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More on Williams and Robinson
I say this cautiously because I've been burned before on this subject but I think we might finally, possibly, maybe, be getting to some point of clarity with wide receiver recruiting. Four-star St. Louis native Jameson Williams has been right at, or near the top, of the wish list through the coaching change from Zach Smith to Brian Hartline. Now Williams is ready to make his college decision, he'll do so on Friday.
I've always maintained that Urban Meyer is the driving force in Jameson Williams' interest in Ohio State and that while the Zach Smith news was disappointing, that Meyer would be the key here. With Meyer now back in the fold coming off the suspension, all of the timing here points to Ohio State getting some much needed good recruiting news on Friday.
Jameson did not make his scheduled visit to Oregon last week, it doesn't look like he'll visit Nebraska this coming weekend as scheduled, so that just leaves a potential Alabama visit in October. You would think that if Williams commits somewhere on Friday that he wouldn't turn around and make an official visit somewhere else like two weeks later, but if you've followed recruiting at all in recent years, you'd know that can't be ruled out.
That said, the very first day we were allowed to put FutureCasts into our system back in June, I put Williams down for Ohio State. In fact I think he was the very first one I put into the system. I have no reason to change that right now and feel pretty good about the Buckeyes here.
So that brings us to four-star Kentucky athlete Wandale Robinson, a guy who would likely fit in at the H position if he takes his talents to Columbus. Robinson reported last night that he will be giving Ohio State that fifth and final official visit when the Buckeyes return home to face Indiana the weekend of October 6th.
Robinson's road has been much different than Williams', at least from Ohio State's standpoint. Robinson was offered while Zach Smith was still the receivers coach, but it wasn't until Smith was let go that things really took off. I don't believe that to be a coincidence. As we discussed when everything was going down, some guys were more highly thought of than others by the remaining offensive staff and Robinson was one who had a lot of support from other staff members inside the Woody.
Now I don't think it's *that* surprising that Robinson is giving Ohio State that last official visit. In talking to Wandale after the recent unofficial visit, it was my impression that this was going to happen once he got home and talked things over with his family. But it's certainly nice to get that confirmation and beyond that, I've definitely been hearing good things about Ohio State here. This one is moving in the right direction at this point.
Robinson is expected to make an unofficial visit to Kentucky this weekend, who I think has an outside chance here. But right now I think the top two are Ohio State and Alabama and here is where I think it gets interesting. I've been told Alabama has Jameson Williams pretty high on the WR board and that some of the rest of their targets, Robinson included, would really get the full court press if Williams doesn't end up in Tuscaloosa.
So, today, I actually think Ohio State has the best chance of landing Robinson but I think it's going to be interesting to see what happens if Williams picks the Buckeyes on Friday as that could trigger an even bigger push from Alabama. I think Robinson just loves both of these programs, the winning tradition and how exciting those offenses have looked so far this year. But with that said, I like the momentum that Ohio State has right now and I think the optics of the depth chart actually setup very well.
I think Jaelen Gill is going to be an awesome H at Ohio State, but he doesn't scare off any 2019 recruits because he isn't really playing. Instead, you have Campbell and Hill getting a lot of time at H and those guys are almost certainly gone (Campbell for sure) after this year so it's an appealing look for Robinson. On the flip side, you have Jaylen Waddle as an emerging freshman star at Alabama playing in a similar role to what Robinson would be asked to do.
So for all of those reasons, I think Ohio State is the safest pick right now for Wandale Robinson. Could be a very good few weeks for the Buckeyes in recruiting offensive skill guys.
Surprise coming?
Talked with a source this morning close to the Oklahoma program and it was an interesting conversation to be sure. It was indicated to me that things might be cooling between Oklahoma and three-star safety/athlete Peyton Powell. Powell had been trending pretty heavily towards the Sooners in recent weeks after delaying a mid-August decision that at one point looked like it was destined to be Ohio State.
Today is Powell's birthday and in talking to him recently, he was hopeful that maybe he could decide on this date. That turned into skepticism when he had two visits left that he wanted to make (Texas and Oklahoma) and only one weekend between that point and his birthday. That was of course this past weekend.
But Powell didn't visit Texas or Oklahoma this weekend. He was tentatively set to visit Texas, but it never happened and I'm told he won't be making a visit to Oklahoma this weekend either, another visit that was tentatively planned. Instead, it looks like he could be at TCU this weekend as I'm told that is the plan right now.
While I am not going to rule out TCU as a contender here, these developments are extremely positive for Ohio State. It's certainly possible he can continue to wait things out and get trips to Texas and Oklahoma scheduled, but there seems to be a lot of uncertainty around both of those programs that Powell ever makes the visit.
So, for now, I have actually changed my Futurecast back to Ohio State from Oklahoma. I don't *think* anything is going to happen today, it sounds like he fully intends to make the TCU visit this weekend, but at the same time I am basically putting myself on call on this one as I think Peyton is at the point where he could announce just about any day now.
This took a pretty immediate left turn in late July and it appears it is making another one right now. I got a better vibe from Peyton in talking to him last week but this is now more than just Ohio State continuing to plug away and getting a little momentum back, it looks like they could actually be back in the driver's seat.
This could always swing back if those Texas and Oklahoma visits get setup but there was a pretty surprising lack of optimism from sources close to both of those programs this morning about where things stand between Powell and the Sooners and Powell and the Longhorns.
We'll see.
Battle for Brenton Strange heating up
The battle continues for four-star Parkersburg (WV) tight end Brenton Strange. Strange and his family were on campus at Ohio State on Saturday in sort of a symbolic breaking of the silence type of visit.
"Me and my family had a great time," said Strange of the Ohio State game on Saturday. "None of us had been to an OSU game before so it was pretty cool to see the Bucks live."
Ohio State tight ends coach Kevin Wilson and head coach Urban Meyer have never stopped their pursuit of Brenton, even after taking Cormontae Hamilton at the end of July. It's possible that Ohio State could eventually run out of spots depending on how things shake out, but a second tight end remains a real possibility here if that player is Brenton Strange. Strange was very impressive at camp over the summer and the Buckeyes, as things sit today, would likely make room for him if he wanted in the fold.
Notre Dame was another school that was at the forefront of Strange's recruitment over the summer but Penn State has also emerged in a big way recently. Penn State offered Strange not long after Ohio State did over the summer after the Nittany Lions had him on campus. They're going to get him back on campus this weekend and it will be an official visit.
We're at the time of year where visits, especially officially visits, are pretty critical and can really impact the outcome. So when you get them, you have to make them count and when your targets are visiting elsewhere you have to survive and dodge the bullet. So this will be a pretty big trip for Brenton to Happy Valley and the Buckeyes will need to survive this.
That said, heading into the weekend Strange seems to be of the mindset that he will get back to Ohio State before making a decision.
"More than likely, yes," he continued when I asked him about an official visit to Ohio State. "Just not sure on the game right now."
I think this weekend could definitely be one of the milestone moments in Strange's recruitment. Penn State will have a chance to close and Ohio State will be hoping to survive and get to throw a counter-punch here in the next few weeks with an official visit of their own.
