First List of Ohio's Top 40 for 2012

[danwismar]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ohiostate/footb ... /rank-2849

I knew you guys were already thinking 2012 recruiting, so here goes.

Buckeyes already have 3 commits from this list's top 10 (#1 Kalis, #5 Dunn, #9 Ball) and 5 of the top 15. At least five more of the top 10 are likely to be Buckeyes before it's over (McMullen, Bradley, Washington, Ringer, Stanford?) If they can pull Wormley away from Michigan, it could be a sweep of the entire top 10 because Pittman likes OSU too.

They only have about 15 scholarships, maybe one or two more than that.

Like they say, Tressel is selecting more than he is recruiting.

[JCoz]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ohiostate/football/recruiting/rankings/rank-2849

I knew you guys were already thinking 2012 recruiting, so here goes.

Buckeyes already have 3 commits from this list's top 10 (#1 Kalis, #5 Dunn, #9 Ball) and 5 of the top 15. At least five more of the top 10 are likely to be Buckeyes before it's over (McMullen, Bradley, Washington, Ringer, Stanford?) If they can pull Wormley away from Michigan, it could be a sweep of the entire top 10 because Pittman likes OSU too.

They only have about 15 scholarships, maybe one or two more than that.

Like they say, Tressel is selecting more than he is recruiting.

This is going to be a tough year, so many good players and no ships.

Other teams are going to grab much better players from Ohio than they normally could because of it.

Another Crazy year of Dlineman. Seriously, absolutely sick talent on OSU's Dline for the next 5-6 seasons.

This year is possibly another small step back from last season (which was a small step back from 09) before we might be enjoying a thoroughly dominant front for 3+ years....and that being said, that would still have an above average Dline for all of those years...

This after the huge step back we took from 04-09 compared to 02 and 03.

That's a huge correction (helped GREATLY by the Dline talent recently available in Ohio) from our 06 and 07 runner up teams. Really makes me more confident in our ability to compete in the NC if we get back there soon.

Sorry, went off on a tangent there...back to the topic.

[jb]

Danny, how fast is Dunn? What would you compare his upside to at this early stage?

Would like the see the post - TP era return to more I action from the gun spread , so man do the Bucks need a good big RB.

[e0y2e3]

I really kind of wish we could trade one of Dunn or Ball for Shell. Not gonna lie.

[JCoz]

Danny, how fast is Dunn? What would you compare his upside to at this early stage?

Would like the see the post - TP era return to more I action from the gun spread , so man do the Bucks need a good big RB.

Not Dan, but the comparisons he has drawn for upside are "Mo C without the baggage".

[JCoz]

I really kind of wish we could trade one of Dunn or Ball for Shell. Not gonna lie.

And you aren't alone.

I think Dunn's season last year eased a lot of minds with regards to that.

I like getting a little different flavor with Ball, so I mostly compare Dunn to Shell.

But I dont see how you can knock getting these two in bag NOW as opposed to leaving either of them hanging for months when they are ready to commit, just for a shot (albeit what looked like a good shot) at landing Shell.

[JCoz]

Danny, how fast is Dunn? What would you compare his upside to at this early stage?

Would like the see the post - TP era return to more I action from the gun spread , so man do the Bucks need a good big RB.

This was linked today on another board

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf8_UaL_piA

[jb]

Thanks Coz. Dunn looks impressive, but my beef with this clips is I'd learn more from a 3 yard run with average blocking than these clips. For example, I could only get a sense of how Dunn, a tall, upright runner ala the Dick, uses his pad level on contact on a split second on one run. To me, that is huge when you are talking an upright back.

I clicked on the Ball highlights. Good lord upper arlington looks like an 8th grade team. WTF happened to THAT program?

is Shell the Hopewell kid or where is he from?

Dunn looks like the shizznit. Ball looks like a good HS back. IOW, Wells and Boom redux?

[jta1975]

Danny, how fast is Dunn? What would you compare his upside to at this early stage?

Would like the see the post - TP era return to more I action from the gun spread , so man do the Bucks need a good big RB.

Dunn has rushed for 1261 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first five games this season. He posted an electronically-timed 4.59 40-yard dash, 4.29 20-yard shuttle and 35.5-inch vertical on the combine circuit during the offseason.

I didn't make these numbers up...They came from one of the summer tour database...from espn.

[danwismar]

Not sure about the Dunn 40 time....I've read 4.5, but who knows with H.S. coach's stopwatches. If they said 4.4, I wouldn't believe it anyway.

Don't think you'll have to wait for Dunn or Ball to see a return to the "power I" big back focus. I think you'll see it with Rod Smith and Carlos Hyde this year.

There's some disagreement among the talent evaluators that have seen a lot of both Dunn and Ball about which one is better. Coming into his junior year, everyone was raving about Ball....his nickname was "Walter".....as in Payton. Then Ball got hurt and Dunn came on like a house afire to start the season. He had 1000 yards after about three and a half games or something.

From what I've seen, it's easy to compare Dunn with Beanie Wells from a body-type standpoint. Rod Smith reminds a little of Eddie George...tall and powerful, with an upright running style.

[pup]

I am lazy and didn't really look at the list, but...

Is there some offensive line talent on it somewhere? We are going to be thin this year, did we get a couple in 2011? And are more on the for 2012?

Thanks.

[danwismar]

The top-ranked player in the state for 2012 according to this list is Kyle Kalis, the OT from St. Ed's (Rivals says he was the best OL in the state as a junior last season.) He's already committed to OSU. They really are thin, especially at tackle, for 2011 and 2012. They need to get at least 4-5 OL for 2012. The good news is the in-state talent is fairly strong, and they should have their pick. Look for them to try to get early commits. The youngest Boren brother is also already committed, but he's a C/G prospect.

They only got one OL in 2011...Andrew Norwell...who was very highly rated nationally, and played very well as a freshman, subbing at RT for Shugarts mostly. But ideally, you take at least 4 OL every year, so that puts them behind the 8-ball.

They have already offered Jordan Diamond from Chicago...one of the best OT's in the country...but so has everybody else in the Big Ten, plus ND. "Nacho" Garcia from Florida is another national recruit that they're chasing along with everybody else.

Other possibly OSU-worthy OT's in Ohio are Kyle Dodson (Cleve Hts) and Taylor Decker (Vandalia Butler) Prospects: http://bit.ly/gBsp8r

Dealt with this issue in the latest Buckeye Leaves, BTW - http://bit.ly/ig3RY3

[pup]

Thanks Dan.

Sorry I didn't get around to reading the latest Leaves quite yet

[XUDawg]

Another Mauk kid from Kenton? Does he pad stats as much as his brother?

[danwismar]

Another Mauk kid from Kenton? Does he pad stats as much as his brother?

Apparently so. I looked it up out of curiosity, since I had heard he was at least as good as Ben. The numbers are outrageous for 2010. 5900+ yards and 69 TD's! In one season...over 150 TD's in 3 years as a starter.

Not sure you can call it "padding" really, unless you fault them for the small school opposition they play. The offense is 5-wides and throwing the ball on virtually every play...no running game to speak of.

He's bigger than Ben (6' 2", 185) and the talk has him winding up at Cinci or a similar program.