Buckeyes continue to push for Dunmore
Ohio State has not slowed down its pursuit of Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna wide receiver John Dunmore since offering the talented pass-catcher back in early February. The Rivals100 product is one of many big-time wide receiver prospects that Zach Smith and the Ohio State coaching staff are pursuing in 2019.
But a lot of times those winter offers to Florida kids are just simply Ohio State saying, "Hey, we know you're alive." That doesn't appear to be the case with Dunmore. I caught up with John briefly this afternoon and he told me that things have not slowed down with Ohio State since the offer, and that in fact, things seem to be going the other direction.
Still, the big thing for the Buckeyes is getting Dunmore on campus and preferably for an unofficial visit. It is nearly impossible to pull a kid out of Florida utilizing just a single visit. To sign a Florida kid, you typically need at least one, if not multiple, unofficial visits followed by a fall official visit.
Dunmore is hopeful the spring unofficial comes together.
"I have a few plans but nothing solid yet," he said.
Perhaps even better news for Ohio State is that it would appear that Dunmore is leaning towards a more prolonged recruitment. Bringing Florida kids up on official visits in the spring would be a very risky proposition and in the past John had told me a spring or summer official was possible and that he might consider an early decision. After already decommitting from Florida earlier in the process, that probably would not be an ideal circumstance for Ohio State. But in chatting with him today, it looks like the timing is going to line up well for the Buckeyes on a potential official visit.
"For sure," he added, when I asked if OSU would get an official visit. "I'm trying to take an official visit in the fall."
As I've said before, I think John could be a tricky pull out of Florida. FSU is kind of the dreaded "dream school", he was previously committed to Florida, which is still a possibility if the new staff can regroup on that one.
But Ohio State's best shot in this race is to play the long game, to let this one go the distance as it did with guys like Johnnie Dixon and Bin Victor (Victor is very close with Dunmore). So a few things to watch here as the next several weeks unfold. Will he make the important spring/summer unofficial? And can Ohio State drag this one out until the winter months when they have historically had some success with the Florida guys?
Right now those answers look like they could be 'yes' and they probably have to be for Ohio State to have a shot.
Mayfield one to watch in 2020
Ohio's class of 2020 is beginning to take shape. On the local front, we have talked about Dublin Coffman ATH Mike Drennen quite a bit and Drennen will certainly be in the conversation to be the top prospect in Central Ohio for the class and one of the best statewide. But there are others who may push for that title, including Hilliard Bradley defensive end/linebacker prospect Chris Mayfield.
Mayfield is a 6-foot-3, 215-pound edge rusher so we'll see where his body takes him the next few years as he could play linebacker or put his hand in the dirt. He played defensive end for Bradley as a sophomore.
In terms of his measurables, he's right about where guys like Jonathon Cooper and Cade Stover were at as sophomores. Cooper obviously has grown into a defensive end, Stover is looking a little more like an outside linebacker at this point, though he certainly could grow into a defensive end once he turns his full focus towards football.
Mayfield is actually a multi-sport standout for Bradley and I watched him play basketball again on Saturday in the district finals. Having seen Mayfield, Cooper, and Stover all play basketball at various points, Mayfield is closer to Stover than Cooper at the same stage. Watching Coop play high school basketball, it was obvious that he was going to be a defensive end, you can often times tell things like that by watching these guys and how they move on a basketball floor.
Cooper was a bull in a china shop, an enforcer, and was clearly a football player playing basketball. Mayfield is a little bit more flexible, a little lighter on his feet and actually plays out on the perimeter at times which gives an indication that isn't totally out of the question that he could play in space. That is much more in line with a guy like Stover. Both of those guys just have a lot of bounce on a basketball floor.
Regardless, I've seen a lot of things to like about Chris over the past twelve months. He is an aggressive kid with long arms and good explosion both coming out of his stance as a pass rusher and in going up and competing on the glass on the basketball floor. Early offers from Cincinnati, Louisville, Kentucky, and Toledo and Ohio State is keeping tabs on him.
Definitely a name to start getting familiar with for those who like to look a little bit ahead at the upcoming in-state landscape.
Another O-Linemen to add to the mix
During the week, Ohio State offered Rivals250 offensive line Trevon Keegan out of Crystal Lake (Ill.) South High. The 6-foot-6, 310-pound prospect was on an unofficial visit to Ohio State when he landed the offer.
I posted on the board that day that this was not simply one of the many 'throw away' offers that are out there right now, that there was very serious interest here on Ohio State's end. Having talked to more people since that time, there is a sense that Keegan is very serious about Ohio State as well and that the Buckeyes, if they don't lead, are certainly right near the top for the four-star prospect.
But would Ohio State take Keegan today? There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer on that at this point. Ohio State has so many irons in the fire right now along the offensive line. Guys like Harry Miller, Devontae Dobbs, Andrew Kristofic, Quinn Carroll, and Darnell Wright are all priorities. In all of those cases, outside of probably Carroll, Ohio State is right in the top one or two so filling up too fast is a real concern that has to be taken into account.
Ideally, someone like Keegan would come back in June and workout with the staff. This is something they want the commits to do anyway as the evaluation process never stops. My best intel at this point is that if Keegan tried to pull the trigger quickly here that Ohio State would likely take the commitment, but that the Buckeyes are certainly not going to be upset if they get a chance over the summer to continue to evaluate a lot of their top guys and form a more solid pecking order.
Things could become increasingly difficult here if Ohio State was able to pull a guy like Harry Miller or Andrew Kristofic this spring, putting them at three offensive line commitments with still more than a handful of tremendous options along the offensive front out there to be had.
But this is yet another big name offensive tackle possibility to keep in mind as things continue to develop in what looks to be a large haul along the offensive line in 2019. A lot of first world problems for Ohio State along the offensive line, which is certainly great news for the Buckeyes given the need to do well here in 2019.
Ohio State has not slowed down its pursuit of Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna wide receiver John Dunmore since offering the talented pass-catcher back in early February. The Rivals100 product is one of many big-time wide receiver prospects that Zach Smith and the Ohio State coaching staff are pursuing in 2019.
But a lot of times those winter offers to Florida kids are just simply Ohio State saying, "Hey, we know you're alive." That doesn't appear to be the case with Dunmore. I caught up with John briefly this afternoon and he told me that things have not slowed down with Ohio State since the offer, and that in fact, things seem to be going the other direction.
Still, the big thing for the Buckeyes is getting Dunmore on campus and preferably for an unofficial visit. It is nearly impossible to pull a kid out of Florida utilizing just a single visit. To sign a Florida kid, you typically need at least one, if not multiple, unofficial visits followed by a fall official visit.
Dunmore is hopeful the spring unofficial comes together.
"I have a few plans but nothing solid yet," he said.
Perhaps even better news for Ohio State is that it would appear that Dunmore is leaning towards a more prolonged recruitment. Bringing Florida kids up on official visits in the spring would be a very risky proposition and in the past John had told me a spring or summer official was possible and that he might consider an early decision. After already decommitting from Florida earlier in the process, that probably would not be an ideal circumstance for Ohio State. But in chatting with him today, it looks like the timing is going to line up well for the Buckeyes on a potential official visit.
"For sure," he added, when I asked if OSU would get an official visit. "I'm trying to take an official visit in the fall."
As I've said before, I think John could be a tricky pull out of Florida. FSU is kind of the dreaded "dream school", he was previously committed to Florida, which is still a possibility if the new staff can regroup on that one.
But Ohio State's best shot in this race is to play the long game, to let this one go the distance as it did with guys like Johnnie Dixon and Bin Victor (Victor is very close with Dunmore). So a few things to watch here as the next several weeks unfold. Will he make the important spring/summer unofficial? And can Ohio State drag this one out until the winter months when they have historically had some success with the Florida guys?
Right now those answers look like they could be 'yes' and they probably have to be for Ohio State to have a shot.
Mayfield one to watch in 2020
Ohio's class of 2020 is beginning to take shape. On the local front, we have talked about Dublin Coffman ATH Mike Drennen quite a bit and Drennen will certainly be in the conversation to be the top prospect in Central Ohio for the class and one of the best statewide. But there are others who may push for that title, including Hilliard Bradley defensive end/linebacker prospect Chris Mayfield.
Mayfield is a 6-foot-3, 215-pound edge rusher so we'll see where his body takes him the next few years as he could play linebacker or put his hand in the dirt. He played defensive end for Bradley as a sophomore.
In terms of his measurables, he's right about where guys like Jonathon Cooper and Cade Stover were at as sophomores. Cooper obviously has grown into a defensive end, Stover is looking a little more like an outside linebacker at this point, though he certainly could grow into a defensive end once he turns his full focus towards football.
Mayfield is actually a multi-sport standout for Bradley and I watched him play basketball again on Saturday in the district finals. Having seen Mayfield, Cooper, and Stover all play basketball at various points, Mayfield is closer to Stover than Cooper at the same stage. Watching Coop play high school basketball, it was obvious that he was going to be a defensive end, you can often times tell things like that by watching these guys and how they move on a basketball floor.
Cooper was a bull in a china shop, an enforcer, and was clearly a football player playing basketball. Mayfield is a little bit more flexible, a little lighter on his feet and actually plays out on the perimeter at times which gives an indication that isn't totally out of the question that he could play in space. That is much more in line with a guy like Stover. Both of those guys just have a lot of bounce on a basketball floor.
Regardless, I've seen a lot of things to like about Chris over the past twelve months. He is an aggressive kid with long arms and good explosion both coming out of his stance as a pass rusher and in going up and competing on the glass on the basketball floor. Early offers from Cincinnati, Louisville, Kentucky, and Toledo and Ohio State is keeping tabs on him.
Definitely a name to start getting familiar with for those who like to look a little bit ahead at the upcoming in-state landscape.
Another O-Linemen to add to the mix
During the week, Ohio State offered Rivals250 offensive line Trevon Keegan out of Crystal Lake (Ill.) South High. The 6-foot-6, 310-pound prospect was on an unofficial visit to Ohio State when he landed the offer.
I posted on the board that day that this was not simply one of the many 'throw away' offers that are out there right now, that there was very serious interest here on Ohio State's end. Having talked to more people since that time, there is a sense that Keegan is very serious about Ohio State as well and that the Buckeyes, if they don't lead, are certainly right near the top for the four-star prospect.
But would Ohio State take Keegan today? There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer on that at this point. Ohio State has so many irons in the fire right now along the offensive line. Guys like Harry Miller, Devontae Dobbs, Andrew Kristofic, Quinn Carroll, and Darnell Wright are all priorities. In all of those cases, outside of probably Carroll, Ohio State is right in the top one or two so filling up too fast is a real concern that has to be taken into account.
Ideally, someone like Keegan would come back in June and workout with the staff. This is something they want the commits to do anyway as the evaluation process never stops. My best intel at this point is that if Keegan tried to pull the trigger quickly here that Ohio State would likely take the commitment, but that the Buckeyes are certainly not going to be upset if they get a chance over the summer to continue to evaluate a lot of their top guys and form a more solid pecking order.
Things could become increasingly difficult here if Ohio State was able to pull a guy like Harry Miller or Andrew Kristofic this spring, putting them at three offensive line commitments with still more than a handful of tremendous options along the offensive front out there to be had.
But this is yet another big name offensive tackle possibility to keep in mind as things continue to develop in what looks to be a large haul along the offensive line in 2019. A lot of first world problems for Ohio State along the offensive line, which is certainly great news for the Buckeyes given the need to do well here in 2019.
