Wade Watch
Alright, time to do some hair-brushing here, so take a seat and relax.
There was plenty of concern on here yesterday in regards to the Lamont Wade interview. As has been discussed on here in the past, Ohio State has several prospects in 2017, both committed and uncommitted, that want to explore early enrollment and with numbers being tight, it might not be possible for every kid who wants to enroll in January to do so.
Five-star Clairton (Pa.) cornerback Lamont Wade is one of those prospects that is planning on enrolling early and it has been a bit of a sticking point with him that he is able to do that. Wade made a visit to Ohio State on Saturday evening after the Rivals Camp was completed and I was told going into the visit that the main reason they were stopping by was in fact to get some clarification on where things could stand on OSU's end with that should Wade want to take his talents to Columbus.
I spoke briefly today with Wade's father and was told that Saturday's post camp visit to Ohio State went "very well". I was also told that the early enrollment situation was brought up and that reassurances were made to the Wade camp that it wasn't going to be an issue.
There is no other issue going on here, beyond the early enrollment situation, and that appears to have been cleared up pretty emphatically yesterday. Taking the early enrollment issue out of the equation, everything is as good as it has ever been between the two parties. Ohio State is still very much in the driver's seat here, in my opinion.
More on weekend visitors
Will talk about the camp performance of Donovan Peoples-Jones further down, but the five-star receiver made a pit stop at Ohio State on his way home from Saturday's Rivals Camp and also says he plans to be at the spring game on Saturday.
DPJ says the right things about Ohio State and I do think the Buckeyes being his first offer hold a bit of senitmental value to him. The relationships with the staff are in a good spot as well, but I still think Michigan and Florida are the two teams that I would place in the favorites category right now.
But Ohio State will absolutely be in line to get an official visit and while the Tyjon Lindsey verdict should be in by then and the Trevon Grimes verdict may be in by then as well, don't look for Ohio State to take the foot off the gas in pursuit of DPJ. That won't happen, regardless of how well things go with other targets.
"They are going to swing as hard as they can for both (DPJ and Grimes)," one OSU source shared with me today. "The hope is to get one. Get two and Zach Smith goes into the recruiting hall of fame. They won't stop recruiting one if the other commits."
Put me in the category that believes that Grimes and Lindsey end up in Columbus. I think DPJ ends up elsewhere but Ohio State will have a seat at the table the whole way.
Another huge visitor, though it was a brief visit, came from 2018 Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec. As I've said before, it's kind of early to be labeling kids as the top priority at a certain position, but if you look at the landscape right now, Jurkovec is probably the best QB in 2018 that Ohio State currently has a chance with, so that makes him pretty important.
Could that change by this summer when Ohio State will presumably get to evaluate many of the top guys either at camp or during the spring evaluation period? Absolutely. But for now, Jurkovec is the guy that OSU seems to be putting the most time and energy with.
Jurkovec's stop at OSU after the Rivals Camp was quick, "just to say 'hey' while in town" according to his father, but there is a good relationship being built there between Urban Meyer and the family. I don't sense any rush from Phil to make a decision and he's certainly not naming any leaders, but I do think Notre Dame could be tough to beat here.
It's not a hopeless situation by any means, but Notre Dame is starting this race with a one or two step head start on the rest of the field. Will have more on Phil tomorrow.
Rivals Camp notes
Some of the top talent in the Midwest gathered outside of Columbus this weekend for the Rivals Camp Series stop on Saturday as well as the Rivals QB Challenge regional on Sunday. Saturday's camp in particular had plenty of Ohio State flavor to it with a handful of commits as well as key targets like Donovan Peoples-Jones and Lamont Wade competing.
Will start with DPJ and Wade who I think both solidified their status as five-stars. Wade's performance was pretty dominant. It wasn't a particularly loaded group of defensive backs, but Wade was head and shoulders above the other DB's in attendance. He is so quick and so physical that you forget that he is a bit undersized because he positions himself so well that it never seems to hurt him.
He out-muscled bigger receivers in 50/50 situations and the smaller receivers just had no prayer, he's too strong for anyone his size and he has such tremendous explosiveness that even if he gives up a step he is able to recover quickly to make a play on the ball. What continues to impress me the most about Lamont, however is that every camp rep, every play on the field, is like life and death to this kid. Just an unbelievable competitor.
DPJ didn't take as many reps as Wade, but he made the most of the ones that he did take. I saw him take four in total, he won all four and made it look easy. Not much more that can be said about him. He is such a strong and explosive kid, there just aren't many high school defensive backs that can match-up with him athletically.
Also have to mention Cincinnati Moeller TE Matt Dotson who I thought had a really good day. He has always been a good camp guy, but he's much bigger now, he's no longer a skinny wide receiver body, he looks like a tight end but has kept that speed and athleticism. Very strong outing in my opinion.
Among the commits, my biggest take away was that I thought Brendon White had the best day and by a fairly good margin. He really opened some eyes at wide receiver, which was either 1 or 1a among the strongest and deepest positions at the camp (very nice group of RB's too). The smaller DB's really had a tough time with his strength as he was beating guys off the line and negating any jam that was put on him.
While he had a good day at wide receiver, I still see a linebacker there, I think that is where he is a more unique talent and when you factor in the haul OSU could have at receiver in 2017, it just makes the most sense to me. He looks bigger every time I see him and I don't think there are any concerns from a size standpoint at the linebacker position. He definitley has the frame to grow into that position and I don't think he would be a tweener, I think 235-pounds is well within reason.
Just a pure football player. One of those guys that, on a high school field, if you put him at left tackle or defensive end, he'd still find a way to make it work and be effective. He just excels in every situation that he's put in. He plays real football well and he also plays camp real well.
As for the other commits, I thought Sibley and Clark were solid on Saturday. I know these are guys that are heavily scrutinized on here but I thought both showed good things. Sibley is a good pass-catcher out of the backfield and he's a pretty good route runner, both of those things play very well at camps and he made more than his share of nice plays.
I thought Clark was in a group of about four or five QB's who really separated themselves from the pack on Saturday. Conditions were awful, guys were struggling to throw spirals and their throws weren't cutting through the wind. Clark made several nice touch passes down the field and, again, was one of the few kids along with Sean Clifford, Phil Jurkovec, and Sam Johnson who I thought were the least impacted by the wind.
Consistency and processing are two things that would help Danny take things to the next step in terms of reaching his potential. The consistency stuff can be answered in a camp setting, the processing can obviously only be shown on Friday nights.
Simmons I thought struggled a bit. It was an outstanding group of running backs and Simmons' game isn't really built for the camp setting, he's a thumper. That aggressiveness kind of got used against him on Saturday, he was constantly wanting to go North/South and got beat over the top a few times because of it.
My other take away is that Ohio's class of 2018 showed well for itself again. I didn't think L'Christian Smith was AS good as he was at Best of the Midwest, but he once again proved to be too much for most of the DB's there from a physical standpoint. He's not a great route runner yet but he knows how to position his body when the ball goes up and he wins so many of those 50/50 type situations. His highlight moment was making a really nice one-handed catch on a slant pattern, where he just sort of put his left hand up and the ball seemed to just stick to it.
Dayton Dunbar product Jojo Scates once again wowed in drills with his burst and quickness. It was kind of luck of the draw for receivers on Saturday because the QB's were struggling in the terrible conditions so there were a few reps where Scates created great separation but the ball wasn't delivered accurately. Jojo showed that he's still a bit raw though, dropping a couple passes when they moved some things inside. Still so much upside there and I'm eager to see how he develops over the next two years because he's one of the best run-and-jump athletes in the state.
Jaelen Gill was very strong again as well and he took a ton of reps. I absolutely love guys that take a lot of reps in these things. It's very easy to hide at these camps and I've seen guys do it before. You also sometimes see kids win a couple of reps early on and then just sit on that and stop taking reps, but Gill just kept going out there. Even in the cold and with snow and ice on the field, he hits top speed so fast.
I was talking with Hamilton Township's head coach Nate Hillerich who was overseeing the camp with Hamilton being the host school and he couldn't believe how good Gill was. "He'd score five touchdowns per half in our league" he told me at one point.
Speaking of taking a lot of reps, Olentangy Liberty linebacker Edward Warinner was seemingly out there every other play. Warinner really challenged himself against a great group of backs and tight ends. He took some losses against guys like Matt Dotson and Jaelen Gill but kept coming back for more each time. I thought he showed good speed and made some nice breaks on the ball by correctly diagnosing the routes. Size might keep some of the big schools away but he's a good player.
Alright, time to do some hair-brushing here, so take a seat and relax.
There was plenty of concern on here yesterday in regards to the Lamont Wade interview. As has been discussed on here in the past, Ohio State has several prospects in 2017, both committed and uncommitted, that want to explore early enrollment and with numbers being tight, it might not be possible for every kid who wants to enroll in January to do so.
Five-star Clairton (Pa.) cornerback Lamont Wade is one of those prospects that is planning on enrolling early and it has been a bit of a sticking point with him that he is able to do that. Wade made a visit to Ohio State on Saturday evening after the Rivals Camp was completed and I was told going into the visit that the main reason they were stopping by was in fact to get some clarification on where things could stand on OSU's end with that should Wade want to take his talents to Columbus.
I spoke briefly today with Wade's father and was told that Saturday's post camp visit to Ohio State went "very well". I was also told that the early enrollment situation was brought up and that reassurances were made to the Wade camp that it wasn't going to be an issue.
There is no other issue going on here, beyond the early enrollment situation, and that appears to have been cleared up pretty emphatically yesterday. Taking the early enrollment issue out of the equation, everything is as good as it has ever been between the two parties. Ohio State is still very much in the driver's seat here, in my opinion.
More on weekend visitors
Will talk about the camp performance of Donovan Peoples-Jones further down, but the five-star receiver made a pit stop at Ohio State on his way home from Saturday's Rivals Camp and also says he plans to be at the spring game on Saturday.
DPJ says the right things about Ohio State and I do think the Buckeyes being his first offer hold a bit of senitmental value to him. The relationships with the staff are in a good spot as well, but I still think Michigan and Florida are the two teams that I would place in the favorites category right now.
But Ohio State will absolutely be in line to get an official visit and while the Tyjon Lindsey verdict should be in by then and the Trevon Grimes verdict may be in by then as well, don't look for Ohio State to take the foot off the gas in pursuit of DPJ. That won't happen, regardless of how well things go with other targets.
"They are going to swing as hard as they can for both (DPJ and Grimes)," one OSU source shared with me today. "The hope is to get one. Get two and Zach Smith goes into the recruiting hall of fame. They won't stop recruiting one if the other commits."
Put me in the category that believes that Grimes and Lindsey end up in Columbus. I think DPJ ends up elsewhere but Ohio State will have a seat at the table the whole way.
Another huge visitor, though it was a brief visit, came from 2018 Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec. As I've said before, it's kind of early to be labeling kids as the top priority at a certain position, but if you look at the landscape right now, Jurkovec is probably the best QB in 2018 that Ohio State currently has a chance with, so that makes him pretty important.
Could that change by this summer when Ohio State will presumably get to evaluate many of the top guys either at camp or during the spring evaluation period? Absolutely. But for now, Jurkovec is the guy that OSU seems to be putting the most time and energy with.
Jurkovec's stop at OSU after the Rivals Camp was quick, "just to say 'hey' while in town" according to his father, but there is a good relationship being built there between Urban Meyer and the family. I don't sense any rush from Phil to make a decision and he's certainly not naming any leaders, but I do think Notre Dame could be tough to beat here.
It's not a hopeless situation by any means, but Notre Dame is starting this race with a one or two step head start on the rest of the field. Will have more on Phil tomorrow.
Rivals Camp notes
Some of the top talent in the Midwest gathered outside of Columbus this weekend for the Rivals Camp Series stop on Saturday as well as the Rivals QB Challenge regional on Sunday. Saturday's camp in particular had plenty of Ohio State flavor to it with a handful of commits as well as key targets like Donovan Peoples-Jones and Lamont Wade competing.
Will start with DPJ and Wade who I think both solidified their status as five-stars. Wade's performance was pretty dominant. It wasn't a particularly loaded group of defensive backs, but Wade was head and shoulders above the other DB's in attendance. He is so quick and so physical that you forget that he is a bit undersized because he positions himself so well that it never seems to hurt him.
He out-muscled bigger receivers in 50/50 situations and the smaller receivers just had no prayer, he's too strong for anyone his size and he has such tremendous explosiveness that even if he gives up a step he is able to recover quickly to make a play on the ball. What continues to impress me the most about Lamont, however is that every camp rep, every play on the field, is like life and death to this kid. Just an unbelievable competitor.
DPJ didn't take as many reps as Wade, but he made the most of the ones that he did take. I saw him take four in total, he won all four and made it look easy. Not much more that can be said about him. He is such a strong and explosive kid, there just aren't many high school defensive backs that can match-up with him athletically.
Also have to mention Cincinnati Moeller TE Matt Dotson who I thought had a really good day. He has always been a good camp guy, but he's much bigger now, he's no longer a skinny wide receiver body, he looks like a tight end but has kept that speed and athleticism. Very strong outing in my opinion.
Among the commits, my biggest take away was that I thought Brendon White had the best day and by a fairly good margin. He really opened some eyes at wide receiver, which was either 1 or 1a among the strongest and deepest positions at the camp (very nice group of RB's too). The smaller DB's really had a tough time with his strength as he was beating guys off the line and negating any jam that was put on him.
While he had a good day at wide receiver, I still see a linebacker there, I think that is where he is a more unique talent and when you factor in the haul OSU could have at receiver in 2017, it just makes the most sense to me. He looks bigger every time I see him and I don't think there are any concerns from a size standpoint at the linebacker position. He definitley has the frame to grow into that position and I don't think he would be a tweener, I think 235-pounds is well within reason.
Just a pure football player. One of those guys that, on a high school field, if you put him at left tackle or defensive end, he'd still find a way to make it work and be effective. He just excels in every situation that he's put in. He plays real football well and he also plays camp real well.
As for the other commits, I thought Sibley and Clark were solid on Saturday. I know these are guys that are heavily scrutinized on here but I thought both showed good things. Sibley is a good pass-catcher out of the backfield and he's a pretty good route runner, both of those things play very well at camps and he made more than his share of nice plays.
I thought Clark was in a group of about four or five QB's who really separated themselves from the pack on Saturday. Conditions were awful, guys were struggling to throw spirals and their throws weren't cutting through the wind. Clark made several nice touch passes down the field and, again, was one of the few kids along with Sean Clifford, Phil Jurkovec, and Sam Johnson who I thought were the least impacted by the wind.
Consistency and processing are two things that would help Danny take things to the next step in terms of reaching his potential. The consistency stuff can be answered in a camp setting, the processing can obviously only be shown on Friday nights.
Simmons I thought struggled a bit. It was an outstanding group of running backs and Simmons' game isn't really built for the camp setting, he's a thumper. That aggressiveness kind of got used against him on Saturday, he was constantly wanting to go North/South and got beat over the top a few times because of it.
My other take away is that Ohio's class of 2018 showed well for itself again. I didn't think L'Christian Smith was AS good as he was at Best of the Midwest, but he once again proved to be too much for most of the DB's there from a physical standpoint. He's not a great route runner yet but he knows how to position his body when the ball goes up and he wins so many of those 50/50 type situations. His highlight moment was making a really nice one-handed catch on a slant pattern, where he just sort of put his left hand up and the ball seemed to just stick to it.
Dayton Dunbar product Jojo Scates once again wowed in drills with his burst and quickness. It was kind of luck of the draw for receivers on Saturday because the QB's were struggling in the terrible conditions so there were a few reps where Scates created great separation but the ball wasn't delivered accurately. Jojo showed that he's still a bit raw though, dropping a couple passes when they moved some things inside. Still so much upside there and I'm eager to see how he develops over the next two years because he's one of the best run-and-jump athletes in the state.
Jaelen Gill was very strong again as well and he took a ton of reps. I absolutely love guys that take a lot of reps in these things. It's very easy to hide at these camps and I've seen guys do it before. You also sometimes see kids win a couple of reps early on and then just sit on that and stop taking reps, but Gill just kept going out there. Even in the cold and with snow and ice on the field, he hits top speed so fast.
I was talking with Hamilton Township's head coach Nate Hillerich who was overseeing the camp with Hamilton being the host school and he couldn't believe how good Gill was. "He'd score five touchdowns per half in our league" he told me at one point.
Speaking of taking a lot of reps, Olentangy Liberty linebacker Edward Warinner was seemingly out there every other play. Warinner really challenged himself against a great group of backs and tight ends. He took some losses against guys like Matt Dotson and Jaelen Gill but kept coming back for more each time. I thought he showed good speed and made some nice breaks on the ball by correctly diagnosing the routes. Size might keep some of the big schools away but he's a good player.
