Scarlet Buckeye's look ahead at Ohio State's football program

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Scarlet_Buckeye's avatar
Scarlet_Buckeye
Posts: 5,264
Feb 8, 2011 12:50pm
Glenville and Ohio State
No, OSU isn't losing any "pull" with the Glenville kids, but to be fair/honest, there really is a huge misconception about Glenville and OSU. Let's take a look... this year ('11), there were 9 Glenville recruits (4 of which had offers from OSU -- Aundrey Walker, Andre Sturdivant, Cardale Jones, and Shane Wynn); 1 of which committed to OSU (Cardale Jones). In '10, Glenville had 7 recruits (2 of which had offers from OSU -- Latwan Anderson and Christian Bryant); 1 of which committed to OSU (Christian Bryant). In '09, Glenville had 9 recruits (2 of which had OSU offers -- Marcus Hall and Jonathan Newsome); 2 of which committed to OSU (Hall and Newsome). In '08, Glenville had 9 recruits (3 of which had OSU offers -- Cordale Scott, Shawntel Rowell, and Jermil Martin); 2 of which committed to OSU (Rowell and Martin). In '07, Glenville had 6 recruits (1 had an OSU offer -- Jermale Hines); 1 committed to OSU (Hines). In '06, Glenville had 11 recruits (3 of which had OSU offers -- Robert Rose, Ray Small, and Bryant Browning); 3 of which committed to OSU (Rose, Small, and Browning). In '05, Glenville had 8 recruits (2 of which had OSU offers -- Jamario O'Neal and Freddie Lenix); 2 of which committed to OSU (O'Neal and Lenix, although Lenix never really "made it" into the program - grades. In '04, Glenville had 9 recruits (2 of which had OSU offers -- Ginn and Terry); 2 of which committed to OSU (Ginn and Terry). In '03, Glenville had 5 recruits (2 of which had OSU offers -- Donte Whitner and Dareus Hiley); 2 of which committed to OSU (Whitner and Hiley). In '02, Glenville had 1 recruit (1 had an offer from OSU -- Troy Smith); 1 committed to OSU (Smith). SEE ATTACHED FILE So... I think what you need to take away from this is... OSU is not interested in every recruit... the ones that they are, they typically get... this year appears to have been an outlier. I wouldn't get too carried away with it, especially since I even commented beforehand how we likely would land no more than 2.

This past recruiting class
So excited about landing LB Curtis Grant. I haven't seen much film on the guy, but from everything I've read he's a star in the making. It's probably OSU"s biggest LB recruit since Mike D'Andrea (who unfortunately never panned out due to injuries).

I think the guy who's most closest to a 5-star that wasn't rated a 5-star is DB Doran Grant. I think this kid has a ton of talent, and I really hope he progresses along nicely in the program. He seems to have some fantastic hips.

I'm sooooo excited about QB Braxton Miller. I honestly believe that he is a better passer RIGHT NOW than Terrelle Pryor. Hopefully we can teach him how to read a defense, and the kid should be just fine. Very excited about this kid.

DT Michael Bennett and DE Kenny Hayes are the next two guys I'm really excited about. I feel like both of these kids, especially Hayes, are borderline 5-star recruits. I think Hayes will be the next great DE at OSU.

The next player I'm excited about is DE Steve Miller. I can't wait for 3-4 yrs down the road to watch Hayes and Miller bookend the D-line.

I'm also surprisingly excited about TE Jeff Heuerman. I don't know why / can't put my finger on it, but I really think this kid will turn out to be a solid TE. I'm not expecting as much from him as I am say Jake Stoneburner, but I think Heuerman will be in a similar mold.

I'm excited about the one, and only, Glenville commit QB Cardale Jones because I think he is a tremendous athlete, but to be quite honest, I never see him making the field, especially at QB.

Other than that, I think the rest of the guys are just "fillers." Tressel is OUTSTANDING at finding 3-star guys who turnout to be 5-star players (i.e., A.J. Hawk, Santonio Holmes, Brian Hartline, Malcolm Jenkins, James Laurinaitis, Brian Robiskie, Chimdi Chekwa, Tyler Moeller, and Dane Sanzenbacher). My guess is Jeff Heuerman or DerJuan Gambrell will be that guy out of this class.


Thoughts on Ted Ginn Sr.
I like Ginn Sr., and I like what he's doing (giving these young inner-city kids a fighting chance who, more than likely, would have never seen a college campus, let alone set foot on one). For that, I give him all the props in the world - besides, it doesn't hurt that he's encouraging most of them to attend OSU. With that all being said, don't get it confused... Ginn Sr. is a HORRIBLE coach; not man... not mentor... but COACH. Living in Cleveland, I have been to PLENTY Glenville games to know this. It is ridiculous the amount of talent this guy has, and he loses to teams like St. Eds or St. Ignatius (who are both GREAT teams), but looking at the players and all the talent Ginn Sr. has, it is truly unbelievable how he ever loses to these teams. It's purely because of COACHING. Ignatius and Eds have FAR superior coaching staffs. Just by the eye test, every time we see Glenville show up, we also look at each other and say "there is NO reason whatsoever Glenville should lose this game." Yet I've experienced plenty of G-ville losses. Sr. calls so many plays that just leave us scratching our head and thinking, really? I swear, some rando guy walking off the street could call better plays than that guy does at times. It's ridiculous.


OSU's future
I think the future is bright, but I don't think it is NEARLY as bright as you think it is - especially when you take into consideration another powerhouse (Nebraska) has joined our conference. I think we are severely lacking NEXT season at wideout and defensive backs. No question someone is going to have to step up, and with that, I'm not sure who it's going to be. My guesses would be SO - WR Corey Brown and/or SO - WR Chris Fields will be out two big contributors while SR - WR DeVier Posey sits out the first 5 games. I also think we'll see BIG production this year out of JR - TE Jake Stoneburner in the passing game.

As far as DBs go, I think SO - DB C.J. Barnett is a star in the making. I'm really expecting a nice breakout year from this kid. I also think SO - DB Christian Bryant showed flashes of brilliance last season, and I'm excited to see how he progresses in his 2nd yr. SO - DB Dominic Clarke is an enigma. I think this kid has talent and will be a solid DB, but sometimes I find myself scratching my head on this one. JR - DB Travis Howard stepped in nicely when players went down with injuries (especially during the BCS Bowl game last season). While certainly not the most talented, I think he is a very solid DB. JR - DB Ohrian Johnson has really been a disappointment. I really hope this kid figures it out and puts together a solid campaign this season. The guy has all the measurables in the world, just seems to be afraid of contact and can't quite figure it (i.e., coverage) out. SR - S Nate Oliver. Wow. This guy has been with the program forever. Many thought he was going to be the next Mike Doss. What a bust this guy has been. Here's to hoping he figures it out as well. SR Tyler Moeller will be the cornerstone for sure in that secondary.

Linebacking is really another big question mark too. Who's going to be our three starters? I'd love to see 5-star recruit SO Dorian Bell step up and be the next great LB in a long line of tradition. I don't see that happening, however. I think JR Storm Klein, JR Etienne Sabino (finally), and SR Andrew Sweat lockup the three roles. I think their performance will be shaky, but hopefully with a star-studdded d-line (SR - DE Nathan Williams, JR - DT John Simon, JR - DT Garrett Goebel / SO - DT Johnathan Hankins, and SR - DE Solomon Thomas) will be able to mask any glaring holes in our LB corps. I fully expect JR - DE Jonathan Newsome and/or SO - DE Melvin Fellows to fill in nicely for Thomas while he sits his 5 game suspension.

Idk... call me the ever pessimistic fan, but I don't see THAT much talent in the underclass.
OneBuckeye's avatar
OneBuckeye
Posts: 5,888
Feb 8, 2011 1:55pm
First off Wynn and Strudivant did not have OSU offers. Cordale Scott was the only glenville recruit with a commitable offer to go elsewhere in the last 10 years before Walker.
V
vball10set
Posts: 24,795
Feb 8, 2011 2:11pm
what a long frickin' post--nothing to do today, eh scarlet? :p
OneBuckeye's avatar
OneBuckeye
Posts: 5,888
Feb 8, 2011 2:12pm
Scarlet_Buckeye;670067 wrote:Glenville and Ohio State

OSU's future
I think the future is bright, but I don't think it is NEARLY as bright as you think it is - especially when you take into consideration another powerhouse (Nebraska) has joined our conference. I think we are severely lacking NEXT season at wideout and defensive backs. No question someone is going to have to step up, and with that, I'm not sure who it's going to be. My guesses would be SO - WR Corey Brown and/or SO - WR Chris Fields will be out two big contributors while SR - WR DeVier Posey sits out the first 5 games. I also think we'll see BIG production this year out of JR - TE Jake Stoneburner in the passing game.

As far as DBs go, I think SO - DB C.J. Barnett is a star in the making. I'm really expecting a nice breakout year from this kid. I also think SO - DB Christian Bryant showed flashes of brilliance last season, and I'm excited to see how he progresses in his 2nd yr. SO - DB Dominic Clarke is an enigma. I think this kid has talent and will be a solid DB, but sometimes I find myself scratching my head on this one. JR - DB Travis Howard stepped in nicely when players went down with injuries (especially during the BCS Bowl game last season). While certainly not the most talented, I think he is a very solid DB. JR - DB Ohrian Johnson has really been a disappointment. I really hope this kid figures it out and puts together a solid campaign this season. The guy has all the measurables in the world, just seems to be afraid of contact and can't quite figure it (i.e., coverage) out. SR - S Nate Oliver. Wow. This guy has been with the program forever. Many thought he was going to be the next Mike Doss. What a bust this guy has been. Here's to hoping he figures it out as well. SR Tyler Moeller will be the cornerstone for sure in that secondary.

Linebacking is really another big question mark too. Who's going to be our three starters? I'd love to see 5-star recruit SO Dorian Bell step up and be the next great LB in a long line of tradition. I don't see that happening, however. I think JR Storm Klein, JR Etienne Sabino (finally), and SR Andrew Sweat lockup the three roles. I think their performance will be shaky, but hopefully with a star-studdded d-line (SR - DE Nathan Williams, JR - DT John Simon, JR - DT Garrett Goebel / SO - DT Johnathan Hankins, and SR - DE Solomon Thomas) will be able to mask any glaring holes in our LB corps. I fully expect JR - DE Jonathan Newsome and/or SO - DE Melvin Fellows to fill in nicely for Thomas while he sits his 5 game suspension.

Idk... call me the ever pessimistic fan, but I don't see THAT much talent in the underclass.

Secondly your statements here are crazy. We are loaded in underclassmen. We have bodies at CB and S but not huge playmakers... Yet. Corey Brown was a 5 star don't forget, he is still developing. Between him, Howard, Bryant, Barnett and Clarke the furture is very birght. Not to mention kids we haven't even seen like Roby, Wood etc. No one thought Checkwa was worth 2 cents until no one threw to Jenkins side and he put the clamps down on the other side. Those kids I mentioned will get better and step up. I will agree OJ is not worth putting out there. He isn't agressive enough for a safety and seems to be out of position a lot. His tackling also leaves much to be desired.

We are most LOADED at linebacker. Sabino was a 5 star, Klien Whiting and Sweat 4 stars, Bell 5 star. Sweat and Klien played very well the past year and will be studs. Bell has some off the field issues as well a concusion issues, I wouldn't look for him on the field significantly for another year. I don't like Jon Newsome, but we also have other players that can step in. Not to mention the 4 Freshman LBs that we just got. Price and Grant are phsycially the most ready to play and could step up as Freshman if needed.

DLine, our starting Dline will be Bellemy (Who played awesome in the bowl game) Simon, Williams and a combo of Goebell, Hankins (If he can lose some wieght) and Fellows/Thomas. Larimore and Heyward will be a bigger loss than most think. Simon and Williams can be game changers, but I am not sure the others can make up for the loss.
se-alum's avatar
se-alum
Posts: 13,948
Feb 8, 2011 2:17pm
I think the only Glenville guys we wanted and lost were Walker and Scott. Anderson wasn't going to get in. Scout and Rivals have Wynn as having an OSU offer, and Rivals says Studivant had an offer, but Scout says he didn't. I don't believe OSU heavily recruited either one, and they were probably just courtesy offers, if they were offered at all.
Scarlet_Buckeye's avatar
Scarlet_Buckeye
Posts: 5,264
Feb 8, 2011 2:53pm
OneBuckeye;670171 wrote:First off Wynn and Strudivant did not have OSU offers. Cordale Scott was the only glenville recruit with a commitable offer to go elsewhere in the last 10 years before Walker.

Not sure where you are getting your information from, but according to Rivals, Wynn and Sturdivant both had offers. I could be mistaken, but my "knowledge" is coming from there (which I believe is a pretty reliable source).
OneBuckeye;670193 wrote:Secondly your statements here are crazy. We are loaded in underclassmen. We have bodies at CB and S but not huge playmakers... Yet. Corey Brown was a 5 star don't forget, he is still developing. Between him, Howard, Bryant, Barnett and Clarke the furture is very birght. Not to mention kids we haven't even seen like Roby, Wood etc. No one thought Checkwa was worth 2 cents until no one threw to Jenkins side and he put the clamps down on the other side. Those kids I mentioned will get better and step up. I will agree OJ is not worth putting out there. He isn't agressive enough for a safety and seems to be out of position a lot. His tackling also leaves much to be desired.

We are most LOADED at linebacker. Sabino was a 5 star, Klien Whiting and Sweat 4 stars, Bell 5 star. Sweat and Klien played very well the past year and will be studs. Bell has some off the field issues as well a concusion issues, I wouldn't look for him on the field significantly for another year. I don't like Jon Newsome, but we also have other players that can step in. Not to mention the 4 Freshman LBs that we just got. Price and Grant are phsycially the most ready to play and could step up as Freshman if needed.

DLine, our starting Dline will be Bellemy (Who played awesome in the bowl game) Simon, Williams and a combo of Goebell, Hankins (If he can lose some wieght) and Fellows/Thomas. Larimore and Heyward will be a bigger loss than most think. Simon and Williams can be game changers, but I am not sure the others can make up for the loss.

My point exactly. Yeah we have bodies, but do we have any STARS?! I'm not so sure / I don't see any (as of this point in time).

Again... what site are you looking at that had Sabino at 5 stars? Rivals lists him as 4 stars, and I think Rivals is head and shoulders above the other recruiting services. Now... does this mean that he can't turn out to be a 5 star player? No. Does he mean he will be a 4 star player or better (for certain)? No. Personally, I think Sabino's production so far would warrant him a 3 star. We shall see. There's still plenty of time to turn things around.
OneBuckeye's avatar
OneBuckeye
Posts: 5,888
Feb 8, 2011 3:08pm
Read scout $ forums or BP to figure out who has real offers. We do have stars in the secondary we just don't know it, just like we didn't about checkwa, jenkins etc.
se-alum's avatar
se-alum
Posts: 13,948
Feb 8, 2011 3:15pm
Our secondary is very young, but I truly believe we have future stars there. Especially in Howard, Bryant, and possibly Brown. There's now way around it, our defense will be a toss-up, but I'm leaning toward them being pretty special.
stroups's avatar
stroups
Posts: 3,223
Feb 8, 2011 4:32pm
Jermey Cash and Ryan Shazier are just "fillers"?????
OneBuckeye's avatar
OneBuckeye
Posts: 5,888
Feb 9, 2011 7:51am
se-alum;670317 wrote:Our secondary is very young, but I truly believe we have future stars there. Especially in Howard, Bryant, and possibly Brown. There's now way around it, our defense will be a toss-up, but I'm leaning toward them being pretty special.

Agree.

We constantly have had top 10 recruiting classes. These kids aren't fillers, they just haven't had the opportunity to step in and show what they can do. If we don't lose before we get Pryor back I fully expect an undefeated season.
Scarlet_Buckeye's avatar
Scarlet_Buckeye
Posts: 5,264
Feb 9, 2011 10:36am
OneBuckeye;670305 wrote:Read scout $ forums or BP to figure out who has real offers. We do have stars in the secondary we just don't know it, just like we didn't about checkwa, jenkins etc.

I think the part you're failing to grasp [in my argument] is with Jenkins [especially] and [even] Ckekwa, we knew what we had. We knew Jenkins was a STUD midway thru his freshman year, early sophomore year for sure. I don't see any of that now. I don't see any sophomores where it's like "wow... this guy is going to be a STUD."

That has me a little hesitant.
OneBuckeye's avatar
OneBuckeye
Posts: 5,888
Feb 9, 2011 11:17am
Scarlet_Buckeye;671396 wrote:I think the part you're failing to grasp [in my argument] is with Jenkins [especially] and [even] Ckekwa, we knew what we had. We knew Jenkins was a STUD midway thru his freshman year, early sophomore year for sure. I don't see any of that now. I don't see any sophomores where it's like "wow... this guy is going to be a STUD."

That has me a little hesitant.

I think we see the same thing in Howard, Bryant and Barrnett we saw early in checkwa and Jenkins careers. Clarke played well in the sugar bowl and could be close as well. I don't think people were claiming Jenkins to be a lock down corner after his freshman year. I think that talk started after his sophmore year and became a fact after his JR year.
Scarlet_Buckeye's avatar
Scarlet_Buckeye
Posts: 5,264
Feb 9, 2011 12:41pm
OneBuckeye;671473 wrote:I think we see the same thing in Howard, Bryant and Barrnett we saw early in checkwa and Jenkins careers. Clarke played well in the sugar bowl and could be close as well. I don't think people were claiming Jenkins to be a lock down corner after his freshman year. I think that talk started after his sophmore year and became a fact after his JR year.

For sure, midway thru Jenkins' sophomore year people knew he was a lockdown corner. No question about it.
oberhaus's avatar
oberhaus
Posts: 868
Feb 12, 2011 10:05am
I am a ND fan who really likes OSU too so dobt rip me for a stupid question....Is Chris Carter's so gonna make it back to OSU? Didnt he go to JUCO cause of grades? But wanted to return if possible?
A
adog
Posts: 567
Feb 13, 2011 7:48pm
oberhaus;675244 wrote:I am a ND fan who really likes OSU too so dobt rip me for a stupid question....Is Chris Carter's so gonna make it back to OSU? Didnt he go to JUCO cause of grades? But wanted to return if possible?

Don't think he will ever be a Buckeye again
OneBuckeye's avatar
OneBuckeye
Posts: 5,888
Feb 14, 2011 7:58am
oberhaus;675244 wrote:I am a ND fan who really likes OSU too so dobt rip me for a stupid question....Is Chris Carter's so gonna make it back to OSU? Didnt he go to JUCO cause of grades? But wanted to return if possible?
I think there is still a decent chance. If he earns his associates this spring he will have a clear path back to OSU. If he does not there is no way he can acedemically. It is a good sign that he didn't sign any LOI's on signing day.