Elam highly interested
There was a bit of a stir caused on Saturday night with a report that four-star Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) Benjamin School defensive back Kaiir Elam had committed to Ohio State after making an unofficial visit this weekend.
That report turned out to be false, with Elam telling me yesterday evening that he wasn't at that point yet. What is true, is that Ohio State made a very good impression on Elam and is a legitimate player for the Rivals250 prospect.
"The visit was great," Elam told me. "My favorite part was meeting with coach Meyer, coach Taver Johnson, and coach Schiano and talking football with them."
Elam is the nephew of former Florida safety Matt Elam, who was recruited by Urban Meyer to Gainesville. Florida and Georgia are two of the major players for Elam's services at this point and it could be a tough pull away from the Gators but the brand of Ohio State and the trust the family has in Urban Meyer should keep them in this one.
"They're definitely up there," Elam said, without wanting to go into too much detail about favorites.
Wading through the information on Mertz
Conflicting information is the toughest part of this business. There are certain times where you have reliable people giving you very different accounts of what is going on in a particular recruitment.
Enter Ohio State's top 2019 quarterback target Graham Mertz.
Mertz made his official visit to Wisconsin this weekend. Going into that visit I've had a couple of pretty reliable sources come to me and tell me they are hearing that Graham could open things up at some point and perhaps sooner rather than later.
Yet that is not quite the vibe I've received on this one and if you ask people close to the Wisconsin program, there is a sense of optimism that he'll stick. There was even one source who felt Mertz might tell Wisconsin on the visit that he was opening things up. To my knowledge that did not happen.
So trying to sift through all of this to get to the truth is difficult. Certainly Graham isn't going to say he's decommitting until he actually decommits. He's going to give the company line of being one-hundred percent committed.
But there is certainly more smoke around this verbal being shaky than at any previous point. In fact there wasn't a ton of smoke at all around Mertz wavering until the visit to Ohio State back in May.
Now Notre Dame remains just as big of a threat as Ohio State if Mertz does decide to keep looking around, so it's not one of those situations where if the player opens it up that Ohio State is a slam dunk. That would be far from the truth at this point, but it is interesting that Ohio State gets a visit from Mertz, seems to pump the brakes on Gunnell, and then you have wavering stuff gaining steam all within the span of about 4-6 weeks.
My best interpretation of the information I have at hand right now is that, at minimum, Mertz is at least listening to the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish. Kids listen a lot though, it's pushing them over the edge to decommit that is the hard part. But this is certainly a situation that I'll be continuing to follow and I don't think things are dead here at all. There is more optimism here, at least in terms of Ohio State having a shot, than at any point I can recall since Graham verballed early to the Badgers.
Stay tuned.
Buckeyes battling The U
Ohio State had its top defensive tackle target on campus on Friday in Apopka (Fla.) Wekiva defensive tackle Tyler Davis. Davis worked out in the morning with Larry Johnson and from afar, the two seemed to vibe well together.
Tyler keeps a pretty low profile, which is kind of a shame because he's a funny kid as you guys saw on Southern Swing. But my best source on this one believes it's an Ohio State/Miami battle right now. Clemson is lurking and is in contention as are a few other schools, but the belief is that Ohio State and Miami are the top two choices right now for the explosive interior pass rusher.
I have personally liked Ohio State's chances here in recent weeks. Just in talking to Tyler and spending some time with him in May and in working other channels of information, it feels to me like Ohio State is the favorite here. You never count out a school like Miami with an in-state kid, but this just feels like one that Ohio State can win. And this visit, to me, was kind of a bonus for the Buckeyes as they can still bring Tyler back for an official visit before he decides.
Not only do I feel this latest visit was a bonus, but it was a well-timed bonus. Davis has visited both Miami and Clemson recently so for Ohio State, a school fighting the distance factor, to get him on campus right after that and to get a chance to halt any momentum those trips may have created, that's just huge from where I sit.
Next step is seeing what Tyler does in terms of official visits. If he's going to decide before his senior season, the clock is ticking on getting the visits setup and completed before the Dead Period hits at the end of the month.
Keegan down to six
Four-star offensive Trevor Keegan released his top six on Sunday and the Buckeyes made the cut along with Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, and Penn State.
I do not think Ohio State is in the same place with Keegan that maybe it was several weeks ago. A round of visits through the South helped places like Alabama and Clemson with the four-star prospect and Michigan remains a very serious option for Keegan and perhaps even the favorite right now as he has some family in Michigan.
The bigger question here is whether or not this one goes into the fall, or at least the end of the summer. If it's a quick decision, I'm not sure I like Ohio State here. If this turns into a more drawn out process, then most of these schools will have at least a puncher's chance.
More camp thoughts
I put many of my thoughts from Ohio State's first one-day camp this past Friday into Saturday's notebook. But there were a few things that didn't make it in there.
- Friday was a reminder that despite the tremendous physical tools, Dayton Dunbar offensive lineman Jonathan Allen is still very raw. It was still just 10 months ago that Allen decided to come out for football for the first time in his life and since that point, half of his time has been spent on the basketball floor. So we're dealing with a player that has really just spent a few months of his life on a football field.
Allen ran what I would call an extremely smooth 4.9 (hand-timed) 40-yard dash on Friday. Freaky for his size and it just looked easy. But once drills began it was simply a reminder that there is a long way to go here. From simply getting into the proper stance to footwork and balance, Jon has a lot that needs to be taught to him.
So the question is, will Ohio State have the patience to make this one happen? The Buckeyes are used to recruiting the cream of the crop nationally, which usually means guys who are not only tremendous athletes with a lot of potential, but players who are generally college ready or close to it. Allen is a guy that will need to redshirt, then he'll need a second year to basically sit and watch, and then by year three you'll hope to start seeing some returns on the investment.
Now the payoff could be huge. It could be a franchise tackle and those don't grow on trees. But that is the question that the Ohio State coaching staff is weighing right now from what I am told. So that is going to be a situation that continues to evolve. I personally get the sense that Ohio State would like to see some improvement over the next six months to feel more comfortable making that investment. But Allen wants to decide this summer so that will make things interesting here.
- We talked a little bit about the Apopka (Fla.) Wekiva group in the notebook on Saturday, where it was noted that linebacker/defensive end Rian Davis did not work out. That probably is not a good sign for where this one is trending. Ohio State almost certainly needed to see more from Rian in a class that doesn't need many linebackers and where spots are getting very tight at defensive end when you consider that Cade Stover is a possibility there down the road and that Zach Harrison, in my opinion, is leaning towards staying home.
In talking to a few people about Rian this weekend, I would say it's unlikely he ends up in the class at this point.
- Kind of a quick/funny story from Friday: Ran into a few OSU parents on Friday who were at the camp. One spotted class of 2021 Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway DB/ATH Derrick Davis (story on Davis is up on the front page) from about 40-yards away and came over to me and asked me, 'which incoming freshman is that?'.
I replied that it was not a current Ohio State player and that in fact it was not even a current high school upperclassmen, that it was a class of 2021 defensive back out of Pennsylvania.
They did not believe me. "No, look, the kid in the red OSU backpack, that's one of the incoming freshmen right?"
No, I promise that is not a current player, he's only going to be a sophomore in high school. It's Derrick Davis.
Just a total look of bewilderment from a parent who has most certainly been at OSU practices before and seen what some of the best of the best college athletes look like up close. Just something I found funny and a great example of just how impressive Derrick Davis is. Should be a very good one.
Buckeyes staying ahead of the curve
Ohio State continues to be innovative when it comes to impressing recruits. While the Real Life Wednesday's program is for current players, it has been a major recruiting tool for the Buckeyes and one example of how Urban Meyer and his staff are always thinking a step ahead.
Now there is another wrinkle that Ohio State is starting to use that I'm already getting very positive feedback on from recruits.
With some of the key guys on Friday at camp, Ohio State was working them out early and videotaping every rep. They would then take guys into the facility later in the day and show them the video and basically give them a full evaluation.
From there, they would give them some tips and point out some things that need work and then ultimately take the guys back out onto the practice field during the second half of camp and give them a chance to work on those things they just went over in the film session.
I can't say with one-hundred percent certainty that Ohio State is the *first* school to do this, they might be, but I'm not completely sure. What I do know, is that this is absolutely not the norm, this is a new thing and something that is not yet widespread around the country.
It's definitely a hit. It impressed the hell out of Jack Sawyer and his family. Derrick Davis talked about it in our interview after the camp as well. The personal detail of having someone like Larry Johnson put you through a tough work out, take you inside to show you what you are doing wrong and to give you some extra insight and then take you back out to fix those issues is pretty invaluable.
It's an extra personal touch that is really impressing the guys and it's also a great way to build coach-player relationships as both the coach and player can get a small glimpse of what it would be like to work together at the college level.
It's really a great idea and it is impressive how Meyer and his staff are able to continually come up with new things that are beneficial to the student-athlete and also to getting the desired results on the recruiting trail.
There was a bit of a stir caused on Saturday night with a report that four-star Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) Benjamin School defensive back Kaiir Elam had committed to Ohio State after making an unofficial visit this weekend.
That report turned out to be false, with Elam telling me yesterday evening that he wasn't at that point yet. What is true, is that Ohio State made a very good impression on Elam and is a legitimate player for the Rivals250 prospect.
"The visit was great," Elam told me. "My favorite part was meeting with coach Meyer, coach Taver Johnson, and coach Schiano and talking football with them."
Elam is the nephew of former Florida safety Matt Elam, who was recruited by Urban Meyer to Gainesville. Florida and Georgia are two of the major players for Elam's services at this point and it could be a tough pull away from the Gators but the brand of Ohio State and the trust the family has in Urban Meyer should keep them in this one.
"They're definitely up there," Elam said, without wanting to go into too much detail about favorites.
Wading through the information on Mertz
Conflicting information is the toughest part of this business. There are certain times where you have reliable people giving you very different accounts of what is going on in a particular recruitment.
Enter Ohio State's top 2019 quarterback target Graham Mertz.
Mertz made his official visit to Wisconsin this weekend. Going into that visit I've had a couple of pretty reliable sources come to me and tell me they are hearing that Graham could open things up at some point and perhaps sooner rather than later.
Yet that is not quite the vibe I've received on this one and if you ask people close to the Wisconsin program, there is a sense of optimism that he'll stick. There was even one source who felt Mertz might tell Wisconsin on the visit that he was opening things up. To my knowledge that did not happen.
So trying to sift through all of this to get to the truth is difficult. Certainly Graham isn't going to say he's decommitting until he actually decommits. He's going to give the company line of being one-hundred percent committed.
But there is certainly more smoke around this verbal being shaky than at any previous point. In fact there wasn't a ton of smoke at all around Mertz wavering until the visit to Ohio State back in May.
Now Notre Dame remains just as big of a threat as Ohio State if Mertz does decide to keep looking around, so it's not one of those situations where if the player opens it up that Ohio State is a slam dunk. That would be far from the truth at this point, but it is interesting that Ohio State gets a visit from Mertz, seems to pump the brakes on Gunnell, and then you have wavering stuff gaining steam all within the span of about 4-6 weeks.
My best interpretation of the information I have at hand right now is that, at minimum, Mertz is at least listening to the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish. Kids listen a lot though, it's pushing them over the edge to decommit that is the hard part. But this is certainly a situation that I'll be continuing to follow and I don't think things are dead here at all. There is more optimism here, at least in terms of Ohio State having a shot, than at any point I can recall since Graham verballed early to the Badgers.
Stay tuned.
Buckeyes battling The U
Ohio State had its top defensive tackle target on campus on Friday in Apopka (Fla.) Wekiva defensive tackle Tyler Davis. Davis worked out in the morning with Larry Johnson and from afar, the two seemed to vibe well together.
Tyler keeps a pretty low profile, which is kind of a shame because he's a funny kid as you guys saw on Southern Swing. But my best source on this one believes it's an Ohio State/Miami battle right now. Clemson is lurking and is in contention as are a few other schools, but the belief is that Ohio State and Miami are the top two choices right now for the explosive interior pass rusher.
I have personally liked Ohio State's chances here in recent weeks. Just in talking to Tyler and spending some time with him in May and in working other channels of information, it feels to me like Ohio State is the favorite here. You never count out a school like Miami with an in-state kid, but this just feels like one that Ohio State can win. And this visit, to me, was kind of a bonus for the Buckeyes as they can still bring Tyler back for an official visit before he decides.
Not only do I feel this latest visit was a bonus, but it was a well-timed bonus. Davis has visited both Miami and Clemson recently so for Ohio State, a school fighting the distance factor, to get him on campus right after that and to get a chance to halt any momentum those trips may have created, that's just huge from where I sit.
Next step is seeing what Tyler does in terms of official visits. If he's going to decide before his senior season, the clock is ticking on getting the visits setup and completed before the Dead Period hits at the end of the month.
Keegan down to six
Four-star offensive Trevor Keegan released his top six on Sunday and the Buckeyes made the cut along with Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, and Penn State.
I do not think Ohio State is in the same place with Keegan that maybe it was several weeks ago. A round of visits through the South helped places like Alabama and Clemson with the four-star prospect and Michigan remains a very serious option for Keegan and perhaps even the favorite right now as he has some family in Michigan.
The bigger question here is whether or not this one goes into the fall, or at least the end of the summer. If it's a quick decision, I'm not sure I like Ohio State here. If this turns into a more drawn out process, then most of these schools will have at least a puncher's chance.
More camp thoughts
I put many of my thoughts from Ohio State's first one-day camp this past Friday into Saturday's notebook. But there were a few things that didn't make it in there.
- Friday was a reminder that despite the tremendous physical tools, Dayton Dunbar offensive lineman Jonathan Allen is still very raw. It was still just 10 months ago that Allen decided to come out for football for the first time in his life and since that point, half of his time has been spent on the basketball floor. So we're dealing with a player that has really just spent a few months of his life on a football field.
Allen ran what I would call an extremely smooth 4.9 (hand-timed) 40-yard dash on Friday. Freaky for his size and it just looked easy. But once drills began it was simply a reminder that there is a long way to go here. From simply getting into the proper stance to footwork and balance, Jon has a lot that needs to be taught to him.
So the question is, will Ohio State have the patience to make this one happen? The Buckeyes are used to recruiting the cream of the crop nationally, which usually means guys who are not only tremendous athletes with a lot of potential, but players who are generally college ready or close to it. Allen is a guy that will need to redshirt, then he'll need a second year to basically sit and watch, and then by year three you'll hope to start seeing some returns on the investment.
Now the payoff could be huge. It could be a franchise tackle and those don't grow on trees. But that is the question that the Ohio State coaching staff is weighing right now from what I am told. So that is going to be a situation that continues to evolve. I personally get the sense that Ohio State would like to see some improvement over the next six months to feel more comfortable making that investment. But Allen wants to decide this summer so that will make things interesting here.
- We talked a little bit about the Apopka (Fla.) Wekiva group in the notebook on Saturday, where it was noted that linebacker/defensive end Rian Davis did not work out. That probably is not a good sign for where this one is trending. Ohio State almost certainly needed to see more from Rian in a class that doesn't need many linebackers and where spots are getting very tight at defensive end when you consider that Cade Stover is a possibility there down the road and that Zach Harrison, in my opinion, is leaning towards staying home.
In talking to a few people about Rian this weekend, I would say it's unlikely he ends up in the class at this point.
- Kind of a quick/funny story from Friday: Ran into a few OSU parents on Friday who were at the camp. One spotted class of 2021 Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway DB/ATH Derrick Davis (story on Davis is up on the front page) from about 40-yards away and came over to me and asked me, 'which incoming freshman is that?'.
I replied that it was not a current Ohio State player and that in fact it was not even a current high school upperclassmen, that it was a class of 2021 defensive back out of Pennsylvania.
They did not believe me. "No, look, the kid in the red OSU backpack, that's one of the incoming freshmen right?"
No, I promise that is not a current player, he's only going to be a sophomore in high school. It's Derrick Davis.
Just a total look of bewilderment from a parent who has most certainly been at OSU practices before and seen what some of the best of the best college athletes look like up close. Just something I found funny and a great example of just how impressive Derrick Davis is. Should be a very good one.
Buckeyes staying ahead of the curve
Ohio State continues to be innovative when it comes to impressing recruits. While the Real Life Wednesday's program is for current players, it has been a major recruiting tool for the Buckeyes and one example of how Urban Meyer and his staff are always thinking a step ahead.
Now there is another wrinkle that Ohio State is starting to use that I'm already getting very positive feedback on from recruits.
With some of the key guys on Friday at camp, Ohio State was working them out early and videotaping every rep. They would then take guys into the facility later in the day and show them the video and basically give them a full evaluation.
From there, they would give them some tips and point out some things that need work and then ultimately take the guys back out onto the practice field during the second half of camp and give them a chance to work on those things they just went over in the film session.
I can't say with one-hundred percent certainty that Ohio State is the *first* school to do this, they might be, but I'm not completely sure. What I do know, is that this is absolutely not the norm, this is a new thing and something that is not yet widespread around the country.
It's definitely a hit. It impressed the hell out of Jack Sawyer and his family. Derrick Davis talked about it in our interview after the camp as well. The personal detail of having someone like Larry Johnson put you through a tough work out, take you inside to show you what you are doing wrong and to give you some extra insight and then take you back out to fix those issues is pretty invaluable.
It's an extra personal touch that is really impressing the guys and it's also a great way to build coach-player relationships as both the coach and player can get a small glimpse of what it would be like to work together at the college level.
It's really a great idea and it is impressive how Meyer and his staff are able to continually come up with new things that are beneficial to the student-athlete and also to getting the desired results on the recruiting trail.
