S at the next level.

Grant Schwartz, S (California)
- Not very highly regarded OOS player who some were surprised Tressel offered. Don't have enough info on him yet.

Dexter Larrimore, DL-OL (Indiana)
- Underrated OOS prospect who IMO will be a pleasant surprise for Buckeye fans. Extremely strong. Looks like a DT to me. High-school wrestler, just like former DT Tim Anderson. Chose OSU over Notre Dame.

Mark Johnson LB (California)
- Big-time get for the Bucks out of LA. Has good speed and quickness. Had offers from the California schools as well as Florida and Miami.

Chimdi Chekwa, CB (Florida)
- Lightly-regarded prospect out of the sunshine state. Another surprise by Tressel.

Walter Dublin, DE (Florida)
- Solid, if unspectacular OOS prospect who chose the Buckeyes over Iowa. Good speed for a big guy and is a pass-rush specialist.

Andy Miller, OL (Pennsylvania)
- Played TE in high school but will bulk up and play OL for the Bucks. Has great height (6'7'') and could project as a tackle.

Bryant Browning OL (Cleveland Glenville)
- Great student. He is a big kid who could be a great guard at the next level. Another Tarblooder heads to Columbus.

Aaron Gant S (Michigan)
- DB from Michigan chose the Buckeyes over UM and MSU. Has great size and plays physical.

Aram Olson FB (South Carolina)
- Chose the Buckeyes over Auburn, whose fans were quite disappointed. Big, strong, and powerful. Should be opening holes for Wells for years.

[yargs7]

With the loss of Josh Chichester to Louisville, the Bucks do not have any wide receivers coming in this year. With Ginn, Gonzales, and Roy Hall coming back they still have an outstanding group. My concern is the future and depth. Any word on the development/potential of Andre Amos, Brian Robisky, Albert Dukes?

[Guest]

Don't sweat chichester, there were some VERY serious questions about whether or not he could even be admitted. At 6'8" he was a very interesting prospect, but we will persevere without him. Furthermore, you have to be a little leary of a guy who turns down a BIG D1 school for a minor program.

As far as depth at wide receiver, well there will very obviously be a small hole in the line up in 2 years, but I would expect to see some of the underclassmen emerge. Albert Dukes is a very promising player out of Belle Glade, FL. I would expect to see quite a bit of him in the coming years.

Mike

[Guest]

Post above was mine....

I was too stupid to log in.

[furls]

Ok this forum is just messing with me, i was logged in.

Mike

[Lebowski]

I'm hoping Darrell Johnson from Youngstown gets offered. The word is that he needs to get his grades in order. He played QB in highschool, but projects as a WR at the next level. The kid is an absolute freak for those who haven't seen him.

[YSU Fan]

Anyone surpirsied that Penn State was voted as having the #1 clas in the Big 10?

I think Wells ALONE would give tOSU class the nod!!

[Lebowski]

I don't pay much attention to how the gurus rank the classes. It is such an inexact science; a top-5 class doesn't give you a top-5 team. (Although, Texas had the number 1 ranked class in the nation when this current team's seniors were recruited; Vince Young was the top-ranked player in the country) Schools like Tennesee and Michigan have consistently had top-5 or top-10 teams, yet it has hardly correlated onto the playing field.

Is it important to have a good recruiting class? Sure.

Is it easy to decipher the number 1 class from the number 10 class? Hardly.

First of all, we are talking about high school players. Scouting these guys is extremely difficult, having to gauge talent levels in much different parts of the country is not an easy task.

Second, there is such a huge failure rate for these players. Some will have grade issues and never see the field. Some will get injured. Some will be blocked by upper-classmen and transfer. Some will get in trouble off the field. And some will simply not be good enough.

Its fun to look at the rankings and see how your team faired, but I always look at the rankings with a critical eye. The true rankings are in January, four or five years from now.

[furls]

As I said in an earlier post, recruiting class rankings are a JOKE!

Don't even bother with them. Your recruiting class rank is determined by how the pundits feel about who you got, not necessarily about how you filled the current needs and holes on your roster. I guess we may have been able to get a lot of 4 star guys that were not going to see the field here for 3 years or we could get 3 star guys that are going to make an immediate impact.

What is greater value to the team? A 3 year 3star starter at needed position or a four star 3 year starter on the scout team?

I despise recruiting ranking and I think it is just another manifestation of this obsession that we as a nation have with putting things into lists. We got good players that we needed at the positions that we needed.

[yargs7]

To hell with those rankings. Tressel is an outstanding recruiter. He has the state of Ohio on lockdown, he finds diamonds in the rough, and he is a master at getting the most out of his players. JT will always have the Bucks ranked at the top when it counts!